Despite pressure, ban on gay blood donors endures

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. gay-rights movement has achieved many victories in recent years — on marriage, military service and other fronts. Yet one vestige of an earlier, more wary era remains firmly in place: the 30-year-old nationwide ban on blood donations by gay and bisexual men.

Dating from the first years of the AIDS epidemic, the ban is a source of frustration to many gay activists, and also to many leading players in the nation's health and blood-supply community who have joined in calling for change.

In June, the American Medical Association voted to oppose the policy. AMA board member William Kobler called it "discriminatory and not based on sound science." Last month, more than 80 members of Congress wrote to the Department of Health and Human Services, criticizing the lifetime ban as an outdated measure that perpetuates inaccurate stereotypes about gay men.

On some college campuses, students have urged boycotts of blood drives until the ban is repealed. Over the summer, activists organized a "National Gay Blood Drive" — asking gay men to visit blood centers, take tests to show their blood was safe, and then try to donate in defiance of the ban.

In the face of such pressure, the Food and Drug Administration — the HHS agency that regulates America's blood supply — has been unwavering. The lifetime ban will be eased, the FDA says, "only if supported by scientific data showing that a change in policy would not present a significant and preventable risk to blood recipients."

Under the auspices of HHS, a few studies are in progress that might lay the groundwork for a review of the policy. Department spokeswoman Diane Gianelli said the studies reflect a commitment to "continuously improving the safety and availability of the nation's blood supply."

However, some activists are impatient at the prospect of a research process that's likely to extend over several years with an uncertain outcome. They argue that the U.S. could move now to emulate Spain and Italy, where blanket bans on gay blood donations have been replaced by policies that ban donations by anyone — gay or straight — who's recently had unsafe sex, while allowing donations from gays and bisexuals whose blood is tested as safe and whose sexual behavior is deemed to pose no risk.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-health/20130915/US-Gays-Blood-Donation/

[The Nature Boy 4,224]

I support gay rights but hardly see this as an issue that really impacts them

[Karee 4,190]

Seems like a stupid policy. If I ended up at the hospital after the wife took a knife to me, I'd hate for them to to tell me, "sorry we're out of blood because we don't accept it from the gheys"

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

If I ended up at the hospital after the wife took a knife to me...

Not a scenario I ever contemplated. Guess my home is a happy home after all.

[Dieseltu 19]

The problem is the blood ain't checked for aids. I don't want it either.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

The problem is the blood ain't checked for aids. I don't want it either.

It isn't? I take it you accuse The American Red Cross of lying?

Blood Testing

The American Red Cross performs laboratory tests for multiple infectious disease markers on every unit of donated blood. Tests are upgraded or replaced with more sensitive technologies as these become available. These tests include:

• Chagas disease (T. cruzi)
• Hepatitis B virus (HBV)
• Hepatitis C virus (HCV 3.0)
• Human Immunodeficiency viruses, Types 1 and 2 (HIV 1,2)
• Human T-Lymphotropic virus (HTLV-I/II)
• Syphilis (Treponema pallidum)
• West Nile virus (WNV)

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

The problem is the blood ain't checked for aids. I don't want it either.

Not true.

All donated blood is tested for HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis and other infectious diseases before it can be released to hospitals.

http://www.redcrossblood.org/learn-about-blood/blood-facts-and-statistics

[Danno 1,228]

A.ID.S is not the only STD that the carrier is not accepted for donation.

Can anyone name another demographic in which a known communicable virus is present name it please.

As we know Gay men are a small population around 3%.. yet the vast majority of AIDS cases in the US rest in this small club.

It's because testing is not an absolute defense that logic dictates I.V. drug users, Homosexual men and a few other groups need to sit this one out.

[lostinblue 1,989]

Men who have sex with other men, including gay and bisexual men, have an HIV infection rate 60 times higher than that of the general population, the FDA says. They have an infection rate 800 times higher than first-time blood donors and 8,000 times higher than the rate of repeat blood donors. Tests cannot pick up a new HIV infection in the blood with 100 percent accuracy; because blood is often pooled, many people may be at risk from a single infected donor.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/healthcare/u-s-to-take-another-look-at-gay-blood-donation-ban-20110726

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

I love the smell of hatred in the morning.

[Crashed~N2~Me 970]

I don't dance & I don't prance & I don't want another boy's hands in my pants.

And C'mon...if the FDA ain't wavering then why should I? Isn't the FDA trustworthy? Doesn't the FDA's integrity epitomize righteous?

If any entity can be bought & sold = The FDA. So why isn't the FDA wavering?

It's coz the FDA is homophobe.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I love the smell of hatred in the morning.

Goes well with that coffee, doesn't it?

[We Keep Receipts 9,238]

Goes well with that coffee, doesn't it?

Just need some crumphets and we're all set. You would think with all the folks that marry people from different countries, their views would become more open. But I guess you can still hate in categories.

[Danno 1,228]

Just need some crumphets and we're all set. You would think with all the folks that marry people from different countries, their views would become more open. But I guess you can still hate in categories.

Well you know, it's those Hate-facts marvin.

[duraaraa 203]

...how do they know the sexual orientation of the donor?

Can celibate gay men donate?

Can lesbians?

This is weird -- I never knew such a ban exists.