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Proposed eased blood donor restrictions has South Texas Blood and Tissue Center hopeful

The FDA is proposing easing blood donor restrictions for homosexual and bisexual men.

The blood donor pool could soon grow as the FDA is considering easing restrictions for the LGBTQIA+ community.

According to a release from the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, our community is facing a significant blood shortage following last week’s freeze.

“It’s just unfortunate. This happens, you know, once a year it seems like with the ice storms. But please donate blood,” Dr. Samantha Gomez Ngamsunktikul, the medical director for the STBTC, said.

On Monday, our community had only a one-day supply of blood. Type-O blood was at less than half a day supply with only 120 units available should someone need a transfusion.

“The community really, really needs the blood for patients,” Dr. Ngamsunktikul said.

It’s why the STBTC’s medical director is hopeful following the FDA’s draft guidance that would expand our available donor pool.

“We are facing a struggle with the number of donors in our population dropping. So any time there are changes based on science that allow us to grow our donors and welcome new donors, we’re really excited,” she said.

The proposed change would get rid of a three-month abstinence requirement for bisexual and homosexual men.

Instead, all potential donors would participate in a questionnaire that takes into account their HIV risk assessment based on partners and other factors.

“The next step will be a 60-day comment period for the public to provide any commentary, any questions,” Dr. Ngamsunktikul said.

From there, the FDA will take in that information and decide whether or not to make the guidance final.

Individual blood centers can then implement those changes.

“We welcome these changes. They’re based on science and it really helps our community in the long run because that means we’re going to have more blood for patients who need it,” Dr. Ngamsunktikul said.

Click here to leave a comment or ask a question to the FDA regarding this draft guidance.


About the Authors
Leigh Waldman headshot

Leigh Waldman is an investigative reporter at KSAT 12. She joined the station in 2021. Leigh comes to San Antonio from the Midwest after spending time at a station in Omaha, NE. After two winters there, she knew it was time to come home to Texas. When Leigh is not at work, she enjoys eating, playing with her dogs and spending time with family.

Gavin Nesbitt headshot

Gavin Nesbitt is an award-winning photojournalist and video editor who joined KSAT in September 2021. He won a Lone Star Emmy, a Regional Murrow, a Texas Broadcast News Award, a Headliners Foundation Silver Showcase Award and 2 Telly Awards for his work covering the deadly school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

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