March 15, 2010

FDA to Reevaluate MSM Blood Donation Ban Following Criticism

Following criticism from elected officials as well as HIV/AIDS and LGBT advocates, the Food and Drug Administration announced March 13 that it will re-examine its lifetime ban on blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM), the Los Angeles Times reports. The policy was introduced in the mid-1980s in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

The FDA “has been actively engaged in reexamining the issue of blood donor deferral for men who have had sex with other men, taking into account the current body of scientific information, and we are considering the possibility of pursuing alternative strategies that maintain blood safety,” the agency said in a statement. The Department of Health and Human Services’ blood safety commission will examine the policy in June.

HIV/AIDS and gay rights groups have called the MSM blood restriction stigmatizing. The American Red Cross, the American Association of Blood Banks and America’s Blood Centers—which represent nearly all blood banks in the United States—have recommended looser restrictions, including a one-year deferral period for potential MSM donors as opposed to a lifelong ban.

Last week, a group of senators led by John Kerry (D–Mass.) wrote a letter to the FDA calling the blood donation ban “outdated” and “medically and scientifically unsound.”

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Previous Comments:

deb, Chester, 2010-03-18 15:45:47
Yes I believe they should continue to ban MSM's from donating blood especially since their is a recent increase in the number of newly HIV infection in this group of individual, according to the latest CDC finding. The benefit of this is One less innocent person infected with this dreadful disease.

Jae, Chicago, 2010-03-17 12:00:36
everyone who has sex is at risk for HIV and currently the rates for AA women are raising the quickest...this is ridiculous to ban all MSM blood...and still ridiculous to suggest abstaining from sex for one year or five years!

Corey, trenton, 2010-03-17 02:50:22
I agree that the ban has gone on long enough. It was unfair in the first place and to have lasted so long is completely unrealistic and prejudicial.

Anthony, Queens, NY, 2010-03-16 20:16:08
I have been a blood donor for the last 21 years right up until this past September when I was diagnosed HIV+ after that donation. I am a straight, married man. Obviously I can no longer donate but my wife was recently banned from donating at a blood drive at our kids school after filing out that questionaire. She is negative and posses no threat to the blood supply. We need to educate the country again about HIV/AIDS and have this ban on MSM lifted. All the blood gets tested anyway!!!

polypagan, Berea, KY, 2010-03-16 14:23:38
I agree. The outright, lifetime ban in silly. Test the blood, people! Excluding those most at risk (if indeed we are) does not ensure safety.