TORONTO - Ontario's governing Liberals are bringing back legislation that would ban payments to people for their blood and plasma, following the opening of two paid plasma clinics in Toronto.
The bill would also incorporate changes recommended in the wake of a probe into why more than 1,200 cancer patients in Ontario and New Brunswick received diluted chemotherapy drugs.
Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins says the new legislation combines two separate bills that were automatically scrapped when the June 12 election was called.
He says the proposed measures include giving the Ontario College of Pharmacists the power to inspect and license hospital pharmacies.
They would also prohibit payments to people for their blood and plasma, including reimbursing them for expenses and other compensation.
Plasma is a component of blood that can be used for transfusions and to make drugs that can treat patients for conditions like burns, severe infections and hemophilia.
