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American Morning

New Restrictions on American Red Cross Blood Donors

Aired May 21, 2001 - 10:21   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to your health, the American Red Cross is putting some tough new restrictions on those who donate blood. And we're talking about 900,000 people who will be excluded. Now, the criteria will be based on your travels, travels dating all the way back to 1980.

Our medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now to talk about that. It's hard to remember 20 years of travel.

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I know.

PHILLIPS: I couldn't remember.

COHEN: Get out your passports. Yeah, exactly.

PHILLIPS: Yeah.

COHEN: Look at those stamps and see where it is. The Red Cross is planning on telling these people we simply do not want your blood, and this is part of an effort to keep the human form of mad cow disease out of the United States. Now, there hasn't been a case of mad cow disease in the United States in humans or in animals and the Red Cross would like to keep it that way.

So let's take a look at what the Red Cross is proposing to do. Right now the rule is if you've been in the United Kingdom for six months or more from 1980 to 1996, you can't give blood. The proposed, the new rule that they want to do starting in September, they plan on doing, is for three months from 1980 to the present. And all of that is accumulative. In other words, a week here, a month there, all of it would add up.

Now, let's take a look for continental Europe. Now there's no restrictions. If you've been in Europe you can donate blood. Starting in September, you cannot donate blood to the Red Cross if you spent six months or more in Europe from 1980 to the present. And they think that this, the Red Cross estimates that this will affect some eight or nine percent of donors.

PHILLIPS: OK, now a lot of critics say that folks are reacting with regard to mad cow disease. Is the Red Cross getting criticism?

COHEN: The Red Cross is getting criticism. They're -- we've spoken with people who've said this is far too restrictive. Yes, of course you want to ensure the safety of the blood supply, but there's a shortage right now and some people say that this is unnecessarily restrictive. In fact, the FDA has said that they don't really have to be that restrictive.

Let's take a look, we talked to a former chairman of an FDA advisory commission on mad cow issues and he told us I think it's excessive. I'm told this degree of donor exclusion would cripple some smaller regional blood suppliers.

But the American Red Cross says well, we have to ensure the safety of the blood supply. There's no way to test blood for mad cow disease. So they say they're going to stick with their rules.

PHILLIPS: All right, coming up next hour I am going to talk with someone from the Red Cross.

COHEN: Right.

PHILLIPS: All right, Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.

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