ANCHORAGE — The Blood Bank of Alaska is defending itself against claims from employees that it put residents at risk by mismanaging the state’s blood supply this summer.
An August 28 complaint filed with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the blood bank’s missteps resulted in dangerous donor conditions and shortages. But blood bank CEO Bob Scanlon said an investigation proves the claims are unfounded, Alaska Public Media reported.
“The accusations that have been leveled against us are meritless,” Scanlon said.
Blood Bank of Alaska released a report Friday that includes findings from recently conducted independent audits and employee interviews. The report was compiled by three BBA board members.
Ryan York, chairman of the board, said the decision not to include outside investigators was due to financial reasons and regulations involved in blood banking that require a certain level of familiarity that the board didn’t expect to find locally.
Scanlon, during a Friday press conference, denied there were ever blood shortages this summer and attributed many of the accusations in the complaint to a “lack of knowledge” about how the “blood industry works.” Scanlon and other BBA officials also provided numbers refuting the claim that they lost donors because of overly aggressive recruitment tactics.
Linda Soriano, one of the employees who filed the FDA complaint, said she disagreed with the officials as well as the blood bank’s report.
“It’s misleading to the point of being a lie to say they only store a small amount of blood in that blood bank,” Soriano said.
Soriano and other employees had accused the blood bank of struggling with shortages after the organization moved into a $45 million facility earlier this year.
