Morris said the study was supposed to be completed by summer, but those involved “have only enrolled about half as many people as the total target goal across the United States.” Health centers and recruiters are struggling to gather enough people to take part in the study because there are fewer public events at which they can recruit as well as fewer people out in public generally. The study is taking place in eight communities around the country, including Washington, DC.Īccording to Christian Morris, a recruiter at Washington’s Whitman-Walker Health Center, The FDA is sponsoring a study by the Red Cross, Vitalant, and OneBlood, three of the largest blood donation centers in America, to determine “if a donor questionnaire based on individual risk assessment would be as effective as time-based deferrals in reducing the risk of HIV,” an FDA spokesperson said. While allowing gay and bisexual men to donate blood without a time deferral would not solve the blood shortage crisis right away, LGBTQ+ advocates say it would, at a minimum, increase the amount of blood available. Harmon, MD, said in a statement that “it is time for the Food and Drug Administration to do something the AMA and others have urged for years: remove its discriminatory ban that prevents many gay and bisexual men from becoming blood donors.”
13 asking it to remove the abstinence restriction.īaldwin has not received a formal response from the FDA, a spokesperson from her office said.Īmerican Medical Association President Gerald E. Twenty-two senators believe a partial solution is removing the blood donation restrictions on gay and bisexual men entirely and sent a letter to the FDA on Jan. Meanwhile, hospitals have been flooded with patients the Red Cross said it can provide only 75% of the blood requested by some hospitals. In January, the American Red Cross declared the worst blood shortage in over a decade, noting that 10% fewer people have been donating blood since the start of the pandemic. With an influx of hospital patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, the FDA in 2020 changed the restriction to 3 months of abstinence. In 2015, the FDA modified the restriction to allow gay and bisexual men to donate blood if they were abstinent for a year. The first restriction placed a lifetime donation ban on any man who had sex with a man after 1977. Since 1985, the FDA has refused to accept blood donations from men who have sex with men, a decision born from fears during the AIDS crisis. 4, 2022 – United States senators and LGBTQ+ advocates are calling on on the FDA to remove restrictions that add obstacles for blood donations from men who have sex with men, as the American Red Cross deals with a blood shortage it called the worst in more than a decade. To read the entire FDA document, click here.Feb. "But creating policy based on identity as opposed to risk is irrational and given the current COVID-19 crisis, it is more critical than ever to prioritize science and facts over fear and bias.” "This announcement by the FDA reduces the waiting period of time to 3 months and shrinks its untenable, virtual ‘ban’ on blood donations for gay and bi+ men," said David. “While this change by the FDA is a step in the right direction, it still bases itself in bias rather than science," said HRC President Alphonso David. The pro-LGBT Human Rights Campaign also was not very pleased with the FDA's revised position. "There is no reason to keep the ban in effect, period.” "This is a slap in the face to both LGBTQ+ communities and the many who will need blood and plasma transfusions during this crisis," said Johns. There is still a blanket ban on sexually active gay, bisexual, and same gender loving men." Though the waiting period may have changed, the policy has not. In a statement released on April 2, Johns said, “This is stigma and discrimination at work. If a potential blood donor is deferred for three months, he is allowed to come back and try again, provided he meets the "donor eligibility criteria."ĭavid Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, a pro-LGBT group, was not happy with the new FDA rules.