Doctor’s life threatened by shortage of plasma product
JACKSON, Tenn.–“It was hard for me to sit up in a chair. Sometimes it was hard for me to talk, and at that point we still didn’t know what was wrong,” Dr. Andrea Harper said.
Dr. Harper is a local OB-GYN who took care of her patients. Now, she is a patient in need of care after being diagnosed this year with a disease.
“I have a rare autoimmune disorder called myasthenia gravis,” Harper said.
It’s a disease she says affects her whole body, specifically her lungs.
“I have trouble breathing and swallowing, which obviously I have to be able to do those things to live,” Harper said.
Harper said the only thing to help her disease is an intravenous treatment called IVIG.
“Which is an immunoglobulin. It’s like getting a transfusion,” Harper said.
But after getting regular doses of IVIG, local health officials suddenly reached out to tell her they’re out of it.
“I found out this week that basically the supply in West Tennessee has run out,” Harper said.
Harper said health officials told her it’s due to a high demand for the plasma-derived product.
According to primaryimmune.org, “Right now, though, the plasma supply is tight — here in the U.S. and globally. The need for plasma and plasma-derived products grows each year, but the complex nature of IG products as biologics means that it takes time to increase the supply. It’s not as simple as churning out more pills.”
“One transfusion of IVIG is made up from about 100 plasma donors,” Harper said.
Harper said the only way she can essentially survive is if more people donate plasma.
“If somebody needs it more than I do, they can have it. Of course that’s scary for me,” Harper said.
For more information on how you can donate plasma, visit these websites:
