Rowan Smith, Philadelphia, PA
In a matter of minutes, I felt my whole body go numb and my vision cloud over.
Like many workkers scraping by while the rich get richer, I needed to make some quick cash to survive. I turned to donating plasma. I knew the process came with a laundry list of potential side effects—one not listed was feeling humiliated—but I was out of options.
Every day, some 200,000 people in the US donate plasma. Big Pharma companies like CSL or OctaPharma pay for this component of human blood, which is used in medicine manufacturing.
The more frequent the donor, the more they can make over time. I was told that I’d be paid $75 for my first donation and $125 for my second.
Staff quickly unhooked me from the machine and gave me electrolytes. They reassured me that I’d be paid in full despite the incomplete procedure. Through blurred vision, I noticed that most of the donation recliners were occupied that day. Even my nurse had sold her plasma!
Meanwhile, OctaPharma netted $4.27 billion in 2024.