BOSTON (AP) – A state hospital association wants to amend the law giving the American Red Cross a “virtual monopoly” on the blood market, saying the practice has contributed to a sharp hike in the cost of blood over the past two years.

The law, last amended in 1981, was designed to ensure safe blood collection by allowing only hospitals and the Red Cross to collect blood. But critics say it gives the Red Cross too much control, and past concerns over safety have been alleviated by strict federal guidelines that dictate how blood is collected, tested and transported.

The Massachusetts Hospital Association hopes to open the blood market to other organizations and has drafted legislation to amend the law.

The cost of blood has risen by 50 percent – from $135 to $200 per unit – since 2001. Though hospital administrators praised the work of the Red Cross, they said the Red Cross has provided only vague justification for the unforeseen price hikes. “The American Red Cross has a virtual monopoly in Massachusetts, and from a safety standpoint, it isn’t necessary,” Leslie Kirle, the association’s senior director of clinical policy, told the Telegram and Gazette of Worcester.

Massachusetts is the only state with such restrictions on who can collect blood, administrators said. The Red Cross supplies about 70 percent of the blood used in the state – a significantly higher figure than in other states where the nonprofit collects less than 50 percent of the blood supply.

, the Telegram and Gazette reported.

Dr. Thomas E. Ukena, medical director of the clinical laboratory and blood bank at St. Vincent Hospital at the Worcester Medical Center, said increased competition would help drive down the price of blood.

“Whether another company or nonprofit can do the same job in New England less expensively and increase the number of donors remains to be seen,” he said. “But we won’t know if we don’t give them a chance.”

The Red Cross said prices have risen to offset years of operating losses and expanded safety measures. The organization expects this year’s blood costs to increase by no more than 5.9 percent.

Michael B. Freedman, chief of business management for Red Cross blood services in New England, said the organization won’t oppose the hospital association’s proposal.

The shortage of Massachusetts blood donors is a more serious problem for the state, he said. The higher price of blood reflects the cost of doing business, a lower-than-average rate of donation and new federal guidelines that restrict potential donors, he said.

“We’ve had a smaller pool to collect from while the request for blood has grown,” he said. “That’s why costs have risen.”

State lawmakers are reviewing the hospital association’s bill. State Sen. Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, is a co-sponsor of the bill and the chairman of the Health Care Committee. He said the reputation of the Red Cross helps some donors feel more comfortable.

“They do good work,” he said. “But … I’m not sure we need to be the only state that gives them this exclusive privilege.”

AP-ES-07-27-03 1901EDT

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