Alberta couple raises contamination concerns as Health Canada cracks down on cord blood clinic
CBC
For Carly and Ben Seligman, banking their two children's umbilical cord blood felt like investing in medical insurance.
The Calgary couple no longer trust that the potentially life-saving stem cells they have spent thousands of dollars to preserve remain viable or safe.
"Collecting and banking the cord blood felt like this sort of one-time opportunity to leave future medical doors open for your child," Carly Seligman said in an interview.
"You want to try and give your child every opportunity."
The Seligmans say they have spent more than $3,900 to store the umbilical cord blood of their two children, now 12 and nine years old, at the Canadian Cord Blood bioRepository (CCBR) in west Edmonton.
More than three months after Health Canada issued a public health warning about the facility, the regulator says the operation remains in contravention of health safety standards.
Issued in November, the public health advisory cautions that cord blood banked at the facility could pose serious health risks including the spread of infectious diseases and contamination.
Questions linger about the viability of hundreds of umbilical cord blood specimens as Health Canada continues to warn about unsafe and unsanitary conditions.
Health Canada says the repository has failed to submit a corrective action plan, as ordered. The facility remains barred from accepting new specimens.
Cord blood from about 800 clients remains at the repository and the regulator says the specimens should be tested to ensure they are safe and viable before use in medical treatments.
Rich in stem cells, cord blood can be used to treat a variety of medical issues including blood and immune disorders. The specimens are kept sterile and frozen through cryopreservation.
The Canadian Cord Blood bioRepository, like all of Canada's private cord blood banks, charges for the service of collecting and storing cord blood in case it is needed by the infant donor later in life.
The facility charges around $900 in processing for each specimen, and roughly $110 per year after that in annual fees.
With another storage payment due, Carly Seligman is demanding more transparency from the operator.
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