Doctor who survived coronavirus denied chance to donate plasma because he’s gay, as members of congress attempt to change legislation

‘We’re sitting on something that could be saving lives,’ says Dr Dillon Barron

A Chicago doctor who has recovered after contracting coronavirus earlier in the year is calling for a change in the law after being denied the chance to donate blood because he is gay.

Dr Dillon Barron, who is an emergency room doctor, said that after he and his partner, Eric Seelbach, both recovered from contracting Covid-19, they decided to donate blood to help save other coronavirus patients, but were denied the chance because of their sexuality.

Dr Barron told CBS Chicago: “I really felt passionate about doing something; wanting to be in control and feel like I was helping people,” and added: “We’re sitting on something that could be saving lives.”

In the US, men who have sex with other men (MSM) are not able to give blood if they have been sexually active within three months of the proposed donation, even if they are in a monogamous relationship or are practising safe sex.

Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) reduced the amount of time gay and bisexual men have to wait without sex, in order to give blood, from one year, to three months, amid the coronavirus pandemic and a shortage of plasma.

However, Dr Barron believes that the relaxation of restrictions does not go far enough, and thinks now is the time to look into the science behind the stance.

The issue has support from politicians, and basing decisions on whether gay and bisexual men have to wait to give blood on “individual risk factors” is the focus of House Resolution 989, which was introduced by several members of Congress at the beginning of June.

The resolution calls for “policies governing blood and blood product donation in the United States,” to be “be grounded in science” and to “allow donations by all those who can safely do so.”

The original ban, which is still the basis of guidelines today, was implemented in 1983 amid the HIV epidemic, and originally banned gay and bisexual men for life.

However, with improved testing and screening, alongside the introduction of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), which is a short course of HIV medicines that if administered within 72 hours of exposure prevents the virus taking hold in the body, the waiting time has been modified to a year or less for a majority of Western countries.

Dr Anu Hazra, an infectious disease physician at the University of Chicago, told CBS that “there is no science currently to support,” the ban on gay and bisexual men giving blood without abstaining from sex for three months, when many are not at risk of contracting the virus.

An antibody test can take up to 90 days for HIV infection to be detected after an exposure, but Dr Hazra believes any waiting period should be decided through “individual risk assessments for every donor, regardless of whether they are gay or straight.”

According to the House resolution: “Lifting the Federal lifetime deferral policy on blood donation by an MSM could result in as many as 4,200,000 newly eligible male donors, of which 360,600 would likely donate and generate 615,300 additional pints of blood.”

Mr Seelbach believes that the additional pints of blood are not currently available “because of bigotry or laziness or people who don’t believe in science.”

Dr Barron and Mr Seelbach are calling for a change in legislation, and have received the backing of their representative, Illinois congresswoman Jan Schakowsky.

She told the couple that “there is no reason behind it that’s based on science,” and added: “We really need to make progress, and what you are advocating is to help.”

House Resolution 989 has been referred to committee, and Ms Schakowsky is hopeful that blood shortages, amid the pandemic, will help convince members of Congress to change the legislation.