Blood Money: The Story of Life, Death, and Profit Inside America's Blood Industry
- Downloads：4529
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2023-03-01 20:21:28
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Kathleen McLaughlin
- ISBN：1982171960
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Alan Hill
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In Blood Money， Kathleen McLaughlin takes us on a fascinating journey into the harsh reality of what it means to live under capitalism and be the recipient of drugs made from or harvested materials from other people。 I don't think it is surprising， but I find Kathleen's writing to be page turning。 What may catch some reader's off guard is the sheer magnitude if the industry built on the life saving intervention of plasma donation。 Kathleen puts it all into perspective。 Kathleen has a deep unders In Blood Money， Kathleen McLaughlin takes us on a fascinating journey into the harsh reality of what it means to live under capitalism and be the recipient of drugs made from or harvested materials from other people。 I don't think it is surprising， but I find Kathleen's writing to be page turning。 What may catch some reader's off guard is the sheer magnitude if the industry built on the life saving intervention of plasma donation。 Kathleen puts it all into perspective。 Kathleen has a deep understanding of the issue。 She， being someone who is the recipient of these life saving interventions， is well placed to give a holistic look into the pros and cons of the industry， She goes deep into the lives of the people the industry in built on， giving voice to an often under represented population of the working poor。 Almost thankfully stigma prevents Plasma collection companies from preying on the most vulnerable population of the homeless， but Kathleen makes a great case for why the industry desperately needs a different financial structure。 The people often takes from people who donate as financial crutch and Kathleen goes into great detail about what that means for our society。 The best part of the book is the depth of her research。 Kathleen goes through her own research in a way the puts the reader right beside her in investigation。 Her perspective as someone who receives drugs made from plasma donation is a great window into discussing the moral implications of the industry。 An industry that thrives inside the capitalistic economy of the United States where there is an abundance of working poor due to the low minimum wage。 Kathleen tells stories that may surprise some readers in just the sheer magnitude of the amount of communities touched by this industry and the disparity between what the people are and what she as a recipient is paying for the drugs built on their bodies。This was a fascinating read， that was impossible for me to put down。 A great read for anyone interested in the structure of the American medical system。 It isn't graphic。 There are discussions of blood， but nothing too intense that would trigger anyone in my opinion。 I think for someone who is blood squeamish like Kathleen herself this book is written to not be too off putting。 Will maybe end up on of my favorite reads of the year。 This book was given to me by NetGalley in exchange for review 。。。more
Ashley Dobson
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This book wasn’t even on my radar until I read an interview between Anne Helen Petersen and the author， a fellow chronically ill woman who calls herself a “living vampire” because the medication she relies on to survive uses donated plasma。 This led her on an incredibly well-reported journey into America’s exploitative blood industry。 If I’m being honest， I only ever selfishly thought about the medications I take （how annoying it is that infusions take so long， how I have to inject myself， how t This book wasn’t even on my radar until I read an interview between Anne Helen Petersen and the author， a fellow chronically ill woman who calls herself a “living vampire” because the medication she relies on to survive uses donated plasma。 This led her on an incredibly well-reported journey into America’s exploitative blood industry。 If I’m being honest， I only ever selfishly thought about the medications I take （how annoying it is that infusions take so long， how I have to inject myself， how the fatigue takes over after） and never considered the people on the margins who donate plasma for money and the systems we have in place that keep that cycle going。 This book was eye-opening and I know I’m going to be thinking about it for a long time to come。 My only issue with the book was it felt like some parts were repetitive， but I also feel like that served to illustrate how cyclical this issue is and how trapped people are in the cycle。 Overall， really well written and I would highly recommend this book。 。。。more
Kate Olson
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（free review copy） When I was a sophomore in college， my brother talked me into donating （selling） plasma to make extra money and the experience has stuck with me for the 20+ years since。 If you have never had your blood extracted， separated， and then just the red blood cells put back into your body， you can't truly understand the experience ~ but it was unsettling。 The feeling of the icy cold blood coming back in， feeling so exhausted afterward that I would be in bed for the entire rest of the （free review copy） When I was a sophomore in college， my brother talked me into donating （selling） plasma to make extra money and the experience has stuck with me for the 20+ years since。 If you have never had your blood extracted， separated， and then just the red blood cells put back into your body， you can't truly understand the experience ~ but it was unsettling。 The feeling of the icy cold blood coming back in， feeling so exhausted afterward that I would be in bed for the entire rest of the day， and finally ~ passing out in my car， ending my time at the plasma center。 I would earn $20 for my first donation in a week and $30 for my second。 That $50 was my entire weekly expendable income for a period and that's what Blood Money is about: the major inequality in the United States （one of the few countries that allows payment for plasma） that leads to people being willing to donate way more often than is medically recommended for most。 It is about the massive profits being made on the blood from people barely making enough money to live on。 I was riveted by this book， not just because of my personal connection， but also because the author herself has a disease that requires her to receive infusions made from the plasma donated at these centers。 McLaughlin weaves in her conflicted feelings of being the recipient of such a morally ambiguous industry and this inclusion levels this book up from being a story of the plasma business into a well-rounded and philosophical reporting on an often unrecognized industry。 I so appreciate that this isn't a "look at all the poor people" method of reporting， but instead a recognition of the failure of the United States to take care of its people well enough to not require selling bodily fluids to survive。 If you liked Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup and just can't get enough of evil capitalists preying on the vulnerable in the medical world， I can't recommend this highly enough， with one caveat: in the early copy I read， it seemed that there was some repetition of information/thoughts， to the point that it stuck out to me。 I don't want this to dissuade anyone from reading， but I feel the need to point it out since I'm raving about it。 Source: Edelweiss digital galley 。。。more
Sandy
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