Alliance Receives Nonprofit Status

The Alliance for Plasma Therapies received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status from the Internal Revenue Service in April 2009. Formed in 2007, the group’s mission is to provide a unified, powerful voice of patient organizations, healthcare providers and industry leaders to educate about the diseases that rely on plasmaderived therapies and advocate for fair access to plasma therapies for patients who benefit from their lifesaving effects. Some of the current issues the alliance is working on include the increased number of patients being denied access to treatments prescribed by their physicians; lack of understanding of the diseases that rely on plasma-derived therapies; need for patient access to all sites of care; disruption of the sacred relationship between the patient and physician; understanding how plasma-derived therapies work; and safety and efficacy of plasma.

The alliance continues to assist patients in obtaining access to prescribed therapies, as well as educate members of Congress, governmental agencies, media and the public about the importance of plasma therapies and the rare diseases that rely on these lifesaving therapies. Current members include the American Autoimmune Related DiseasesAssociation, America’s Blood Centers, American Partnership of Eosinophilic Disorders, American Society of Clinical Oncology, ASD Healthcare, A-T Children’s Foundation, FFF Enterprises, Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy, IgG America, Infusion Nurses Society, International Pemphigus & Pemphigoid Foundation, Michigan Immunodeficiency Foundation, The Myositis Association, Neuropathy Action Foundation, The Neuropathy Association, NuFACTOR, Octapharma, Platelet Disorder Support Association, Stiff Person Syndrome Support Group and U.S. BioServices.