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Monday, September 12, 2005
1:05 PM -
Current mood:
accomplished
Hey everybody,
I wanted to share this with you. I have removed the
contact info of the person who sent this to me, as I want to protect them from
any unwelcome solicitations.
The first part of this is a message I sent to a certain
organization.
The next is their reply.
It makes me feel a little better.
Thanks.
Love, as always,
Josh
-----Original Message-----
Hi-
I agree with the importance of giving blood, and were I
eligible, I
would do it regularly. I think somehow, you guys need to
research new
elegibility options.
I am a married, monogamous, disease-free,
non-intravenous-drug-using
bisexual male. My blood is clean. By denying conscientious
folks like me
the ability to give blood, you are achieving two negative
things:
1) You are perpetuating stereotypes about people like me,
and others who
fall into certain minority groups.
2) You are perpetuating blood shortages that effect
millions of people
throughout this country and the world.
It seems to me that a person who is disease-free, and who
has the desire
to help out, should be allowed to. By discriminating
against us, you not
only make us feel like substandard citizens, but you
effectively deny
people in need the blood that can save their life. In
effect, you are
killing the people you are supposedly trying to help.
I have sat on this for years, without talking directly to
you, because I
didn't feel like there was anything I could do. Recent
circumstances in
our country have led me to wish to be more vocal on the
injustices
around me. Your ad about ...[removed to protect sender]...
made me very upset and drove home the fact that I need to do something.
Thank you for listening.
I hope you will at the very least respond to this message.
I would
really like to know your justification.
Sincerely,
Josh Hostetler
--------------
Josh,
I, along with several of my associates and medical
professionals across
the US, agree with you. To clarify, this is an FDA
mandate, not a
regulation imposed by individual blood banks. Blood banks
across the US
are required to follow all FDA mandates and regulations
and they are not
left open to interpretation. I understand your frustration
especially
when we don't have enough blood on the shelves.
Another mandate to look at is a person who visited the UK
fro 1980-1996
and spent more than 3 months there cumulatively cannot
donate because of
the risk of mad cow disease. If the person was a
vegetarian who never
ate beef and didn't come in contact with bovine products,
they still
cannot donate blood.
Or the airline pilot who flies into an airport of a
country that has
malaria endemic areas, but never leaves the cockpit of the
plane-he/she
cannot donate either.
Or the homosexual male who hasn't had sex for the past 15
years-cannot
donate blood.
I could go on...
I'm sure this doesn't make you feel any better, but just
wanted you to
know that (...we are...) definitely not "perpetuating
stereotypes" or "blood
shortages." We're doing the best we can with the
mandates and
guidelines we've been given to follow. It's not perfect by
any means,
but it's the best we've got right now. Thanks for caring
enough to send
your thoughts!
[SIGNATURE REMOVED FOR SENDER'S PROTECTION]
Currently listening :
Mer de Noms
By A Perfect Circle
Release date: By 23 May, 2000
