What's Up With the Advocate?!
This article made my blood boil, pardon the pun.
What the fuck's wrong with the Advocate?!
EDIT: Okay, so maybe I should clarify my take on this. While I understand that allowing any and every group of individuals to donate blood, we would significantly add to the cost-per-good-unit of blood that ultimately gets into the blood supply due to the need to throw out a potentially high amount of infected blood. However, I think what really needs to be revised here is the process for screening potential donors. Instead of not allowing any man who has had sex with another man -- even once, protected or unprotected, ORAL OR ANAL -- since 1977 to donate blood, while allowing any person who has had sex -- whether protected or unprotected -- with a prostitute to donate after only waiting 12 months , I think the important issue is to screen for the true potential risks. There should be questions regarding whether the potential donor has had unprotected sex in the last X time period, whether they have ever had an HIV test, etc. Instead of targeting a specific group of people and making the generalization that all individuals within that group engage in "high risk" behavior, the FDA should be focused on truly protecting the blood supply by asking the pertinent questions.
What the fuck's wrong with the Advocate?!
EDIT: Okay, so maybe I should clarify my take on this. While I understand that allowing any and every group of individuals to donate blood, we would significantly add to the cost-per-good-unit of blood that ultimately gets into the blood supply due to the need to throw out a potentially high amount of infected blood. However, I think what really needs to be revised here is the process for screening potential donors. Instead of not allowing any man who has had sex with another man -- even once, protected or unprotected, ORAL OR ANAL -- since 1977 to donate blood, while allowing any person who has had sex -- whether protected or unprotected -- with a prostitute to donate after only waiting 12 months , I think the important issue is to screen for the true potential risks. There should be questions regarding whether the potential donor has had unprotected sex in the last X time period, whether they have ever had an HIV test, etc. Instead of targeting a specific group of people and making the generalization that all individuals within that group engage in "high risk" behavior, the FDA should be focused on truly protecting the blood supply by asking the pertinent questions.