Saving Lives With Helpful Guys

This page contains a partial listing of links to various studies, news articles, press releases, and policy statements surrounding the Gay Blood Ban. This should provide a good start to any research needs you may have.

 

• May 9, 2013 - The Great Work: Getting the FDA to Approve MSM Donations - The Gay Voice News.
• May 8, 2013 - Legislation Introduced to Fight Discrimination Against Those Living with HIV - HRC Blog.
• April 25, 2013 - Gays and Lesbians in Chile Now Allowed to Donate Blood - The Santiago Times. The current language in the questionnaire now only restricts donors with a history of risky sexual behavior, regardless of the sexual orientation of the participant. 
  
• April 23, 2013 - Newly Founded Organization Takes on FDA Gay Blood Ban - The Advocate. Banned4Life.org founded.
• April 18, 2013 - Drexel University Students Fight U.S. Gay Blood Donation Ban - South Florida Gay News.
• April 16, 2013 - Health Minister Edwin Poots Displayed Prejudice Regarding Lifetime Ban on Gay Blood Donations - Court Hears - Belfast Telegraph (Northern Ireland).
• April 5, 2013 - Philadelphia Blogger Says US Ban on Blood Donations By Gay Men Is Antiquated - CBS Philly.
• March 21, 2013 - Students' Petition Calls on FDA to Change Ban on Gay Blood Donors - CBS.
• March 16, 2013 - Gays Renew Calls for Change in Blood-Donor Rules - The Washington Times.
• March 12, 2013 - Dear White House: End the Ban on Gay Men Donating Blood. Now. Please? - HuffingtonPost.
• March 9, 2013 - Bee Venom Kills HIV: Nanoparticles Carrying Toxin Shown To Destroy Human Immunodeficiency Virus (VIDEO) - Huffingtonpost.
• March 7, 2013 - More Durham Residents Could Donate Blood if Screening Questions Changed - DurhamRegion.com (Canada).
• February 1, 2013 - [WATCH] Muscat Quizzes Blood Bank Consultant On Donation-Ban for Gays - MaltaToday.com. Political leaders in Malta defend a 1-year deferral policy as nondiscriminatory; however, they remain open to changes based on research and policy results in the EU.
• January 22, 2013 - N[ew] D[emocratic] P[arty] Says Five-Year Ban on Gay Blood Donations Would Still Discriminate - Straight.com (Vancouver, Canada). "New Democrats believe that criteria for donating blood for all Canadians should be developed on a behavior based model. The screening process for blood donation would be much safer overall in reducing the risk of transmission of blood borne diseases by focusing on each individuals’ behavior rather than their sexual identity."
• January 17, 2013 - Miami Beach Passes Resolution Urging FDA to Repeal Gay Blood Ban - SouthFloridaGayNews.com. More Coverage: Edge (Boston). "Half of our board [Unity Coalition] didn't even know this blood donation ban existed," he said. "A lifelong ban is just blatant discrimination." He hopes to get more governmental bodies in Florida to pass similar resolutions. "We want to get half a dozen or so different municipalities to pass similar resolutions, to add pressure and get our congressional delegation to write a joint letter to the White House."
• January 14, 2013 - HIV Prevention: Nobel Laureate David Baltimore Talks VIP, New Developments (VIDEO) - Huffingtonpost. "This antibody is absolutely protective against HIV infection. It's miraculous. We can put in huge doses of HIV[,] and the animals don't get infected. And so we have a prima facie case for saying that we could protect humans against the transmission of HIV if humans act like mice."
• January 12, 2013 - Canadian Blood Services Wants to Allow Gay Men to Donate - CBC News. More Coverage: Gay Star News.
• January 9, 2013 - Tell the FDA Gay Does Not Mean Unhealthy - Buzzfeed.
• January 4, 2013 - Gay Red Cross Volunteer Steps Down - Times Argus (Vermont). Illustrating the widespread lack of awareness of the discriminatory Gay Blood Ban, a gay blood drive coordinator resigns from the Red Cross upon discovering the policy.
• January 4, 2013 - Huge Breakthrough In HIV Research Brings Us Closer To A Vaccine - ThinkProgress. "This investigation opens the path to additional studies with the final goal of achieving a functional cure — the control of HIV replication for long periods or an entire life without anti-retroviral treatment."
• December 26, 2012 - Mexico Lifts Anti-Gay Blood Ban: REPORT - Blabbeando via Towleroad. Wonderful news to ring in the New Year! "The new norm (NOM 253) eliminates specific bans on gay and bisexual men and instead bans blood donations from people with HIV or hepatitis and their partners and people who engage in 'risky sexual practices' regardless of their sexual identity."
• December 13, 2012 - Argentina Could Lift Gay Blood Ban by 2013 - Edge.
• December 5, 2012 - Blanket Ban on Gay Men from Blood Donation Outdated, Unfair - MSU Exponent (Montana State University). Student Opinion Piece.
