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January 8, 2014 | The Pitt News | www.pittnews.com

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Vol. 105 Issue 88

Pittnews.com

@thepittnews

Thursday,January Janu 8, 2014

SEEING RED FDAʼs move to loosen blood donor ban meets opposition Lauren Wilson For The Pitt News

Missing the mark 8 Alex Wise revisits his menʼs basketball preseason predictions.

based LGBT advocacy organization, isn’t satisfied with the new regulations, either. “It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s still discriminatory,” said Chris Bryan, director of marketing and development at the Delta Foundation. Before donating blood, prospective donors must complete the AABB Donor His-

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with the position of our organizations that the current lifetime deferral is unwarranted,” but that it would take time to implement them. “Our organizations strongly support the use of rational, scientifically based deferral periods that are applied fairly and consistently among blood donors who engage in similar risk activities,” the statement said. Brandon Benjamin, a former president of Pitt’s Rainbow Alliance, said the Red Cross should instead pose questions — not exclusive to gay or bisexual men — regarding high-risk behaviors that could cause disease. “It’s strange, because they think it’s progress,” Benjamin said. The FDA’s recommendations are based on “available scientific evidence,” according to a statement by Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, with help from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Delta Foundation, a Pittsburgh-

New seasonsʼ greetings 6 Stay warm with this winterʼs TV lineup.

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A federal recommendation that would lift the ban on men who have had sex with other men from donating blood has left members of the LGBTQ community dissatisfied. The Food and Drug Administration issued a statement on Dec. 23 announcing recommendations to loosen the guidelines for men who have had sex with other men to donate blood, meeting support of American Red Cross, the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) and America’s Blood Centers. The FDA would implement the updated guidelines sometime this year after the public and stakeholders have had time to comment. The recommendation would replace the FDA’s 31-year-old lifetime ban on men who have had sex with other men from donating, which stemmed from the prevalence of HIV and AIDS within the population. The Red Cross, the AABB and America’s Blood Centers said in their statement that the FDA’s recommendations are “consistent

Weaving the web 4 Local students should improve small businessesʼ internet presence.