Middle-class Americans are selling their plasma to make ends meet
Inside a suburban Philadelphia strip mall, between the Hair Cuttery and a Citizens Bank, a dozen people lay on black ergonomic beds a few feet apart, hooked up through a needle in the crook of their arms to machines pumping blood out of their veins. They were there to sell their plasma in exchange for $65 on a prepaid debit card.
Ian Pleasant, 43, had come that morning to get some extra money for toilet paper and pet food.
“I’m making enough money now doing DoorDash to keep up with the bills, but for anything else in the house, this is going to help out,” he said, as he waited for an employee at the B Positive plasma center in Holmes, Pennsylvania, to insert a thick needle into his arm.
About an hour later, the employee came back to collect a container of his straw-colored plasma that would be tested, frozen and turned into medicines sold for a profit to patients around the world.
It’s a scene repeated by an estimated 200,000 people a day across the country as part of a multibillion-dollar business fueled by a growing number of Americans willing to trade their blood for money in an economy where many have seen their job prospects weaken, costs rise and savings dwindle. Despite data that shows a relatively stable economy, middle-class Americans say they have had to start selling their plasma over the past year to cover basic expenses, from medical bills to a winter coat for their child.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/americans-sell-plasma-inflation-middle-class-expenses-economy-rcna258390
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I'm so tired of all the winning!
= new reply since forum marked as read