• November 20, 2012 - Making HIV Tests as Common as Cholesterol Checks: Guideline Pushes Routine Screens for Most - AP. "[I]f finalized, the task force guidelines could extend the number of people eligible for an HIV screening without a copay in their doctor's office, as part of free preventive care under the Obama administration's health care law. Under the task force's previous guidelines, only people at increased risk for HIV — which includes gay and bisexual men and injecting drug users — were eligible for that no-copay screening." Public comment on proposed recommendations - USPSTS. Other Coverage - Think Progress.
• November 15, 2012 - Feds Reviewing Policy Banning Gay Men From Donating Blood - WREG Mephis. Excellent video and article. Interview with Ms. Townsend who chaired the committee that developed the current donor questionnaire. "[O]nly 10 people have contracted HIV out of the last 182 million blood transfusions." Does not specify whether those 10 infections resulted from accidental releases of untested blood or window period donations, and does not identify whether the number of transfusion related infections is changing over time.
• November 1, 2012 - Hurricane Sandy Cancels 300 Blood Drives: How You Can Help - Huffingtonpost. "With the power outages, and the flooding in many areas, and some damage, obviously that will result in even more cancellations" probably through the end of the week, Millian told CNN.com. "Hospital patients still need blood and blood products."
• October 31, 2012 - New, Cheaper HIV Test Could Improve Diagnoses In Low-Income Areas - Think Progress. "[T]he new test [being developed], which relies on nanotechnology to test serum from blood samples for the presence of an HIV biomarker, can also test for other diseases like sepsis, Leishmaniasis, tuberculosis, and malaria that can pose serious public health risks in developing nations."
• October 15, 2012 - What OraQuick Means to Me: The Pros and Cons of Testing for Your HIV Status at Home - OUT.
• October 13, 2012 - Magic Johnson Pitches OraSure HIV Test - The Morning Call. "About 1.2 million people have HIV in the United States, and about 20 percent of them are not aware of it, according to estimates by the [CDC]. ... An OraQuick test is performed with an oral swab, producing results in 20 to 40 minutes. It costs about $40." An HIV positive result should be confirmed by a blood test. Other Coverage - Think Progress. "[T]he test correctly identifies the virus 92 percent of the time."
• August 27, 2012 - Ban Campus Blood Drives - The Cornell Daily Sun. Students ask Cornell to ban blood drives on campus for violating anti-discrimination policies. We do not support blood drive bans or boycotts, but empathize with the frustrating experience of being illogically discriminated against.
• August 27, 2012 - Why Gay Blood, Kidneys and Sperm are Just as Helpful as Anyone Else's - ONTD Political. Opinion piece.
• July 30, 2012 - Red Cross Says Blood Supply at Lowest Level in 15 Years - USA Today.
• July 10, 2012 - (Canada) Blood Clinic Ban on Campus Upheld Due to Policy on Gay Men: Student group says gay men not allowed to donate blood due to higher risk of HIV - CBCNews Ottawa.
• July 6, 2012 - As Blood Donations Decline, U.S. Ban on Gay Donors Is Examined - CNN. "'A lot of people in the Bible Belt assume you have AIDS if you are a gay man,' he said. 'We wanted them to understand that is not the case. We are banned based on an outdated policy. When people questioned us, I told them about how I always heard that people who donate blood are heroes. Gay men want to be heroes, too.'" "GMHC suggested [allowing] gay men who have had only one sex partner in the past six months [to donate]. Spain and Italy, two countries with more progressive donor policies, hold everyone to that standard regardless of sexual orientation."
• July 6, 2012 - (Canada) 'Archaic' Blood Donation Ban May Change: Possible changes in policy at Canadian Blood Services may be good news for gay men restricted from donating blood - CBC News Canada. Considering reducing the current lifetime ban to a 5-10 year deferral.
• July 3, 2012 - There Used to Be a Lesbian Blood Donation Ban in China? - Business Insider. Other Coverage - CNN, Towleroad, The Christian Post. The Chinese government has ended the Lesbian Blood Ban there, but the Gay Blood Ban continues.
• July 3, 2012 - FDA Approves First Over-The-Counter Home Use HIV Test Kit - The New Civil Rights Movement. The incidences of false positives and false negatives remains too high, and positive results must be confirmed through blood testing. However, the test should encourage more people to learn their HIV status and help reduce its transmission.
• June 25, 2012 - Red Cross Blood Donation Shortage: Organization Says Supply Is At Emergency Levels - HuffingtonPost. Other Coverage - CBS News. "The organization is on par to be 50,000 donations short of the expected number this month. ... 'In a worst case scenario, a physician may have to forego performing a more serious procedure for a patient because of a shortage of blood. We need to do everything we can to make sure it doesn't get to that point.'"
• June 25, 2012 - Indiana University Teacher Arrested After Objecting to Red Cross Ban on Gay Blood Donation - Towleroad, Personal Blog.
  
