# I pit people who don't donate blood! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 20, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496 "2006-06-20T23:10:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Dead\_Badger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/848f3c/32.png) [@Dead\_Badger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Badger)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/81 "2006-06-21T11:46:33Z")
[QUOTE=Bricker] “Oh! _Even once_? Yeah, sure, of course, I didn’t know you meant ‘even once!’ Then yes.” [/QUOTE] Well, I guess otherwise it’s possible (if you squint a bit and turn your head sideways) to read the question “have you _been having_ sex with another man since 1978?” In this case you might get loonies answering no either because they’ve split up with the other man, met him later than 1978, or because they’ve been having sex with _lots_ of other men. When making things foolproof, never underestimate the resourcefulness of the typical fool\*. \*I forget who said this so I’m going to give credit to Douglas Adams because it’s the sort of thing he’d have said. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/82 "2006-06-21T11:48:58Z")
[hijack] I would like to pit the Red Cross for a different reason. I got my new donor card a while back. Has the fancy new bar code on it so you can scan me in. Has my name on it and my blood type. You know what it doesn’t have? It doesn’t have the total number of donations (lifetime) that my old card had. While it may seem petty, I am very proud of the fact that I have given six gallons of blood. I like the fact that the RN would make over me just a bit when they saw how much I have given. Now with my new card, you have taken that away. You really don’t understand what drives some of us to donate do you? :wally [/hijack] Now returning to your regulary scheduled rant. Have I had bad sticks? Sure a couple of time. But that is life, things don’t always work out perfectly. ::: shrug::: I have never considered not donating becasue of a bad stick. The one thing I can’t do is platelets. I did it a few time, and my veins start to shut down when the process is about 75% done. That and I would get a migraine for 2 days afterwards. Giving blood does not bother me, but I can’t do platelets. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/83 "2006-06-21T12:16:45Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Clam] Sorry if that sounded snarky, but it just seems such a totally bizarre idea to me, sheltered child of a socialist system that I am. So, how does blood donation work: if organisations like the Red Cross get it for free, do they then _sell_ it to hospitals (eurgh…still can’t get over buying blood)? If so, do donators get some sort of compensation? And if not, why do hospitals charge for it? [/QUOTE] The Red Cross, like most blood banks, charges only for accessories that are necessarily delivered with donated blood, like bags and tubing, not the blood itself. These items cost money for the Red Cross, so there’s no reason the cost shouldn’t be passed to the hospital. The blood itself is free of charge. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/84 "2006-06-21T12:29:09Z")
Hepatitus so can’t donate. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Clam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3bc359/32.png) [@Happy\_Clam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Clam)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/85 "2006-06-21T12:36:48Z")
[QUOTE=Brain Wreck] The Red Cross, like most blood banks, charges only for accessories that are necessarily delivered with donated blood, like bags and tubing, not the blood itself. These items cost money for the Red Cross, so there’s no reason the cost shouldn’t be passed to the hospital. The blood itself is free of charge. [/QUOTE] So…when people have made mention of the hundreds of dollars that blood costs in hospitals, is that all surcharge slapped on by the hospital, then? Ick. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/86 "2006-06-21T12:55:34Z")
[QUOTE=Happy Clam] So…when people have made mention of the hundreds of dollars that blood costs in hospitals, is that all surcharge slapped on by the hospital, then? Ick. [/QUOTE] Our Hospitals are notorious for slapping on surcharges, but then they need to; to cover the cost of an unrelenting wash of lawsuits that hospitals are endure. The real high cost of American Health Care is the frivolous lawsuits not the medical profession. Jim ---
**Author:** ![blinkingblinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@blinkingblinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blinkingblinking)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/87 "2006-06-21T13:02:20Z")
I do not consider myself a selfish asshole. But I do not give blood. I do not want to. I did give blood once. But I will not again. I am not sure if I am too lazy,or apathetic. I just do not want to. Actually my brother thought he got hepatitus from giving blood. I know not whether this is true. I do remember having to get the most painful injection to ensure I would not get hepatitus. I am not a fan of the Red Cross in Australia.Maybe they are better in other countries. But here from the CEO downwards, they are dickheads. Maybe I will get some interesting feedback. I do not know. ---
