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CHICAGO (AP) — An Illinois congressman says he's disappointed federal health officials still favor limiting when gay men can donate blood.
Rep. Mike Quigley has been working to reverse the Food and Drug Administration's lifetime ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. The FDA said Tuesday it favors barring donations from men who have had sex with men in the previous 12 months.
The Illinois Democrat says the one-year deferral is still discriminatory.
The lifetime ban dates from the early years of the AIDS crisis and was intended to protect the blood supply. Many medical groups say the policy is no longer supported by science, given advances in HIV testing.
Blood donations are screened for HIV but testing only detects the virus after it's been in the bloodstream about 10 days
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