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Will there be blood? Medical companies can't find it fast enough

smh.com.au · 1,454 words · saved by 1 readers

When unemployment falls, the cost of blood goes up. That's just one of the quirks causing headaches in the world's $44 billion a year plasma industry.

Will there be blood? Medical companies can't find it fast enough Advertisement As the United States unemployment rate fell to multi-decade lows in the past year there was an unexpected side effect for the manufacturers of some life-changing medical treatments. The cost of collecting blood went up. That's just one quirk of the world’s $US 30 billion ($44 billion) a year plasma industry, which is scrambling to find enough of the precious raw material that is the lifeblood of their business. Plasma - the yellow liquid that carries our blood cells - has become a commodity in hot demand. Penny Step

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