Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

A National Gay Blood Drive is taking place in more than 60 U.S. cities on Friday to call attention to the the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s longstanding ban prohibiting gay and bisexual men from donating blood. The drive – which is open to everyone – is organized by filmmaker and activist Ryan James Yezak with the help of local leaders and volunteers from …

WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin is leading a group of 85 House and Senate lawmakers criticizing what she’s says is the sluggish pace the nation’s top health officials have taken at reevaluating blood donation policies for gay men.

LOS ANGELES — Gay rights activists are planning protests at blood donation centers across the nation on Friday to combat the Food and Drug Administration’s ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men.

The American Medical Association, the largest association of physicians in the U.S., voted Tuesday to oppose a decades long ban by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which prohibits gay men from donating blood, reported ABC News.

FOSTER CITY, Calif. — Gilead Sciences Inc. said Monday that the Food and Drug Administration rejected two marketing applications for HIV treatments, citing quality control problems at the company’s manufacturing facilities.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved Truvada, the first drug approved to reduce the risk of HIV infection in uninfected individuals who are at high risk of HIV infection, or who may engage in sexual activity with HIV-infected partners.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved the OraQuick In-Home HIV Test, the first over-the-counter, self-administered HIV test kit to detect the presence of HIV antibodies. HIV is the virus that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).

A 22-year-old straight man from Gary, Indiana has been prohibited from donating blood at a local blood and plasma center because, after undergoing routine screening procedures, was told that he “appeared to be a homosexual.”

A government health committee Friday voted against rescinding the ban on gay men donating blood but also called for new research on alternative policies, citing flaws in the current rules. The Health and Human Services Committee, in its recommendations, noted that current policy permits some potentially high-risk blood donations and prevents some possible low-risk donations. […]

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts called today for the Food and Drug Administration to lift a “discriminatory” ban on gay men donating blood. Kerry led a group of 18 senators — 17 Democrats and one independent — who sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, urging her to lift the lifetime ban on […]