Keeping A Finger On The PULSE Of Blood Donation Policy After Orlando

On June 12, 2016, a gunman murdered 49 people at PULSE, a Florida LGBT nightclub, in the most lethal mass shooting in U.S. history. Many more were critically injured, requiring blood transfusions and exacerbating the need for blood donors in the Orlando area. Yet gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM) who wanted to donate blood were turned away. Garrett Jurss, for example, is a gay man who showed up to donate after the urgent call for blood, but was turned away because of the MSM blood policy. “I want to be able to help my brothers and sisters that are out there, that are suffering right now,” Jurss said. “But I can’t, and I feel helpless.” In the face of such a crisis, why were blood donation agencies turning away people trying to donate? The answer is the “gay blood ban,” an antiquated U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policy that prohibits nearly all MSM from donating blood. This policy persists in spite of scientific evidence from the U.S. and other countries showing that no harm is done to the blood supply by allowing MSM to donate blood. Perhaps in response to the Orlando tragedy, the FDA recently requested public comment on its current blood donation policies, including its policy for MSM. The FDA has a significant opportunity to modernize its policies by adopting an evidence-based approach that allows individuals to donate blood based on their individual risk profile, rather than their status as MSM. This would help reduce blo...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: Equity and Disparities Featured Quality blood donations DONATE Act FDA HIV/AIDS LGBT Source Type: blogs