The Hanmaeum Blood Center, a private blood collection center, has been found misclassifying hepatitis C infected blood as normal blood.

Rep. Shim Jae-chul of the governing Grand National Party said the private blood center has acted criminally in managing blood and raised questions about the stability of stores.

The National Red Cross runs the Blood Information Management System (BIMS) to check whether a donor is qualified to give blood for transfusion.

The center has a Blood Information Sharing System and receives limited information from BIMS, but it does not include the use of medicine or reasons for disqualification from making previous donations.

Blood centers are supposed to have a system of tests to detect any errors that may happen during blood collecting, but Hanmaeum failed to do so.

The hepatitis-infected blood was labeled as normal but the center did not double-check the donation, and it was used in transfusions at two hospitals in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.

``Transfusions are necessary for patients who need them and blood centers should ensure the safety of blood in collecting and managing it,'' Shim said.