Blood Donation Rules for Gay Men Getting Another Look From FDA

The Food and Drug Administration is reviewing whether safety data supports revising its current three-month deferral policy for blood donations from men who have sex with men, an agency spokesperson said Monday.

The spokesperson told Bloomberg Law that the FDA is reviewing blood donor safety data as nationwide blood supply shortages have forced the agency to rethink decades-long restrictions on gay and bisexual men. The update comes amid a renewed effort on Capitol Hill to push the FDA to remove the blanket deferral period imposed on men who have sex with men (MSM), and replace it with an individual risk ...