aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Thursday, May 24, 2007

FDA: Gay blood still tainted

Recently I had blood drawn for a physical. Students saw the band aid and asked had I given blood?

“No,” I replied, “I’m gay.”

They thought it a non sequitur.

I explained the 1983 prohibition that was affirmed again yesterday:

Before giving blood, all men are asked if they have had sex, even once, with another man since 1977. Those who say they have are permanently banned from donating. The FDA said those men are at increased risk of infection by HIV that can be transmitted to others by blood transfusion.

In March 2006, the Red Cross, the international blood association AABB and America’s Blood Centers proposed replacing the lifetime ban with a one-year deferral following male-to-male sexual contact. New and improved tests, which can detect HIV-positive donors within just 10 to 21 days of infection, make the lifetime ban unnecessary, the blood groups told the FDA.

Think Progress has more.