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Gay Blood; I ain't for it.
Topic Started: Jul 26 2011, 06:28 PM (1,094 Views)
jon-nyc
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Cheers
I have a gay friend who gives blood. I wonder if he lies when they ask?
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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VPG
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Pisa-Carp
I was told because I am on an aspirin regimen I cant give blood.

Didn't Aurthur Ashe die of tainted blood? (HIV)
I'M NOT YELLING.........I'M ITALIAN...........THAT'S HOW WE TALK!


"People say that we're in a time when there are no heroes, they just don't know where to look."
Ronald Reagan, Inaugural, 1971

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George K
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Finally
Dewey
Jul 27 2011, 08:18 PM
Quote:
 
If something else doesn't get them first, HIV is still 100% fatal, as far as I know.


Life is 100% fatal. Eventually, every doctor loses every single patient.
By that standard, why bother treating anything at all. We don't save lives, we prolong them. Is it not worth prolonging since you're going to die anyway?
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"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... "
- Mik, 6/14/08


Nothing is as effective as homeopathy.

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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
We'll see George. They had to pass it for us to see what's in it.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
George K
Jul 28 2011, 03:19 AM
Dewey
Jul 27 2011, 08:18 PM
Quote:
 
If something else doesn't get them first, HIV is still 100% fatal, as far as I know.


Life is 100% fatal. Eventually, every doctor loses every single patient.
By that standard, why bother treating anything at all. We don't save lives, we prolong them. Is it not worth prolonging since you're going to die anyway?
George, my point is that of looking at the percentage of potential risk to the percentage of potential benefit. As I've said, if we have an ample supply of blood without getting any from the restricted groups, then I don't have any issue with maintaining the current standard, since the percentage of benefit (saving lives) would seem to be less than the percentage of possible harm (infection), even as small as that might be. Realizing that life is always 100% fatal, we still do work - often heroically - to save and help people put off that death as long as possible - we're saying that even though death will always ultimately win, the percentage of benefit (longer, less painful, better quality life) is greater than the percentage of harm (immediate death, pain, suffering). That's the same thing I'm saying. If we reach the point where we need more blood to do so, we should reexamine our current restrictions on blood donation and accept blood from those who are the least dangerous populations (which, in fact, may not even be gay males) and begin accepting blood from them because the percentage of potential benefit (life) is greater than the percentage of potential harm (life with infection). We perform surgeries all the time that will ensure continuance of life, without continuance of the *same* life as before the process, because we value life itself more than a supposedly "perfect" life.
"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

"Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous

"Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011

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apple
one of the angels
I'd much rather get blood from the US, than from Mexico... and yes, Mik there is a window of opportunity for new HIV infections to get thru the screening process..

i don't understand why HIV blood, if you'd call it that, could not be reserved for HIV patients.. push come to shove. .. altho that would probably be a death knell for them.. last chance buddy.
it behooves me to behold
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Because there are multiple strains of HIV with varying resistances to drug therapies. The more strains you carry the worse your chances are.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Red Rice
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Dewey
Jul 27 2011, 09:45 PM
I agree, which - I think I need to repeat, since it seems to be getting lost - is why I said that unless there were some dire shortage of blood supply, I don't have any real issue with the current restrictions in place.
Agreed, though my thinking is that if there were a dire shortage, we should be trying to encourage more low-risk people to donate rather than turning to a high-risk population. To turn to the latter first, as I've stated before, smacks of political correctness.
Civilisation, I vaguely realized then - and subsequent observation has confirmed the view - could not progress that way. It must have a greater guiding principle to survive. To treat it as a carcase off which each man tears as much as he can for himself, is to stand convicted a brute, fit for nothing better than a jungle existence, which is a death-struggle, leading nowhither. I did not believe that was the human destiny, for Man individually was sane and reasonable, only collectively a fool.

I hope the gunner of that Hun two-seater shot him clean, bullet to heart, and that his plane, on fire, fell like a meteor through the sky he loved. Since he had to end, I hope he ended so. But, oh, the waste! The loss!

- Cecil Lewis
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Dewey
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HOLY CARP!!!
I agree with that.

On the other hand - not necessarily pertinent to this topic - I think many times, people want to dismiss as being merely "politically correct" things which actually are "correct, but discomforting" that we'd rather not acknowledge and have to deal with.
"By nature, i prefer brevity." - John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, p. 685.

"Never waste your time trying to explain yourself to people who are committed to misunderstanding you." - Anonymous

"Oh sure, every once in a while a turd floated by, but other than that it was just fine." - Joe A., 2011

I'll answer your other comments later, but my primary priority for the rest of the evening is to get drunk." - Klaus, 12/31/14
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Red Rice
HOLY CARP!!!
Dewey
Jul 28 2011, 06:10 AM
On the other hand - not necessarily pertinent to this topic - I think many times, people want to dismiss as being merely "politically correct" things which actually are "correct, but discomforting" that we'd rather not acknowledge and have to deal with.
That's correct, but discomfiting.
Civilisation, I vaguely realized then - and subsequent observation has confirmed the view - could not progress that way. It must have a greater guiding principle to survive. To treat it as a carcase off which each man tears as much as he can for himself, is to stand convicted a brute, fit for nothing better than a jungle existence, which is a death-struggle, leading nowhither. I did not believe that was the human destiny, for Man individually was sane and reasonable, only collectively a fool.

