Mr Spinkles
Mr
Let's make one thing clear from the start: Blood donors have no rights. The only people who have rights are the people receiving a blood donation. They have the right to receive blood which has as small a risk of infectious disease as possible. Period.
Men who have had sex with other men (MSM) since 1977 are banned for life from donating blood in the U.S. by the FDA. The FDA explains the reasons for this policy (edit: fixed link) here: http://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvaccines/bloodbloodproducts/questionsaboutblood/ucm108186.htm . The primary reason is blood safety. MSM are 800 times more likely than the general population of first-time blood donors to have HIV.
What the FDA chooses not to talk about, perhaps because it is too painful and embarrassing to talk about, is the epidemic of HIV and Hepatitis that occurred in the bleeding disorders community from 1977 to about 1986. This epidemic eventually killed most people with a severe bleeding disorder in the U.S. at that time, perhaps around 15,000 people. I am 24 years old and I have severe hemophilia, I narrowly escaped the Hep C epidemic and there don't seem to be many hemophiliacs alive older than me. As many of you know, I am also a strong supporter of the LGBT community and gay rights.
The sad thing about this is it was well known early on that HIV was correlated with MSM. They should have banned MSM right away as a precautionary measure, but they didn't. Gay rights groups put pressure on the medical community to not institute what they felt was a discriminatory ban. Those were critical years of hesitation which cost many lives.
Now, sadly and tragically in my opinion, the gay rights community is making the same mistake all over again. Gay rights groups and some U.S. senators (including Senator Kerry) have put pressure on the FDA to change the policy. Some gay rights activists are inappropriately politicizing a medical issue.
Men who have had sex with other men (MSM) since 1977 are banned for life from donating blood in the U.S. by the FDA. The FDA explains the reasons for this policy (edit: fixed link) here: http://www.fda.gov/biologicsbloodvaccines/bloodbloodproducts/questionsaboutblood/ucm108186.htm . The primary reason is blood safety. MSM are 800 times more likely than the general population of first-time blood donors to have HIV.
What the FDA chooses not to talk about, perhaps because it is too painful and embarrassing to talk about, is the epidemic of HIV and Hepatitis that occurred in the bleeding disorders community from 1977 to about 1986. This epidemic eventually killed most people with a severe bleeding disorder in the U.S. at that time, perhaps around 15,000 people. I am 24 years old and I have severe hemophilia, I narrowly escaped the Hep C epidemic and there don't seem to be many hemophiliacs alive older than me. As many of you know, I am also a strong supporter of the LGBT community and gay rights.
The sad thing about this is it was well known early on that HIV was correlated with MSM. They should have banned MSM right away as a precautionary measure, but they didn't. Gay rights groups put pressure on the medical community to not institute what they felt was a discriminatory ban. Those were critical years of hesitation which cost many lives.
Now, sadly and tragically in my opinion, the gay rights community is making the same mistake all over again. Gay rights groups and some U.S. senators (including Senator Kerry) have put pressure on the FDA to change the policy. Some gay rights activists are inappropriately politicizing a medical issue.
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