• June 22, 2012 - Fred Karger Goes One-On-One with Bryan Fischer, Asks Fischer if He's Gay: VIDEO - Towleroad. Gay Republican Presidential candidate and the leader of a homophobic hate group discuss the gay blood ban and other issues.
• June 18, 2012 - Chile, Colombia and Buenos Aires to lift gay blood donor bans? - Blabbeando. Latin American countries continue to make encouraging progress including a very favorable ruling from the Colombian Constitutional Court: "The risk of contamination depends on the behavioral risk and not on the donor population...public policy should focus on selecting all donors based on high risk behaviors, instead of excluding donors based on who they choose to have sexual relations with."
• June 15, 2012 - French Blood Donation Ban for Gay Men to Be Lifted 'In Coming Months' - Pink News. Ms Touraine, France's Minister of Health and Social Affairs, denied that sexual orientation itself was a risk factor, saying: "Simply, there is no population at risk because of their sexual orientation."
• June 15, 2012 - Revise Blood Donor Ban to Match Modern Science - Rep. Mike Quigley Op-Ed in The Hill.
• June 14, 2012 - The Restrictions on Gay Male Blood Donors Put Lives at Risk:
  A monogamous gay man may be banned from giving blood, yet a promiscuous straight man isn't. It makes no sense. - The Guardian (UK). Arguing that recent UK reforms don't go far enough to save lives and protect equality.
• June 11, 2012 - Latest Effort to End Ban on Gays Donating Blood: Rep. Mike Quigley and Sen. John Kerry's letter to HHS - The Advocate. See also, Dem Lawmakers Urge Study, Call for End of Gay-Blood Ban - The Washington Times.
• June 11, 2012 - PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD NOW CLOSED: The Department of Health and Human Services, which contains the FDA, issued a Federal Register Notice: Request for Information (RFI) on Design of a Pilot Operational Study To Assess Alternative Blood Donor Deferral Criteria for Men Who Have Had Sex With Other Men (MSM). The notice provides an excellent summary of current HHS/FDA policies, reform efforts, and reform proposals. You can review submitted comments at www.regulations.gov by searching for docket number HHS-OPHS-2012-0003.
• May 24, 2012 - Review Recommends Halving Gay Blood Ban (Australia) - Star Online. Other Coverage - Gay News Network. Australian Red Cross Blood Service recommends halving current 1-year deferral policy, but explicitly rejects behavioral, risk-based screening for all donors regardless of orientation.
• April 19, 2012 - Let Gay Men Donate Blood, WCSU Students - DanburyPatch.
• April 16, 2012 - BANNED: FDA's Gay Blood Ban Hits Home After GV Student, Universal Donor Turned Away From Donating Blood - anyazeee/Grand Valley State University. University and blood drive officials contend that the infrequent application of the Gay Blood Ban is evidence that offended gay men are refusing to cooperate with the voluntary deferral process.
• April 16, 2012 - With Better HIV Tests, Should FDA End Its Ban on Gay Men Donating Blood? - The Washington Post. Pro-reform groups and the FDA present their arguments on national platform.
• April 16, 2012 - Gay Blood Donor Ban 'Brings Shame' - Belfast Telegraph. Student groups pressure Northern Ireland health officials to follow Britain's lead and reform Northern Ireland's lifetime ban on gay donors.
• April 11, 2012 - NYU Students Protest FDA's Ban On Gay Men Donating Blood - Washington Square News. NYU Queer Union cosponsored a blood drive to raise awareness of the Gay Blood Ban.
• April 10, 2012 - FDA Ban On Blood Donations From Gay Men Reduces Number of Possible Contributors - The Daily Nebraskan. Anecdotal evidence that University of Nebraska-Lincoln students are largely unaware of and, when informed, opposed to the Gay Blood Ban.