I hope the gunner of that Hun two-seater shot him clean, bullet to heart, and that his plane, on fire, fell like a meteor through the sky he loved. Since he had to end, I hope he ended so. But, oh, the waste! The loss!

- Cecil Lewis
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jon-nyc
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Cheers
I prefer that which is wrong but makes me feel good.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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Red Rice
HOLY CARP!!!
Which explains your purity score. :P
Civilisation, I vaguely realized then - and subsequent observation has confirmed the view - could not progress that way. It must have a greater guiding principle to survive. To treat it as a carcase off which each man tears as much as he can for himself, is to stand convicted a brute, fit for nothing better than a jungle existence, which is a death-struggle, leading nowhither. I did not believe that was the human destiny, for Man individually was sane and reasonable, only collectively a fool.

I hope the gunner of that Hun two-seater shot him clean, bullet to heart, and that his plane, on fire, fell like a meteor through the sky he loved. Since he had to end, I hope he ended so. But, oh, the waste! The loss!

- Cecil Lewis
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blondie
Bull-Carp
Somedays I think we should all donate blood .. like when we're young, innocent, healthy. Nabbing us as we pass our driver's licenses, making us donate blood there & then perhaps? Getting us to sign the back of our licenses consenting for organ donation too at that time, might be a good thing too.

I don't know if this is still true [thinking of Renauda's comment], but Canada used to purchase some blood products from the U.S. Still there exist U.S. internet sites trying to buy donations from Canadians. I don't agree with paid donations.

I also think there are disease conditions just as bad as HIV. Not everything can be screened out or tested. I remember mad cow disease too, how this was a threat to the blood supply. There'll be another new scare in years to come. Banking one's own blood, while good, is not the entire answer. There needs to be a safe supply for all of us to access in times of emergency.
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Dan
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Senior Carp
I gave blood regularly, but my recent visit to Vietnam put me on a one year deferral list for donations. (Malaria I think is the concern).

Some one also mentioned "if we were at war" in an earlier post. Maybe I've missed a huge headline this morning or something, but if not I'm pretty sure we *are* at war.

As for the question of accepting blood donations from any individual who is "at risk", I favor excluding the at risk folks. Doesn't matter to me if they're "at risk" due to their sexual orientation or their travels or any other factor.
Edited by Dan, Jul 28 2011, 08:27 AM.
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big al
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VPG
Jul 28 2011, 03:19 AM
I was told because I am on an aspirin regimen I cant give blood.
You might want to check that information with your local blood bank. I take aspirin, too, and respond with a "yes" to the question as to whether I have taken aspirin or anything containing aspirin within the last 48 hours, but they take my blood every time. I also answer "yes" to a couple of other questions - have you ever had cancer (basel cell carccnoma for me) and have you lived in Central or South America for more than 6 months and neither one precludes my donation.

I have a friend whose son eventually died from HIV infection contracted from blood products and I've had friends die from HIV infection contracted from sex. It's not one of the nicer ways to go. On the opposite side, I know people (My mother being one of them) whose lives have been saved by transfusions.

I expect that if there was a better method for eliminating risk from some donors than the questionaire, it would be used. There have been public service announcements for the past week trying to encourage donations in my area because of low inventories mentioning possible cancellation of elective surgery as at least the first possibility if donations don't arrive.

I would encourage anyone who is a potential donor to contact their local blood bank or sign up for a drive at work, school, church, or wherever and at least give it a try. It's not totally painless and it does take some time, but a chance to live is a pretty big gift that you could be giving someone.

Big Al
Location: Western PA

"jesu, der simcha fun der man's farlangen."
-bachophile
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Jolly
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Geaux Tigers!
Terminal AIDS or ARC patients generally do not require blood transfusions.
The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States.- George Soros
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ivorythumper
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I am so adjective that I verb nouns!
This seems like such a no brainer -- what a vicious and violent thing the gay rights agenda has done to common sense.
The dogma lives loudly within me.
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Mikhailoh
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If you want trouble, find yourself a redhead
Yep.
Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall madly in love with a gorgeous redhead - Lucille Ball
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Copper
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Shortstop

Yes.
The Confederate soldier was peculiar in that he was ever ready to fight, but never ready to submit to the routine duty and discipline of the camp or the march. The soldiers were determined to be soldiers after their own notions, and do their duty, for the love of it, as they thought best. Carlton McCarthy
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