Plasma is a vital health product for hospitals to have, but is it worth it for us to donate? It depends on your stage of life and situation. If you have more time than money, yes. If not, not worth it.

In college, I needed cash badly, and the 3 hours a week it took to do it was doable. But looking back, it was stupid. I have permanent scars from the 20 gauge needles where some of my patients tell me it looks like I was a drug user. The money could have been made in less invasive ways. The amount they pay is paltry and amounts to about $10-12/hr. That could be earned by doing more productive things. Heck, our dogsitter gets more.

Finally, when you consider how much hospitals and urgent care and surgicenters pay for the plasma that you received so little for, you will get angry. It’s your fluid, but they profit. That’s the rub. With the desperation of a college kid, it seemed smart. With the wisdom of a former donor, now a doctor, it was a stupid, waste of time.

Plasma has some vital nutrients, and coagulation factors that are important in surgeries, but you can use your own plasma for elective surgeries. The rest…leave it to people with more time than money and desperate college students.

For sure — it’s something a lot of people consider to make extra money — one good place to start is the DonatingPlasma.org website — they’ll have information about donation centers nearest you.