Yet, the blood shortage is far from over. Then, in 2020, the restriction was amended to three months to increase blood donations during the COVID-19 pandemic. This policy was originally a lifetime ban however, in 2015, the Food and Drug Administration changed the deferral to 12 months.
In the United States, men who have sex with men, or MSM, are restricted from donating blood unless they abstain from sex for three months.
So how many lives are claimed by discriminatory donor guidelines? One blood donation can save up to three lives.