**Author:** ![stpauler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/88 "2006-06-21T13:09:29Z")
[QUOTE=t-bonham@scc.net] Personally, I decline to participate or cooperate with **bigoted, homophobic organizations**. And I encourage my friends to do so, too. Sometimes this means I won’t help groups that are useful, and often filled with good-hearted people. Like Boy Scouts, Salvation Army, Red Cross blood groups, etc. But that’s what happens when they choose to elevate their bigotry over their charitable mission. [/QUOTE] Please explain to me how the Red Cross is bigoted or homophobic. It is not the Red Cross that doesn’t let practicing homosexuals donate. It was [the FDA](http://www.boston.com/news/globe/magazine/articles/2005/11/27/drawing_conclusions/) that passed the edict in 1985 that doesn’t let the Red Cross collect the blood. > [@](#): > > For about 20 years, the US Food and Drug Administration has prohibited men who have had sex with men and their sexual partners, male or female, from donating blood. Their reasoning is that the measure reduces the risk of HIV in the blood supply - and a 7-6 committee vote in 2000 reaffirmed the decision. If you’ve ever given blood, you’ve no doubt heard the question: Men are asked if they’ve had sexual contact with a man, even once, since 1977; women are asked if they’ve had sexual contact in the past 12 months with a man who has had sex with a man since 1977. The questions smack of discrimination and ignorance, unfairly portraying all gay and bisexual sex as inherently promiscuous and ignoring the reality of promiscuity among some heterosexuals. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/89 "2006-06-21T13:38:49Z")
[QUOTE=Apricot] As someone who has donated gallons of blood, I am tweeked by your attitude **OneCentStamp**. You don’t own my blood. You don’t get to tell me what to do. Or anyone else. I bet you think the United Way workplace campaigns are a good idea, too. [/QUOTE] Ditto that, Apricot - his/her attitude is cheesing me off as well. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/90 "2006-06-21T14:10:43Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Same here. I was quite surprised when it changed. Went to give blood one day and was told “No way, you’re a mad cow!” Went from quarterly to denied. [/QUOTE] This is pretty much what happened to me. Thing is, I came home from England and left the mad cows in 1987, and never heard there was any possible problem with my blood until 1999. I asked about the mad cows a few times when I went in, and was told I was still okay to give blood until that last visit, when I was denied. I was getting close to the 10-gallon mark. If there _is_ anything wrong with my blood, I had ample opportunity to spread it around. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/91 "2006-06-21T14:28:18Z")
I used to danate blood all the time, until 2003, when my health began to suffer. Since then, I hardly go more than a few months before I’m stuffed with medication again. I wonder if they’d still want my blood. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Boggette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/858c86/32.png) [@Boggette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boggette)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/92 "2006-06-21T14:30:29Z")
[QUOTE=Antonius Block] Count me in with those who wished that they **could** donate, but are not eligible to do so under [current guidelines](http://www.redcross.org/services/biomed/0,1082,0_557_,00.html#vcjd) (click on link titled “Learn more about vCJD and blood donation.”):I always **used** to donate blood, and I’ve auto-donated prior to having surgery. I wish that they would re-think that particular criterion. The chances of me being a carrier for Mad Cow Disease are so small as to be essentially non-existent. [/QUOTE] Sonova! I got caught in this one, too! I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one since I was told that the number of people eliminated by this change ‘was so small’. HA! I used to give religiously. And my blood type was universal donor so they wanted it bad. I was an exchange student in LONDON (that sesspit of Mad Cow :rolleyes: ) in 1988 and was there for 3.5 months. The rule used to be 6 months. Now it’s 3 months. So now our blood just isn’t good enough. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/93 "2006-06-21T14:50:27Z")
I’ve donated in the past, even though I’m always a bad stick, but I can’t until September now because I had a tattoo done last year. Now THAT’S a stupid guideline–I saw the tattoo artist take the new needle right out of the packaging (he MADE me watch), so I think it’s pretty impossible that I have some disease. But my workplace does it right. We get one extra paid day off for every two donations. Plus you get to take the rest of the day off paid after your donation. I work in a hospital, so they are extra-aware of blood donation. I don’t know what attendance is like here, but I bet it’s better than workplaces that don’t hand out the perks. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/94 "2006-06-21T15:22:19Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] :rolleyes: Well, there’s homophobia as in gay barmen getting beaten to death for being queer, and then there’s homophobia as in gay would-be blood donors getting their widdle feelings hurt over being considered a statistically unacceptable HIV risk. The latter kind of homophobia isn’t enough to sway me against the needs of people who need donated blood to save their lives, but who am I to cry out on your sense of priorities? Oh, except that this is the Pit so I can call you a dick if I like. [disclaimer]Many gay Dopers express regret over not being allowed to donate blood, but do it in such a manner as not to deserve the “widdle feelings hurt” line, and don’t go around demanding that people should boycott the whole process. _Them_, I sympathise with.[/disclaimer] [/QUOTE] The part of it that disgusts me is that the fact that you have had sex with a man is all they look at. Nevermind that for example, I have been in a relationship for 5 years and all that sex has been with the same man. I’ve been tested for HIV several times and have always been clear. I work in health care so I’ve also been tested for just about everything else too. Yet I have friend who are straight and sleep around with someone new every fucking week yet that is not an issue. Yet I am the one classed as an unacceptable health risk. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/95 "2006-06-21T15:25:55Z")
