The ban was replaced with the new policy that restricts donations from men who have had sex with a man within the past 12 months.
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Two days after the Orlando Pulse Nightclub shooting, there’s a push by lawmakers to change the rules on who can donate blood.
He has no estimate how many gay men were turned away after they heard false reports they could donate. The American Medical Association and the American Red Cross have called the FDA’s rule “medically and scientifically unwarranted”. Even President Barack Obama’s administration has been reluctant to urge the FDA to change its policy, saying that the decision should exclusively be based on scientific evidence provided by the agency.
The Jewish Community Center on South River Street in Wilkes-Barre held a blood drive on Wednesday.
Computerized inventories have minimized the risk of infected blood making its way into hospitals. All volunteer blood donors must be evaluated to determine their eligibility to give blood to ensure the safety of the donor and recipient.
Some of the most moving images coming out of Orlando this week are those of thousands of people queuing to donate blood. But just a few months ago the FDA lifted its lifetime ban on accepting blood donations from men who have had sex with other men. The group reiterated its stance in 2000, again six years later, and last year before federal regulators.
The campaign started when he took a picture of himself in front of an American Red Cross sign with the caption #MyBloodIsGood.
The Department of Health recently announced that blood has actually become safer since the outright ban on gay men donating blood was lifted.
“We thought that moving to a one-year deferral period would be a reasonable next step”, based on scientific information and global practice, Goldman said from Ottawa.
“T$3 he 12-month deferral policy, which suggests that the sexual relationships of [gay] men and transgender women inherently post a risk of HIV transmission, furthers a stigma that we have persistently fought to eliminate”, the lawmakers wrote in a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf.
“The FDA is absolutely allowed to profile”, he said.
Argentina ended its ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood previous year, and Italy has also transitioned away from a total ban on gay men, instead assessing individuals based on risk.
“If their blood’s been tested, then they should be allowed to donate”, said 18-year-old Nikki Young, a student at the University of Central Florida, while waiting in line to donate Tuesday. “Across the country we need 100,000 new donors nationally, so that is a pretty big number”.
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“We are not asking for financial donations at this time for the response but we are encouraging individuals to consider making a blood donation”. This is not a new issue for Quigley, who has been urging the FDA to reform blood donor requirements since 2009.
