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I've run up against the regulation on how often I can give blood and would like to get the regulations changed to make more sense.
My blood donation history:
- In NY I gave what is called Double Red (DR) donations about every 112 days. This is the type of blood donation the hospitals like to have for use.
- Once here I found a blood drive but they did not have enough supplies for me to do a DR donation at that time, so I did a Whole Blood donation. This was on 6/17/09
- I then did a DR on 8/19/09. Which was the next drive I was eligible
- On 12/17/09 I did another DR again as soon as I was eligible
The current problem:
- According to my records I am now eligible to make another DR as more then 112 days have passed since my last DR.
- But because the FDA regulations say I can only give the equivalent of 6 units per year I can not do a DR until 6/17/10.
My reason for wanting the regulations updated:
- I have O+ blood which is somewhat rare and in demand all the time.
- My blood contains the right elements that it clots very fast. So fast that giving a whole blood donation sometimes does not work as I clot and plug the needle.
- This is why I prefer making DR donation
Why should 7 months have to pass before I get to the anniversary of my June 2009 donation before I can do another DR?
When if I'd started with a DR I could be making a donation next week at the local drive.
In this time of our country being in two wars and a chronic blood supply shortages we need to change this regulation so that more people do not get turned away from making Double Red donations.
I'v just sent the above out as an email to the FDA with the hope that hundreds more will follow suit. This regulation makes no sense and just discourages many people that have started to make Double Red donations from following through.
Please join me in urging the FDA to make this change so that more of us can help out our fellow man by emailing them at ocod@fda.hhs.gov
Thank you.