[QUOTE=Lissa] Well, all I know is that when my husband donated, he got a little card each time. If he ever needed blood, all he had to do was produce that card and it would be free. So, there is some benefit. [/QUOTE] It was an agreement between the Red Cross and a bunch of local hospitals. ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/96 "2006-06-21T15:35:04Z")
[QUOTE=Antinor01] Yet I have friend who are straight and sleep around with someone new every fucking week yet that is not an issue. Yet I am the one classed as an unacceptable health risk. [/QUOTE] I wonder why they don’t ask straight people about their exposure to butt sex. One would think that the risk of a woman getting something from anal sex with a man would be just as high as it would for a gay receiver. I think the guidelines (which are as stated NOT the Red Cross’) are homophobic however that wouldn’t stop me from donating personally, simply because there’s no other place you can go to if you want to donate. These are federal guidelines. There are other charities you can support if you don’t give to the Salvation Army or Boy Scouts, but it’s not like there’s an independently run clinic that doesn’t use the FDA guidelines. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/97 "2006-06-21T15:47:06Z")
Used to donate blood every year. OK, only once a year, at the annual Office blood drive, sure. One year my blood came in barely positive under some new test for HepC indicators. I went to my MD, who tested me and said I was healthly as a horse, and not so much as a sign of Hep. I called the Red Cross, who said _their_ test was correct, they would not re-test, my MD was wrong, and they’d never, ever take my blood again, and please keep at least 20 feet away from any of their facilities (OK, that last part isn’t true.) So I went in for a complete Physical, with complete blood work up looking for anything even remotely like Hep. Nothing- clean bill of health. Contacted American RC- they said “sorry, once we have tested you Positive, you can never give blood again, no we won’t restest, and we don’t care what your MD and your lab says”. In other words, they have never heard of a false positive and I have been told they have even discontinued that particular test. And two complete Physicals since then, with not a sign of _anything_ wrong. (OK, my bloodsugar was a _bit_ high this last time, 101, but nothing Liver related) So, the American Red Cross and their blood-drives can go fuck themselves, and so can dudes that think I am a “selfish asshole” for not giving blood. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/98 "2006-06-21T16:00:24Z")
[QUOTE=Eve] I have to have blood tests every six months for my cholesterol and I asked why they can get blood out (though with a maximum of hacking and stabbing). They told me the needles for donations are unusually large, to get huge gushers of blood into the bags. [/QUOTE] Just checking, you know I was teasing right? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/99 "2006-06-21T16:04:52Z")
I’m another “past-donor,” currently on hiatus. Over the course of several years I donated at least a couple of gallons - blood and platelets. If nothing else, I alway’s interpreted their instructions to avoid alcohol for several hours and to drink plenty of fluids for a couple of days to mean a cheap drunk that night! Plus, my veins are the envy of any heroin addict and a blind phlebotomist’s dream. What turned me off was the time I had anemia. They tested my iron as on the low side, but drained me anyway. Then I saw my dr., who diagnosed and treated my anemia. So when the vampires called, I said I needed to get this anemia cleared up. And then they kept calling and kept calling. Really pissed me off. I can imagine at some time I’ll start donating again. But their aggressiveness lost them several pints milked from this cow. Does the OP consider the possibility of a sufficient lifetime contribution? At some point has an individual donated “enough”? Or is anyone who can, obligated to give until they die? ---
**Author:** ![Aangelica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Aangelica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aangelica)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2006, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496/100 "2006-06-21T16:13:11Z")
I’ve tried (despite needle-phobia in a fairly embarassing extreme) to donate several times. They willnae have my blood. Sad, as I’m a rare type. Nor will they have my plasma or platelets. Which is okay with me because the anticoagulant they use for platelet donation has a middling chance of killing me.\* It was exceptionally irksome that they continued to call me to pester me for donations after having turned me down in perpetuity. I used to get chirpy little people calling me daily in two - three month intervals reminding me to donate. I’d tell them my blood was not welcome and they’d say “Oh.” and then tell me the hours and location of the latest drive were. Maddening. \*I have drug allergies. For some reason, known only to Og, my allergic reactions are either a) nonexistent or b) immediate and potentially fatal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-pit-people-who-dont-donate-blood/361496.md?page=6)