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PRESS RELEASE
Feb 25, 2022
Cicilline, Lee, Eshoo, Maloney Lead Colleagues in Urging FDA to End Homophobic Blood Donation Deferral Period
This week, Representatives David N. Cicilline (RI-01), Barbara Lee (CA-13), Anna G. Eshoo (CA-18), and Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18) were joined by 142 of their colleagues in urging the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to end the blanket three-month blood donation deferral period for men who have sex with men (MSM) and transition to an individual risk assessment to determine donor eligibility.
As they state in their letter, “The existence of any deferral period tied to MSM further stigmatizes HIV/AIDS as a ‘gay disease’ and members of the LGBTQI+ community as ‘unclean.’ Sexual contact between two men is not listed as a risk factor for HIV/AIDS by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the World Health Organization, yet the FDA directs any male donors with a ‘history in the past three months of sex with another man’ to defer donation for three months. This policy uses sexual contact between two men as a proxy for unsafe sex that is likely to contaminate the blood supply. This inaccurate association contributes to homophobia, not a safe blood supply.”
Joining Reps. Cicilline, Lee, Eshoo, and Maloney on the letter are Reps. Pete Aguilar, Colin Allred, Jake Auchincloss, Nanette Diaz Barragán, Karen Bass, Ami Bera, M.D., Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Carolyn Bourdeaux, Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D., Brendan F. Boyle, Julia Brownley, Salud Carbajal, Tony Cárdenas, Troy A. Carter, Sr., Ed Case, Sean Casten, Joaquin Castro, Judy Chu, Emanuel Cleaver, II, Steve Cohen, Gerald E. Connolly, Jim Cooper, Joe Courtney, Angie Craig, Charlie Crist, Jason Crow, Sharice L. Davids, Danny K. Davis, Madeleine Dean, Peter A. DeFazio, Diana DeGette, Rosa L. DeLauro, Suzan DelBene, Val B. Demings, Mark DeSaulnier, Ted Deutch, Debbie Dingell, Lloyd Doggett, Mike Doyle, Veronica Escobar, Adriano Espaillat, Dwight Evans, Lizzie Fletcher, Bill Foster, Lois Frankel, Ruben Gallego, Jesús G. "Chuy" García, Jimmy Gomez, Al Green, Raúl M. Grijalva, Brian Higgins, James A. Himes, Steven Horsford, Chrissy Houlahan, Jared Huffman, Sara Jacobs, Pramila Jayapal, Eddie Bernice Johnson, Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr., Mondaire Jones, Kaiali‘i Kahele, William R. Keating, Ro Khanna, Daniel T. Kildee, Derek Kilmer, Ann McLane Kuster, Conor Lamb, James R. Langevin, Rick Larsen, John B. Larson, Brenda L. Lawrence, Teresa Leger Fernández, Andy Levin, Ted W. Lieu, Zoe Lofgren, Alan Lowenthal, Stephen F. Lynch, Kathy Manning, Doris Matsui, Lucy McBath, Betty McCollum, James P. McGovern, Grace Meng, Joseph D. Morelle, Seth Moulton, Jerrold Nadler, Grace F. Napolitano, Joe Neguse, Marie Newman, Donald Norcross, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Tom O’Halleran, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Jimmy Panetta, Chris Pappas, Donald M. Payne, Jr., Ed Perlmutter, Scott H. Peters, Chellie Pingree, Mark Pocan, Katie Porter, Ayanna Pressley, David Price, Mike Quigley, Jamie Raskin, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, Linda T. Sánchez, John P. Sarbanes, Mary Gay Scanlon, Jan Schakowsky, Adam B. Schiff, Bradley S. Schneider, Kim Schrier, M.D., Robert C. "Bobby" Scott, Terri A. Sewell, Elissa Slotkin, Adam Smith, Darren Soto, Abigail D. Spanberger, Jackie Speier, Marilyn Strickland, Thomas R. Suozzi, Eric Swalwell, Mark Takano, Dina Titus, Rashida Tlaib, Paul D. Tonko, Ritchie Torres, Lori Trahan, David Trone, Juan Vargas, Nydia M. Velázquez, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Bonnie Watson Coleman, Peter Welch, Jennifer Wexton, Susan Wild, Nikema Williams, Frederica S. Wilson, John Yarmuth.
Full text of the letter is below..
Dear Commissioner Califf,
We respectfully urge the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to end the blanket three-month blood donation deferral period for men who have sex with men (MSM) and transition to an individual risk assessment to determine donor eligibility. The current policy is overly stringent given the scientific evidence, advanced testing methods, and safety and quality control measures within FDA-qualified blood donation centers; stigmatizes members of the LGBTQI+ community; and needlessly restricts the blood supply while our nation combats a critical blood shortage and the COVID-19 pandemic.
On January 11, 2022, the American Red Cross declared the first-ever national blood crisis amid the “worst blood shortage in over a decade.” The COVID-19 pandemic and harsh winter weather have cut the number of blood drives and the number of people donating blood, resulting in some hospitals receiving less than a quarter of the blood requested. At a time when blood supply shortages are forcing hospitals to cancel surgeries and change treatment plans, the FDA’s policy puts patients at risk.
The existence of any deferral period tied to MSM further stigmatizes HIV/AIDS as a “gay disease” and members of the LGBTQI+ community as “unclean.” Sexual contact between two men is not listed as a risk factor for HIV/AIDS by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the World Health Organization, yet the FDA directs any male donors with a “history in the past three months of sex with another man” to defer donation for three months. This policy uses sexual contact between two men as a proxy for unsafe sex that is likely to contaminate the blood supply. This inaccurate association contributes to homophobia, not a safe blood supply.
The medical community in the United States agrees that an individual risk assessment for all donors is the best way to protect our nation’s blood supply. In fact, the American Medical Association supports “removing categorical restrictions for blood donations by MSM,” and basing donation eligibility on “a person’s individual risk.” The FDA has made clear it will not consider these changes until the Assessing Donor Variability And New Concepts in Eligibility (ADVANCE) Study is completed. However, the results of the study have been delayed until mid-2022 due to difficulties recruiting participants and the COVID-19 pandemic. What is the FDA doing to expedite recruitment and help meet the goal of 2,000 participants for the study?
At least 17 countries, including Spain, have no restrictions on MSM blood donation. Additionally, in June 2021, the United Kingdom ended its three-month blood donation deferral period for MSM and implemented a donation eligibility policy based on individual risk. These nations prove that an individual risk assessment that does not stigmatize members of the LGBTQI+ community is sufficient to screen blood donors and protect our nation’s blood supply.
After celebrating National Blood Donor Month in January, we urge you to live up to your commitment to ensure blood donation policies are “based on science, not fiction or stigma.” We urge the FDA to end the three-month blood donation deferral period for MSM and implement an individual risk assessment policy for blood donation.
We thank you in advance for your timely consideration of this matter and look forward to your response.
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Source: Congressman David Cicilline | Representing the 1st Congressional District of Rhode Island
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