• March 27, 2012 - Israel Health Ministry May End Ban On Blood Donations From Gay Men - Haaretz.com. Proposed change would allow men who had same-sex intercourse 10 or more years ago to donate blood that will be accepted by the blood bank.
• March 12, 2012 - Federal Register Notice: Request for Information (RFI) on Design of a Pilot Operational Study To Assess Alternative Blood Donor Deferral Criteria for Men Who Have Had Sex With Other Men (MSM). Excellent summary of current HHS/FDA policies, reform efforts, and reform proposals. Please submit comments by June 10, 2012 at www.regulations.gov by searching for docket number HHS-OPHS-2012-0003.
• March 12, 2012 - HHS Weighs Accepting Men Who Have Sex With Men As Blood Donors - The Hill. HHS is accepting public comments on reform proposals.
• December 6, 2011 - Federal Policy Blocks Many Gay Men From Blood Donation - USA Today. Discrimination in Louisville, Kentucky.
• November 21, 2011 - Blood Is Blood: Anti-Gay Canadian Blood Donation Policy Revisitied - ThePolitic.com. Canada.
• October 11, 2011 - Reconsidering US Ban On Gay Men's Blood Donation - 89.3 KPCC Southern California Public Radio. Interview with President of AABB.
• October 10, 2011 - Pro/Con: Two views of U.S. Prohibiting Gay Men's Blood Donation - L.A. Times.
• October 4, 2011 - Gay Blood Ban Doesn't Deter the Need to Help - The Advocate. Ohio Red Cross reaches out to gay prospective donors for post-reform donations.
• October 1, 2011 - Gay Men Should Be Allowed to Give Blood - Op-Ed Washington Post.
• September 30, 2011 - Gay Blood Donation Ban Discriminatory. University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, WA) student newspaper op-ed calling for a blood donation boycott.
• September 20, 2011 - Lib Dems Urge Further Reform of Ban on Gay Men Giving Blood - The Guardian. UK.
• September 12, 2011 - Bloody Personal: If you want to end the ban on gay men giving blood, tell us what you do in bed - Slate. Discussing behaviorial, risk-based donor questionnaires.
• September 9, 2011 - Gay Men Who Use A Condom Should Not Face Delays Giving Blood - The Guardian.
• September 8, 2011 - Ban on Gay Men Giving Blood to Be Lifted (U.K.) - The Guardian. The United Kingdom adopts a 1 year deferral policy.
• August 11, 2011 - Gay Blood Ban Finds Support: Naperville Anti-Gay Group Pushes To Uphold Policy - Huffington Post.
• August 5, 2011 - Examples of ongoing hate-group discrimination enabled by the Gay Blood Ban. Keep the Gay Blood Ban - Americans for Truth About Homosexuality. AFA's Bryan Fischer Calls Homosexuality a 'Deathstyle', Says Blood Ban Proves Contact with Gays is Dangerous: VIDEO - Towleroad.
• July 27, 2011 - HHS To Study Lifting Ban On Gay Blood Donors - Washington Blade. Other Coverage: 365Gay, Care2, Bilerico. Informative Press Release from Sen. John Kerry.
• July 15, 2011 - Man Says Blood Center Rejected Him Because He Appeared Gay - Chicago Sun-Times. Other coverage: Towleroad, Huffington Post.
• April 10, 2011 - U.K. Gay Blood Ban Over? - The Advocate. Other Coverage: Bilerico Project.
• February 1, 2011 - Urgent Appeal for Blood Donors - Winter Weather Continues to Affect Supply - American Red Cross.
• September 9, 2010 - Gay Ontario Man Loses Blood Donation Negligence Suit: Donor falsely denied that he had had sex with another man - CBC News Canada.
• August 5-7, 2010 - Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH). A hate-group holds a conference to oppose allowing gay men to donate blood.
• June 22, 2010 - Youtube. The hosts of the View discuss the Gay Blood Ban.

