Manitoba medical examiner echoes Health Canada's probe into deaths of plasma donors

The office of Manitoba's chief medical examiner says it has completed an autopsy on a person who died after donating plasma at a Winnipeg facility. In this Friday, June 12, 2020 file photo, a doctor holds a bag of blood plasma donated at at blood bank in La Paz, Bolivia. (AP Photo/Juan Karita, FILE)

WINNIPEG — The office of Manitoba’s chief medical examiner says it has completed an autopsy on a person who died after donating plasma at a Winnipeg facility.

Executive director Stephanie Holfeld says the office did not identify anything that was inconsistent with a recently completed investigation by Health Canada.

The agency launched its own probe into the deaths of two people in recent months who donated plasma at locations run by Grifols, a private collection company that pays donors.

It has said that found no link between the plasma donation process and the deaths of the two donors based on all information made available to it.

The medical examiner’s office says the second case was thoroughly investigated and it determined an autopsy was not required based on the cause and manner of death.

The province has faced calls to enact a provincial ban on paid plasma donations, but a decision has not been made.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 8, 2026.

The Canadian Press