1w ago
The FDA’s recent decision to revise its blood donation policy for gay and bisexual men is great news. Now it needs to reconsider its policy on corneal donation. Under FDA policy, any man who dies within five years of having sex with another man cannot donate tissue. The FDA excludes donation based on sexual history, rather than disease-specific test results. The Cornea Society and Eye Bank Association of America joined the Academy in pressing the FDA to bring its tissue-donation policy in line with that for blood and organ donation. As we noted in our Dec. 1 letter to the agency, “Our organizations believe that the current … exclusion policy is based on outdated science and unwarranted fears of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis virus transmission via corneal donation.” The FDA has put the tissue-donation policy on its agenda of issues needing new or updated guidance, though that does not mean FDA will act. Join our organizations and demand that FDA act now.
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