Thank you to everyone for all of your hard work. Reach out; connect. Change is coming. If we work together, we can get this done.

Below is a small sampling of the organizations campaigning to reform the Gay Blood Ban.

 

Gay Men's Health Crisis - Home Page. MSM Blood Ban Advocacy Page.

• 2010: A Drive For Change - Study Release Notes 1, Study Release Notes 2, the Study Itself.
• 6-14-2010: GMHC Supports Additional Research on Lifting Lifetime Ban on Gay Men from Donating Blood - Health and Human Services Advisory Committee Votes Against Change in Blood-Ban Policy.
• 6-9-2010: Joint Statement on Addressing the MSM Blood Ban.
• 6-2-2010: GMHC Applauds District of Columbia For Passing Resolution Supporting Revised Blood Donation Guidelines.
• 4-29-2010: GMHC Commends Speaker Christine Quinn and the NYC Council for Their Vote to Revise Lifetime Ban on Gay Blood Donors.
• 2-25-2010: Antiquated U.S. Blood Donation Ban Against Gay Men Contributes to Stigma and Blood Shortages.

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force - Home Page.

• 6-11-2010: Task Force Expresses Anger at HHS Committee Recommendation Against Lifting FDA Lifetime Blood Ban.
• 6-9-2010: End the Archaic FDA Blood Ban Now.

Lambda Legal - Home Page.

• 11-18-2010: HIV Stigma and Discrimination in the U.S.: An Evidence-Based Report.

The Williams Institute, UCLA School of Law - Home Page.

• 4-xx-2011: How many people are lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender?
• 6-3-2010: Press Release: Williams Institute Estimates Lifting Ban on Gay Donors Would Boost Blood Supply by 219,000 Pints Each Year. The Study Itself: Effects of Lifting Blood Donation Bans on Men Who Have Sex with Men.

Human Rights Campaign (HRC) - Home Page.

• 6-11-2010: Ban on Blood Donation by Gay and Bisexual Men. Contains links to all related HRC news updates, press releases, and some outside resources.

