SF 95

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 01/14/2019 03:34pm

A resolution
memorializing the President and Congress to direct the United States Food and Drug
Administration to revise its current blood or plasma donor deferral policy related to
men who have had sex with a man and to women who have had sex with a man who
has had sex with another man within the previous 12 months from the most recent
contact.

WHEREAS, every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood; and

WHEREAS, approximately 36,000 units of red blood cells, 10,000 units of plasma, and 7,000
units of platelets are needed every day in the United States; and

WHEREAS, less than ten percent of people eligible to donate blood choose to do so each
year; and

WHEREAS, the United States is facing a critical shortage of blood donations; and

WHEREAS, the United States Food and Drug Administration reviews and approves all test
kits used to detect infectious diseases in donated blood and that all blood in the United States is
subject to mandatory tests to detect various transmittable diseases, including HIV; and

WHEREAS, all donated blood must be quarantined until it is tested and shown to be free of
infectious agents; and

WHEREAS, HIV is detectable in ten to 33 days after exposure using a nucleic acid test; and

WHEREAS, donated blood and plasma has limited viability; red blood cells may be held for
up to 42 days; platelets may be held for up to five days; and plasma may be frozen and stored for
up to one year; and

WHEREAS, advances in HIV donor testing have reduced the risk of HIV transmission from
blood transmissions to about one in 1.47 million transfusions; and

WHEREAS, the United States Food and Drug Administration's current blood and plasma
donor recommendation is donor deferral for 12 months from the most recent contact for men who
have had sex during the past 12 months with another man, and for 12 months from the most recent
contact for women who have had sex during the past 12 months with a man who has had sex with
another man in the past 12 months; and

WHEREAS, this donor deferral policy prohibits approximately 19 million American men
and women from donating blood and plasma; and

WHEREAS, one donation can potentially save up to three lives; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the President
and the Congress of the United States to direct the United States Food and Drug Administration to
reevaluate and revise its current donor deferral policy regarding blood and plasma donations from
men who have had sex with men and women who have had sex with men who have had sex with
another man to a donor deferral policy based on an individual assessment of the risk posed by the
donor based on recent potential exposures.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota that it urges the
President and the Congress of the United States to direct the United States Food and Drug
Administration to compile data on the effectiveness of the use of donor educational materials and
questionnaires on safe sexual practices for the prevention of transfusion-transmitted infections
through donated blood; develop reliable screening measures based on available scientific evidence
to assess individual donor risk; and facilitate the implementation of reliable monitoring systems in
order to ensure the safety of the United States blood supply.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the State of Minnesota is directed
to prepare copies of this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United States, the
President and the Secretary of the United States Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United
States House of Representatives, the chair of the United States Senate Committee on Finance, the
chair of the United States House Committee on Ways and Means, and Minnesota's Senators and
Representatives in Congress.