Red Cross Collected Blood It Couldn’t Use

The American Red Cross knowingly collected hundreds of thousands of blood donations after Sept. 11 that could not be used for victims of the terrorist attacks.

After selling some of the surplus to hospitals, the Red Cross has begun to destroy thousands of pints that have outlasted their shelf life.

The charitable outpouring offered an opportunity for the $2.5-billion-a-year organization to restock its depleted blood inventory. Although the Red Cross told the public that surplus would be frozen, it did not have the resources to freeze large amounts of excess blood, according to documents and interviews.