Save A Life: A Feature Documentary - Home Page. Watch for the movie release in winter of 2012!

• Online Petition
  
• Facebook Page
  
• Online Fund Raiser

Red is in the Rainbow - Home Page. An American University student group.

• Change.org Petition
• Gay Blood Ban Youtube Video

Equal Donor - Home Page. A George Washington Law School student group.

• Change.org Petition
• November 7, 2011 - Battling the Blood Ban: GW's LGBT law-school group holds blood drive to highlight FDA ban - Metro Weekly.

All R Equal - Home Page.

• Change.org Petition
• 2-7-2013 Non-profit launch interview by Certerfield on OU Wire graduate student radio

Let Gays Give - Home Page.

• Change.org Petition
• Youtube Video
• Facebook Page

Unity Coalition - Home Page.

• White House Petition

Banned4Life.org - Home Page.

• Fox35 Orlando April 11, 2013
  • Fox35 attributes the FDA's decision to take down their policy webpage that attempts to justify donor discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation to Banned4Life.org. Congrats Guys!
• Youtube Introduction
• Petition

Major U.S. Blood Banks

• AABB - Home Page. Blood FAQ.
• American Red Cross - Home Page. What Happens to Donated Blood? History of Blood Transfusion.
• America's Blood Centers - Home Page. 56 Facts About Blood.
• 6-29-2010: Joint Statement Regarding Donor Deferral for Men Who Have Had Sex with Another Man (MSM).
• 6-11-2010: HHS Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability Meets - Joint Statement.

The American Medical Association - Home Page.

• Facts about The U.S. Blood Supply.
• Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Policy.
• Revision of the Lifetime Deferral for Blood Donation of the Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) Population.

Change.org - Home Page. Causes: Gay Rights.

• 10-29-2010: FDA's Gay Blood Ban Fuels Iowa Judge Fight.
• 6-10-2010: Revising the FDA Ban on Gay Blood Donations.
• SAVE A LIFE PETITION TO REPEAL THE FDA'S MSM BLOOD BAN (signature period closed 4-19-2010).
• 4-5-2010: The False War Between Hemophiliacs and Gay Men.
• 3-16-2010: Movement on Ending the Gay Blood Ban?
• 3-4-2010: John Kerry Supports Gay Blood.

Medical Journal Articles. You must have a membership to download the full articles. Most have free abstracts though. These aren't uniformly pro-reform, but they give a bird's eye view of the scientific analysis and emerging consensus within the medical community favoring reform of the Gay Blood Ban.

