The Blood Bank of Alaska said it has been cleared of any alleged wrong-doing and financial impropriety by an audit that wrapped up earlier this month. But a critic disputes that conclusion.
In a release on Tuesday, the Blood Bank said two auditors from the Food and Drug Administration made an unannounced visit to the facility, and spent about a week looking into how the facility handles “blood collection, manufacture, and distribution,” safety protocols that are essential to public health.
“The findings were that there were no findings,” Blood Bank CEO Bob Scanlon said in an interview by phone.
Scanlon said the FDA’s audit came to the same conclusion as an internal investigation led by the Board of Directors that concluded last November.
“It doesn’t get any better than where we are right now, as far as the FDA giving us a clean bill of health,” Scanlon said.
The Blood Bank of Alaska is the largest distributor of blood to hospitals and medical centers across the state. It came under fire last fall when allegations emerged of financial mismanagement, labor violations, and mishandling of the state’s blood supply. The organization has vigorously denied those accusations, releasing a detailed internal report disputing the claims. Scanlon said this latest FDA audit clears the Blood Bank of those baseless accusations.
“Just because somebody says something, and just because it’s printed in the media or placed on the radio, doesn’t necessarily make it true,” Scanlon said. “We are not aware of any specific complaints that have any validity.”
But at least one critic of the Blood Bank remains unconvinced. Linda Soriano is a former grant writer for the organization, and has worked at other medical facilities in Alaska. Since leaving the organization, she’s pointed out problems that existed and how they’ve been handled by management. And Soriano said she hasn’t seen evidence disproving negative claims.
“The Blood Bank has never been willing to be forthcoming with information, they have continued to deny, deny, deny. I believe, and it’s my understanding from the FDA, that the investigation is not complete,” Soriano said.
Soriano said there are parallel issues being confused in the Blood Bank’s latest claim. According to her, this month’s audit is a routine inspection that’s more focused on technical procedures. She alleges that is distinct from a separate investigation by the FDA into the accusations from last year.
“My experience of annual FDA audits was that they focus entirely on the technical aspects of collecting, processing, and distributing blood products,” Soriano said. “They don’t go into anything financial or organization. That audit is just focused on the very technical aspects of blood collection.”
Soriano said she expects the results from a formal FDA investigation into last summer’s complaints to be released at some point in the future.
Scanlon with the Blood Bank said that because the recent audit had no negative findings, there is no report available on the scope of what investigators looked into. He said written comments from the FDA will be passed along to the Blood Bank in the weeks ahead, and could possibly be made available to the public.
Alaska Public Media has filed a freedom of information act request with the FDA regarding the allegations.
Zachariah Hughes reports on city & state politics, arts & culture, drugs, and military affairs in Anchorage and South Central Alaska.
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