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Blood Banks and Hemochromatosis Blood

Does your blood bank accept hemochromatosis blood? Call them and find out. If they don't accept hemochromatosis blood, ask for the name of the director of the blood bank and ask for their policy on using hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) blood and when they might start using it in the future. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ruled in August of 1999 that Blood Banks can now file for a variance to use hemochromatosis blood as donor blood and to treat HH patients for free. Refer to this FDA ruling and urge them to adopt this variance in the future. Put your request in writing and send a copy to your local political representatives and your local media, including television, newspapers, and radio. Try to find other hemochromatosis patients in your community who will do the same.

You can also present your local blood bank(s) with an updated list from the FDA of blood banks that have received a variance to illustrate that an increasing number of blood banks are adopting this variance. This list can be printed from the AHS web site.

An AP story in USA Today, August 26, 1999, tells about the new FDA rule that allows HH patients' blood to be used as donor blood; "Rule change boosts blood donor supply",

Contact your local blood banks to see if they have filed for this FDA variance.

Abstract references:

http://www.victorherbert.com/ash1999.htm

FDA Now Approves Hemochromatosis Blood As Normal Donor Blood. Measuring Serum Iron Status As Part Of Routine Blood Testing Will:

1. Prevent Phenotypic Disease In Millions;

2. Save Healthcare $Billions;

3. End U.S. Biannual Blood Shortages.

Victor Herbert1, Morton Spivack2: 1Mount Sinai-NYU Health System & Bronx VA Medical Center, 130 West Kingsbridge Road, Bronx, NY 10468, 2Mount Sinai-NYU Health System, 1 Gustave L. Levy Place, Bx 1024, New York, NY 10029.

Click here to see a list of approved blood banks.