• Blood Is a Precious Resource—Does It Really Matter Who Donates It? 2010. The American Journal of Bioethics 10(2):44. Alternative link.
• Using Basic Ethical Principles to Evaluate Safety Efforts in Transfusion Medicine. doi:10.1155/2012/407326. Journal of Blood Transfusion. Article ID: 407326. Volume 2012. Article calls for upholding the current Gay Blood Ban and compares MSM and the risks of gay sex to intravenous drug use. Argues that efforts to reform the ban are primarily motivated by the misguided desire to "not hurt anyone's feelings."
• No evidence of a significantly increased risk of transfusion-transmitted human immunodeficiency virus infection in Australia subsequent to implementing a 12-month deferral for men who have had sex with men (CME). DOI: 10.1111/j.1537-2995.2010.02793.x. Transfusion. July 21, 2010. "We found no evidence that the implementation of the 12-month deferral for male-to-male sex resulted in an increased recipient risk for HIV in Australia. The risk of noncompliance to the revised deferral rather than its duration appears to be the most important modifier of overall risk."
• Stramer S. Current risks of transfusion-transmitted agents- A Review Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2007 May; 131: 702-707. The Red Cross cites this article as proof of a 1 in 2,000,000 current risk of HIV infection from transfusion. The risk may be even lower than those models show.
• Relative risk of reducing the lifetime blood donation deferral for men who have had sex with men versus currently tolerated transfusion risks. Transfus Med Rev. 2011 Jan;25(1):47-60.
• Canadian Study. Donor understanding and attitudes about current and potential deferral criteria for high-risk sexual behavior. Transfusion. 2011 Mar 7. doi: 10.1111/j.1537-2995.2011.03078.x.
• UK Study. Views and experiences of men who have sex with men on the ban on blood donation: a cross sectional survey with qualitative interviews. BMJ. 2011 Sep 7;343:d5604. doi: 10.1136/bmj.d5604.
• UK Study. A re-evaluation of the risk of transfusion-transmitted HIV prevented by the exclusion of men who have sex with men from blood donation in England and Wales, 2005-2007. Vox Sang. 2011 May 3. doi: 10.1111/j.1423-0410.2011.01491.x.
• Reconsidering the lifetime deferral of blood donation by men who have sex with men. CMAJ. 2010 Sep 7;182(12):1321-4. Epub 2010 May 25.
• Sex and blood: a deeper exploration of discrimination in the FDA blood donor policy. Am J Bioeth. 2010 Feb;10(2):40-2. Alternative link.
• Blood donation, deferral, and discrimination: FDA donor deferral policy for men who have sex with men. Am J Bioeth. 2010 Feb;10(2):29-39.
• Blood Stains, Blood Stains—Why an Absurd Policy Banning Gay Men as Blood Donors Has Not Been Changed. Journal of Bioethics, Volume 10: Issue 2. DOI: 10.1080/15265161003622030.
• Why are all men who have had sex with men even once since 1977 indefinitely deferred from donating blood? Volume 49, Issue 6, pages 1037–1042, June 2009.
• Should men who have ever had sex with men be allowed to give blood? Yes. BMJ. 2009 Feb 26;338:b311. doi: 10.1136/bmj.b311. pdf. Argues the
• Quantitative estimate of the risks and benefits of possible alternative blood donor deferral strategies for men who have had sex with men. Volume 49, Issue 6, pages 1102–1114, June 2009.
• Scientific background on the risk engendered by reducing the lifetime blood donation deferral period for men who have sex with men. Transfus Med Rev. 2009 Apr;23(2):85-102.
• Canadian Study. Men having sex with men donor deferral risk assessment: an analysis using risk management principles. Transfus Med Rev. 2008 Jan;22(1):35-57.
• The risks and benefits of accepting men who have had sex with men as blood donors. Transfusion. 2003 Jan;43(1):25-33.
• Effect of a national disaster on blood supply and safety: the September 11 experience. JAMA. 2003 May 7;289(17):2246-53.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the collection, storage, and saftey of the U.S. national blood supply. The FDA is a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Humans Services (HHS). The Secretary of HHS generally has final administrative authority over FDA policies. Many of the most powerful employees in these agencies are appointed by the President.

PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD NOW CLOSED: The Department of Health and Human Services, which contains the FDA, has issued a Federal Register Notice: Request for Information (RFI) on Design of a Pilot Operational Study To Assess Alternative Blood Donor Deferral Criteria for Men Who Have Had Sex With Other Men (MSM). The notice provides an excellent summary of current HHS/FDA policies, reform efforts, and reform proposals. You can review submitted comments at www.regulations.gov by searching for docket number HHS-OPHS-2012-0003.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services - Home Page.

• Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (ASH).
• Advisory Committee on Blood Safety and Availability (ACBSA): Blood, Organ, and Tissue Safety.
• Office of HIV/AIDS Policy.

U.S. Food and Drug Administration - Home Page.

• Blood and Blood Products: The Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). CBER FAQ.
• Blood Products Advisory Committee.
• Blood Donations from Men Who Have Sex with Other Men: Questions and Answers. Note: The FDA has since removed this webpage. See our cached copy here.
• 3-8-2006: Transcript - FDA WORKSHOP ON BEHAVIOR-BASED DONOR DEFERRALS IN THE NAT ERA.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Home Page.

• Basic HIV/AIDS Statistics.