"Did you ever notice that all those commercials you see on TV for lawyers soliciting clients who were harmed or killed by various pharmaceuticals are all for drugs that were approved by The FDA?"
Posted on 12/23/2018 8:33:52 AM PST by fwdude
Jerry Rabinowitz, 66, lost his life in the October mass shooting at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. According to his nephew, Rabinowitz was shot and killed while searching for victims in need of a doctor. Those who knew him as a physician remembered his dedication to patients and were not surprised he remained committed to helping those in need until the very last seconds of his life.
There is a cruel irony in Rabinowitz's death: He had spent his career treating gay men with HIV and AIDS, yet many gay men were not permitted to help the victims of the Tree of Life massacre. Following the tragedy, city officials asked for blood donations to assist in treating the wounded—but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) heavily restricts gay men from donating blood, even if they have tested negative for HIV.
For decades, the agency prevented men who have sex with other men from donating blood under any circumstances, thanks to concerns about the spread of HIV, which had a long dormancy period and could be difficult to detect. But thanks to scientific innovation, screening for the virus has significantly improved. In 2010, the FDA conceded that the previous policy was "suboptimal" in that it allowed "some potentially high risk donations while preventing some potentially low risk donations." In 2015, it eased restrictions slightly to allow gay men who had not engaged in sexual activity in at least a year to donate blood.
Today, tests can detect HIV in as little as two weeks to three months, meaning that the rule is still needlessly excluding many safe blood donors. There are also no exceptions for gay men who use condoms or are in monogamous relationships, even while the restriction does not apply to heterosexuals who do not use condoms or are not monogamous.
This isn't the first time lives have been jeopardized by prejudice against gay men. The FDA's policy prevented several partners and friends of the victims of the 2016 Pulse shooting in Orlando from donating blood to help save their loved ones.
According to Michael Kerr, a former patient of Rabinowitz, the physician was "known in the community for keeping us alive the longest." In the early days of HIV stigma and discrimination, he held his patients' hands without gloves and hugged them after each visit. It's a shame that the community Rabinowitz served for so long was prohibited by an antiquated law from offering support for their doctor and his people.
The Gay agenda trumps safety.
Keep the rule.
We all know that if people contract AIDS from donated [gay] blood, it will be covered up by the MSM and the Authorities. And anyone who rightly complains about it will be demonized.
Gay blood should be reserved for Proggies.
Wonder if this applies to IV drug users? After all, they are good people too.
Wonder if this applies to IV drug users? After all, they are good people too.
Apparently, lefties have forgotten about Ryan White. He served his purpose. Now let’s forget about him.
Feelings are important, ya know.
Before doing this, they should lift the ban on blood donations from people who lived in certain parts of Europe during certain time periods. We were stationed in Spain in the early 1980s, and are indefinitely deferred from donating blood.
As I tell people, I am doing just fine but anyone who receives my blood will get mad cow disease and die.
In reality, the risk of getting mad cow from someone who lived in Europe is far smaller than the risk of getting HIV from a gay donor.
I donate B negative three times annually at the local K of C to the Red Cross.
Keep the rule Be Safer
Exactly. All people with high risk behavior should NOT be allowed to donate.
Feelings are important, ya know.
Yup. Shut up and pay your taxes.
People that lack knowledge of history are destined to repeat it. Just look at how the population of hemophiliacs were decimated in Canada by Bill Clinton’s action by allowing Baxter Company of Mountain Home, Arkansas, to use homosexual and prisoner blood for blood products destined for Canada. The writer of this article would benefit by such knowledge.
Uh, no, he wouldn’t.
I have a long time friend who has surgery over 30 years ago. Her transfusion blood had Hepatitis in it.
She has had to live with that disease for over 30 years..
I’m O negative but barred from donating due to 80s military service in Europe.
Since when is infecting others with blood that could likely be undetectably lethally toxic a civil right?
How are they bastardizing the Constitution to come up with that?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.