Alberta couple raises contamination concerns as Health Canada cracks down on cord blood clinic

Hundreds of umbilical cord blood specimens at an Edmonton repository remain in regulatory limbo as Health Canada continues to warn about unsafe and unsanitary conditions at the storage bank. For Carly and Ben Seligman, banking their two children's umbilical cord blood felt like investing in medical insurance.

Questions linger about the viability of hundreds of umbilical cord blood specimens as Health Canada continues to warn about unsafe and unsanitary conditions. 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."Did their storage practices compromise the usability of our children's cord blood?" she said.

Caulfield said Health Canada's warning should send a message to cord blood repositories across the country. He said stronger enforcement is needed for the private, for-profit industry, especially around advertising. Health Canada conducted its first site visit to CCBR on March 15, 2023, followed by an additional site visit on July 27.

"Should CCBR continue to operate and not adequately address Health Canada's concerns, the department will take additional enforcement action." The department has not ordered the destruction of any blood specimens. Customers are encouraged to contact the company to understand their options, Health Canada said.The operator was ordered to inform all of its clients of the enforcement. The Seligmans said they found out from a news article.

He states that none of the samples stored on site will be used for unmodified transplantation, and said he would consider those methods "yesterday's medicine."

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