The following statement is attributable to:
Jack Resneck Jr., M.D.
President, American Medical Association
“As a long-time advocate for using rational, scientifically based blood and tissue donation deferral periods based on a donor’s individual risk, the AMA welcomes the FDA’s new guidance that removes outdated categorical restrictions on blood donations from men who have sex with men (MSM). We applaud the FDA for applying the latest scientific evidence to ensure that blood donation criteria are applied more equitably across all segments of our population, including the LGBTQ+ community.
“While this is a huge step in the right direction, we urge the FDA to expand their work by reevaluating its donation deferral policies for corneas, human cells and other cellular and tissue-based products based on the latest scientific evidence—ensuring they are also fairly and consistently applied to donors according to their individual risk.
“The AMA will continue to relentlessly advocate for eliminating public policies that do not align with scientific evidence and best ethical practices.”
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About the American Medical Association
The American Medical Association is the physicians’ powerful ally in patient care. As the only medical association that convenes 190+ state and specialty medical societies and other critical stakeholders, the AMA represents physicians with a unified voice to all key players in health care. The AMA leverages its strength by removing the obstacles that interfere with patient care, leading the charge to prevent chronic disease and confront public health crises and, driving the future of medicine to tackle the biggest challenges in health care.
