Article: Red Cross discards blood after collecting too much

AMERICA AT WAR

MEDICAL

Red Cross discards blood after collecting too much

Eager donors soon outstripped demand, storage capacity

By GILBERT M. GAUL AND MARY PAT FLAHERTY

Washington Post

Sunday, November 11, 2001

Washington -- The American Red Cross knowingly collected hundreds of thousands of blood donations after Sept. 11 that could not be used for victims of the terrorist attacks.

After selling some of the surplus to hospitals, the Red Cross has begun to destroy thousands of pints that have outlasted their shelf life. Directors of several Red Cross blood centers said their sites may discard as many as one of every five donations and the national total could easily reach tens of thousands.

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