Senator Wiener Pushes FDA to Let Gay/Bi Men Donate Convalescent Plasma

April 7, 2020

San Francisco -  Today, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking them to allow gay and bisexual men who have recovered from COVID-19 to donate plasma. Convalescent plasma is currently being investigated as a potentially life-saving treatment for those suffering from severe COVID-19 infections. Despite that potential, the FDA continues to ban gay and bisexual men from donating blood or plasma, unless they have been celibate for three months. The FDA does not apply that celibacy requirement — which effectively screens out a large majority of gay and bisexual men — to straight people who are sexually active. Moreover, there is no scientific basis for imposing a three month celibacy period, given the accuracy of modern HIV testing technology. 

Senator Wiener wrote a letter to the FDA last week asking the agency to end the blood donation ban, and other leaders urged the FDA to reverse its policy as well. In response, the FDA reduced the required celibacy period for gay and bisexual from from a year to three months. While three months is less severe than a year, the celibacy requirement still has no basis in science and continues to discriminate and deprive the nation’s blood supply of much-needed donations.

Apart from the need for more blood donations in general, the FDA ban directly harms people suffering from severe COVID-19 infections. A promising new treatment for these infections is convalescent plasma — plasma from people who have recovered from COVID-19. Yet, the FDA applies the same irrational, discriminatory ban on gay and bisexual men donating plasma, thus reducing the supply of usable plasma for treatment of people who are at risk of dying.

“So many people are suffering from severe COVID-19 infections — with far too many dying — and we need to do everything in our power to provide patients with potential life-saving treatments. It makes no sense to ban a huge number of healthy gay and bi men from donating their plasma to save lives. The FDA needs to start making these decisions based on modern science, not on stereotypes from the 1980s. It’s time to lift this ban entirely and allow gay and bi men to donate both blood and post-COVID-infection plasma.”

The full text of the letter follows: 

 

Re: FDA’s Effective Ban on Plasma Donation by Gay and Bisexual Men

 

Dear Dr. Hahn:

I write regarding the FDA’s recent adjustment to its policy prohibiting blood donations from gay and bisexual men, and also to raise the critical additional issue of gay and bisexual men who have now survived COVID-19 yet cannot donate plasma to help those with life-threatening COVID-19 infections.

As you know, convalescent plasma is being investigated as a potentially life-saving treatment for those suffering from serious COVID-19 infections. Yet, due to the FDA’s discriminatory policy, a large pool of potential donors — gay and bisexual men who have not been celibate for three months — are banned from donating plasma to save lives, thus undermining the fight against COVID-19.

I appreciate that the FDA is listening to the public and scientists who have long questioned the scientific validity of the FDA’s severe restrictions on gay and bisexual men donating blood. Particularly given the blood shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us were heartened that the FDA revisited its ban.

However, the FDA did not end the discriminatory, irrational, and non-science-based ban. Instead, it simply shortened the required celibacy period from one year to three months. While three months is certainly less bad than one year, a three-month celibacy requirement still effectively excludes a huge number of healthy people from donating. The FDA continues to irrationally treat gay and bisexual men differently than others, who may be sexually active but are not bound by this restriction. And, the three-month celibacy period is still not based in science, given the 10-14 day HIV testing window for blood, all of which is screened.

For years, we have advocated to change the FDA’s blood donation ban for gay and bisexual men, given its overall impact on the nation’s blood supply and because it is discriminatory. Yet, the FDA’s policy now creates a specific problem for the fight against COVID-19: the exclusion of gay and bisexual men from donating plasma. As the numbers of those who contract the virus continue to skyrocket, so will the number of recovered gay and bisexual men. It is unacceptable that a gay or bisexual man cannot donate plasma to help  COVID-19 patients, even though no such restriction applies to straight people who are sexually active. Why would we deprive severely ill COVID-19 patients of potentially life-saving treatment?

I encourage the FDA to end the celibacy period for gay and bisexual men for all forms of blood donation, including plasma. The FDA’s policy has no scientific basis and is undermining the fight against COVID-19.

Thank you for your time and attention. Please feel free to contact me directly or Severiano Christian (Severiano.Christian@sen.ca.gov) should you need more information. 

Sincerely, 

                                 

Senator Scott Wiener