Sen. Warren Wants to Know Why Gay Men Can't Donate Blood

After receiving a letter from a Roslindale resident who was not allowed to give blood after the Boston Marathon bombings because of his sexual orientation, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren has asked for a review of the federal policy.

Warren sent a bipartisan, bicameral letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently voicing concern "over the agency's sluggish pace at reevaluating blood donation policies for men who have sex with men (MSM)." The letter requested information about HHS's ongoing efforts to gather data and review this policy.

Senators Mike Enzi (R-WY) and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Representatives Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Barbara Lee (D-CA) also led the letter and 81 of their congressional colleagues, including Senator Edward Markey and Representatives Jim McGovern, John Tierney and Niki Tsongas of Massachusetts signed with their support. The full text of the letter is available here.

Howard Lieberman, the Roslindale resident who sent the letter to Warren, wanted to donate blood to help with the effort following the Boston Marathon bombings and wrote to the Senator.

"Therefore I ask you to add your voice to this issue, because it is right, because there is a clear need, and because when lives are on the line, we all want to help." Under current regulations, MSM are banned from donating blood for life. This policy was put in place during the rise of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, and is no longer scientifically justified in light of modern blood screening technology," wrote Harold Lieberman.

"For me, this has been a basic issue of fairness and of science - blood donation policies should be grounded in science, not ugly and inaccurate stereotypes," said Warren. "When a Massachusetts man told me he wanted to donate blood during the bombings but couldn't because of his sexual orientation, I dug deeper into this discriminatory ban and I didn't like what I found. Current policies are contrary to science. They promote discrimination and don't make the system any safer. It's long past time for HHS to make blood donation policies fairer and more effective."

In 2006, the American Association of Blood Banks, the Red Cross, and American's Blood Centers agreed that the current ban is medically and scientifically unwarranted, according to a Warren press release. These organizations recommended that donation criteria for MSM be changed to one based upon risk for sexually transmitted or transfusion-transmitted infections. In 2010, the HHS Advisory Committee on Blood & Tissue Safety & Availability (a governmental organization) described the lifetime ban of MSM donors "suboptimal" due it allows high-risk individuals to donate while prohibiting low-risk donors from giving blood. 

HHS is currently conducting three studies to help to policy changes currently underway, with completion dates ranging from August 2013 to October 2014. 
In March 2012, HHS released a Request for Information (RFI) in order for the public to comment on the design of a fourth study - a pilot program for MSM blood donation. In response, 64 members of Congress sent a letter to Sebelius, led by Rep. Quigley and former Sen. John Kerry, supporting the RFI while stressing the importance of the pilot study.

HHS leadership has yet to release information about the proposed study, or how study information will be used, or a timeline for changing this discriminatory policy. 

In the letter, Warren and her colleagues request criteria used to assess public comments to the RFI; a copy of a report to HHS leadership on the response to comments and pilot study design; a detailed plan and a timeline for how results from the ongoing studies will be used to affect changes to the blood donation criteria; and whether HHS plans to use data from other countries currently allowing MSM to donate, and if not, why not.