Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
FDA calls for end of ban on gay men donating blood
Listen
• 0:53
Young man donating blood.
(
Flickr/ec-jpr
)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will propose ending its ban on gay and bisexual men donating blood, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg announced in a statement Tuesday. Restrictions would remain, however: the agency is suggesting changing its rules so that men who have sex with men would have to wait one year "since the last sexual contact" to donate blood.
Gay rights activists have been pushing the FDA to end its ban, and they were quick to respond to the announced change Tuedsay, saying it did not go far enough.
In a statement, David Stacy of the Human Rights Campaign said the policy change fell short of an acceptable solution "because it continues to stigmatize gay and bisexual men, preventing them from donating life-saving blood based solely on their sexual orientation, rather than a policy based on actual risk to the blood supply."
Ryan James Yezak, an L.A. based filmmaker and activist who founded the National Gay Blood Drive -- an annual event where straight people donate blood on behalf of gay friends and family -- said the event would continue until all restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men are lifted.
Support for LAist comes from
The FDA's Hamburg said the recommended change comes after the FDA "carefully examined and considered" the results of several recent scientific studies and epidemiologic data. The agency also took into account the recommendations of advisory committees to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the FDA, she said.
The new policy would "better align the deferral period with that of other men and women at increased risk for HIV infection," Hamburg said. Under FDA rules, a man who’s had sex with a woman he knows to be HIV positive can donate blood after waiting a year.
Hamburg said the FDA has "already taken steps to implement a national blood surveillance system that will help the agency monitor the effect of a policy change and further help to ensure the continued safety of the blood supply."
The FDA plans to issue a draft guidance recommending the proposed policy change in 2015, Hamburg said, adding that there will be an opportunity for public comment.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity. -
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
-
The drug dealer, the last of five defendants to plead guilty to federal charges linked to the 'Friends' actor’s death, will face a maximum sentence of 65 years in prison.
-
The weather’s been a little different lately, with humidity, isolated rain and wind gusts throughout much of Southern California. What’s causing the late-summer bout of gray?
Best of LAist