Blood Drive Ban Over Las Vegas Shooting Stirring Anger
Lance Bass Blasts FDA Law Banning Gay Men from Donating Blood in Wake of Las Vegas Shooting
But the Federal Drug Administration prevents men who’ve had sex with other men within the past 12 months from donating blood — preventing Bass, who is openly gay and married to husband Michael Turchin, from donating.
According to the FDA, its decision to make men who have had sex with other men defer for 12 months from their most recent sexual contact before they donate is based on several years of research and recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
The policy was originally put in place as a lifetime ban, implemented by the FDA in 1983 at the start of the AIDS crisis.
At the time, little was known by sciences about the spread of the disease — though now, the AABB (formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks), America’s Blood Centers and the American Red Cross have all said the FDA’s ruling is “medically and scientifically unwarranted.” They have long urged the FDA to modify blood donation policies so they are “comparable with criteria for other groups at increased risk of sexual transmission of transfusion-transmitted infections.”
But the Federal Drug Administration prevents men who’ve had sex with other men within the past 12 months from donating blood — preventing Bass, who is openly gay and married to husband Michael Turchin, from donating.
According to the FDA, its decision to make men who have had sex with other men defer for 12 months from their most recent sexual contact before they donate is based on several years of research and recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
The policy was originally put in place as a lifetime ban, implemented by the FDA in 1983 at the start of the AIDS crisis.
At the time, little was known by sciences about the spread of the disease — though now, the AABB (formerly known as the American Association of Blood Banks), America’s Blood Centers and the American Red Cross have all said the FDA’s ruling is “medically and scientifically unwarranted.” They have long urged the FDA to modify blood donation policies so they are “comparable with criteria for other groups at increased risk of sexual transmission of transfusion-transmitted infections.”
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