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FDA Plans to Allow More Gay, Bisexual Men to Donate Blood

Current rules bar blood donations from men who recently had sex with men due to HIV transmission risk

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People donating at a blood drive hosted by the New York Blood Center in the East Village in New York. Photo: Amir Hamja for The Wall Street Journal

Gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships would be allowed to donate blood without abstaining from sex under guidelines being drafted by the Food and Drug Administration, people familiar with the plans said.

The change would be a departure from U.S. policy that for many years barred men who have sex with men from donating blood. The FDA policy originated in the 1980s during the AIDS epidemic, when tests for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, weren’t considered sensitive enough to protect the blood supply.

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