# Why couldn't blood banks also do routine draws for lab work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 27, 2022, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-couldnt-blood-banks-also-do-routine-draws-for-lab-work/958495 "2022-01-27T15:35:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-couldnt-blood-banks-also-do-routine-draws-for-lab-work/958495/21 "2022-01-27T19:38:03Z")
I’m not going to defend their decisions about who gets deferred and who doesn’t, but they usually aren’t the only game in town. Is there a nearby University that does medical research in your area? I started at Stanford University Blood Bank and only switched to Red Cross when I moved out of California. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-couldnt-blood-banks-also-do-routine-draws-for-lab-work/958495/22 "2022-01-27T19:46:09Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > around here, it would be a pretty tiny fraction of people who lived in the U.K. in the 80’s. I wondered what the numbers are - it will presumably be lower today, but in 1999 when they introduced the restriction (_at which time_ it was certainly warranted given our ignorance of the disease) the Red Cross estimated 2.2% of the U.S. blood supply. [FDA bans blood donation by people who have lived in UK - PMC](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1116429/) ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-couldnt-blood-banks-also-do-routine-draws-for-lab-work/958495/23 "2022-01-27T19:47:12Z")
The restrictions on blood donation come from the FDA, they’re not set by individual blood collection services. So there’s no point in trying elsewhere. Contrariwise, there’s not much point bemoaning not being allowed to donate even though there’s a shortage - the FDA moves slowly in relaxing blood donation restrictions. Especially for ones that have a very small impact on the overall blood supply, like the UK residence one. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-couldnt-blood-banks-also-do-routine-draws-for-lab-work/958495/24 "2022-01-27T19:47:54Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > there’s not much point bemoaning not being allowed to donate even though there’s a shortage Highlighting stupid policies is not something we should be doing? I am not _personally_ offended. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-couldnt-blood-banks-also-do-routine-draws-for-lab-work/958495/25 "2022-01-27T19:59:16Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > I’m not sure if you were implying that the phlebotomists were volunteers, or the donors were volunteers. I didn’t mean to imply that the phlebotomists were volunteers. I think at my blood bank they are professionals who make their livings this way. But much of the other staff seems to be unpaid volunteers, and wears badges identifying themselves that way. It has always struck me, because the place looks like it is just brimming with money, what with the real estate and the building (soaring vaulted ceilings with skylights and little ponds and planter boxes in the atriums). And I believe all of the donors are unpaid volunteers. Admittedly, I’m the public, so from my point of view their whole approach seems to be very public facing. But when I go to a lab or the nearest hospital for my blood draws, it looks like there’s a huge operation behind the scenes, and the only investment for their public facing operation (what the restaurant industry calls “the front of the house”) is a begrudging one for crummy waiting rooms with a crummy service window. Donating blood is like visiting Longwood Gardens, and giving a lab sample is like buying grass seed at Home Depot. I know lots of people volunteer at Longwood Gardens, and I bet nobody ever volunteered at Home Depot. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2022, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-couldnt-blood-banks-also-do-routine-draws-for-lab-work/958495/26 "2022-01-27T20:09:39Z")
> [@Esprise\_Me](#): > > How common is it for people healthy enough to donate blood to need routine blood work? A little browsing indicates that this is very much the rule and not the exception: “Doctors recommend patients have routine blood tests at a diagnostic testing center at least once a year […] If you’re over 40 or have a chronic illness, you should get tested more often.” [https://gwinnetturgentcare.com/how-often-you-need-to-get-your-blood-test-done](https://gwinnetturgentcare.com/how-often-you-need-to-get-your-blood-test-done) “Overall, nearly 60% of blood donations come from people over 40 — and nearly 45% come from people older than 50” > **[As loyal blood donors age, industry is out for young blood](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2017/09/24/loyal-blood-donors-age-industry-out-young-blood/683714001/)** > > Nearly 60% of the U.S. blood supply is provided by people older than 40. Why is it so hard to find young donors? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-couldnt-blood-banks-also-do-routine-draws-for-lab-work/958495.md?page=1)