Blood donation law changes will help blood supply

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s new blood donation guidelines recommend asking all potential blood donors the same risk-based questions, regardless of sexual orientation, sex, or gender. Sweeping exclusions, which some LGBTQ groups consider discriminatory, will no longer exist.

Many people in the gay and bisexual community can now donate blood.

If this seems scary, it shouldn’t be.

“The FDA is finally looking at the evidence,” Arthur Caplan, founding director of the Division of Medical Ethics at New York University Grossman School of Medicine, recently told Boston Public Radio.

Evidence includes the success of policies implemented in other countries, notably the United Kingdom and Canada, and findings from the Transfusion-Transmitted Infection Surveillance System (TTIMS), which includes data from four U.S. blood collection organizations. The FDA-funded ADVANCE (New Concepts in Assessing Donor Variability and Eligibility) study also supports the use of individual donor assessments to assess donor eligibility.

Susan Forbes, senior vice president of corporate communications and public relations at OneBlood, told CNN: “This will make donation more inclusive. It ensures that all donors are treated equally. It gives more people the opportunity to donate blood. So, As long as more people can safely enter the donation pool, that’s a good thing. This is truly the beginning of a new era of blood donor eligibility.”

Blood donation screening is a two-tier system, with testing considered the primary safeguard. Each blood sample is tested for a variety of infectious diseases, including hepatitis B and C and HIV. Today’s test is very accurate, but because it’s not perfect, an individual’s answers to the donor history questionnaire can make it clear whether a potential donor should be accepted or deferred.

The need for individuals to answer screening questions honestly cannot be overemphasized.

Critics of the FDA changes say that while the original questions used in donor history screening may be disturbingly specific for some, there are good reasons why they were chosen. If blood donors could choose who to donate, wouldn’t they want to know about sexual orientation, sex, and gender?

Unless special arrangements are made or the person receiving the blood donates and stores it themselves (autologous blood) before the planned surgery, the bag of blood that the nurse delivers to the patient is anonymous.

According to the American Red Cross, approximately 29,000 units of red blood cells are needed daily, and Americans require a blood transfusion every two seconds.

Hospital demand exceeds blood donations.

Whether people agree or disagree, the FDA’s new guidance will significantly increase the nation’s blood supply.

Mark Ryan of Tallahassee is a registered nurse.