CNN: Discriminatory Blood Ban
The following interview aired on CNN on June 19, 2016. A link to the interview can be found here.
Jim Sciutto: “You are looking at live pictures from Orlando, we’re waiting for a memorial to begin within the next 90 minutes at the Cathedral Church of St. Luke; it will followed by a candlelight vigil to honor the 49 victims of the Pulse nightclub tragedy. An estimated 20,000 people expected to attend that vigil. In the wake of the shooting tragedy, blood banks in Orlando and around the country quickly put out the call for donors, and many lined up to give, but gay and bisexual men who wanted to help were turned away, renewing calls to loosen restrictions that some say perpetuate a stigma. Here’s CNN’s Medical Correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta.”
Sanjay Gupta: “Giving blood after a tragedy is not only necessary but has become a symbol of resilience; a way for grief to be channeled into action.”
Scott Garstka: “We jumped in our car, went and got our friend Justin and Jordan, and we ran to the blood bank because they said we were in a crisis and that they don’t have enough blood to help support what they were seeing on the street.”
Sanjay Gupta: “You want to go help, but that morning you find out that you can’t donate blood.”
Scott Garstka: “Correct. There is a ban on men—gay men-- giving blood. It was just another shock to the system that day.”
Sanjay Gupta: “According to the FDA, which oversees the safety of the U.S.’s blood supply, men who have had sex with men—even protected sex—within the past year cannot donate.”
Scott Garstka: “I know that I have had regular tests and I know that I am an HIV negative person and I felt like, “why couldn’t I give blood, and why couldn’t they screen it?”
Sanjay Gupta: “It’s a good question. Fact is: all blood, regardless of the donor, is screened for a number of things including Hepatitis B, C, and HIV. So I decided to go down to the OneBlood blood bank to better understand this policy.
SG (to Susan Forbes): “People want to channel their grief in some way, and it always seems like blood donation is one of those things; “I don’t know what to do, this is something I can do, maybe I can help.” But there is something on the form that prevents certain populations of people from donating. Talk about that. What are the criteria, what are the restrictions?
Susan Forbes: “Well, every blood center is required to follow the rules and guidelines handed down by the Food and Drug Administration. So, we don’t make the rules, we play by them. And we have to follow them. When it comes to specific questions on there, that the Food and Drug Administration has on the form, and if somebody checks “yes” or “no” on certain answers, they may be deferred at that time.”
SG: “Here’s the FDA’s questionnaire: Question 19, “Male donors: in the past 12 months, have you had sexual contact with another male?” If somebody says to you, “Susan, why can’t I donate,” what do you say?”
SF: “I say, “we have to follow the rules from the FDA.” And I feel for them, believe me we all do because we know that people want to do the right thing and they want to come out and donate.”
SG: “The FDA says that it’s a matter of risk but this has become a contentious issue on the floors of governments, the White House, and amongst scientists.”
Sean Cahill: “The policy that we have really prevents a lot of HIV negative gay men—and the vast majority of us are HIV negative—and it prevents us from being able to donate and contribute to emergency preparedness and in this case, to help people who have been shot.”
SG: “It is a policy that may no longer make sense in the wake of advancing science and tremendous need.”
Michael Cheatham: “It’s a matter of more like 100-200 units as opposed to just a few units at some hospitals. We had one patient that went through almost 200 units of blood, just in the first 24 hours.”
SG: “Fortunately, there was enough good will here in Orlando to keep up with the tremendous demand for blood. But the inability of people like Scott to donate has added insult to injury.”
Scott Garstka: “I think the word would be, you feel discriminated. I mean you go down there, you’re crying, all of our friends are coming together in that moment because we just wanted to help. And then to be told you couldn’t, and again this is the same thing we’ve felt the past few days. Just because we love each other, just because we care for each other, that we can’t do this. And it’s infuriating, it makes us want to get up and scream from the mountain tops. Why is our blood not good enough?”
Sanjay Gupta: “Dr. Sanjay Gupta. CNN, Orlando.”
JS: “The Food and Drug Administration did change their policy for gay and bisexual men just last year. Prior to December 2015, the FDA had a lifetime blood donor ban for all men who had sexual contact with other men, even once. Now the ban only applies to men who have had sex with other men within the last 12 months. I want to bring in Illinois Congressman Mike Quigley, he’s fighting to change the FDA’s blood donor policy for gay and bisexual men. Congressman, thank you for coming on the air today.”
Mike Quigley: “Thanks Jim for having me on.”
JS: “So I understand you and two of your colleagues have drafted a letter to the FDA Commissioner asking the ban be ended, it has 109 signatures including 4 Republicans. Sadly, that’s not close to a majority. In your view is there a realistic chance that you can get this policy changed?”
MQ: “Well we started 7 years ago and it didn’t look like we had any chance at all, but even back then the FDA said that this was a suboptimal policy. It took us almost 6 years to get to the point to change what you described just now, to a one time deferral instead of a lifetime ban. I like to think that science and common sense will get us to a point where we eliminate this discriminatory policy.”
JS: “Let me ask you this: the key issue seems to be this time period between infection and showing the antibodies for HIV which is how the blood is screened. According to the NIH, the National Institute of Health, it takes about 3 months for the bodies to produce enough antibodies—it can take 6 months for some people. So you have this period where you might be infected but you’re not showing the signs that would then have that blood screened out. How do you handle that issue and that concern?”
MQ: “I think first, you change the questionnaire to reflect that. Second, you recognize this discrimination exists because of the questionnaire. Just remember that straight men who are practicing unsafe sex with multiple partners are not denied this opportunity to give life-saving blood. While a straight [sic?] man in a 30 year monogamous relationship is denied that same right. We trust this questionnaire a great deal. So I think it makes sense to be consistent with those who participate.”
JS: “So you’re saying that in effect, and this is factually true, we know that gay or straight men and women can be exposed to the HIV virus, so you think that both the policy and the questionnaire should reflect that?”
MQ: “Absolutely. The science has changed and the medical communities and the blood bank communities agree this should be a risk-based decision, not one on orientation.”
JS: “Let me ask you this, because sadly HIV has been around for a number of decades now, you’ve had a couple problems in terms of reporting, one is that you have this window before the antibodies show up so even if the blood is screened, presumably some HIV positive blood can get through but you also just have the fact that some people might lie on their questionnaires. Since screening has been instituted, have there been any people who have gotten infected with HIV from donated blood?”
MQ: “None that we are aware of. We are planning to meet the administrators from HHS and the FDA to go over this analysis, help us understand the science that they’re basing their decisions on. What’s clear to us is, the science has improved screening dramatically, the questionnaires have improved. We have to remember this policy was put in place in the middle of the AIDS crisis and it was a lifetime ban. We have learned a lot since then; we need to know what additional research has to go into place to improve the science of screening, just to make the whole blood supply safer, putting aside the issue of gay men donating.”
JS: “Congressman Mike Quigley, thanks very much.”
MQ: “Thank you.”