This Weekend we had the opportunity to sit down and interview Nathan Schaefer, Director of Public Policy at GMHC in New York City. Along with his outstanding knowledge on the MSM Blood Ban and AIDS Research, we also were at the GMHC's Open Community Forum on the MSM Blood Ban entitled "OUT FOR BLOOD". The Panel helped to answer questions on how the blood ban was put into effect, focus on the difference between the right/acceptance of eligible Gay Donors to partake in the donation process, as well as the rights of trauma victims, Hemophiliacs, and those who are receiving blood transfusions and their right to be protected from possible accidental HIV infection from a faulty blood transfusion.
The panel was led by filmmaker, Marilyn Ness. A documentary filmmaker responsible for the outstanding film "BAD BLOOD: A Cautionary Tale" I've added the film's short synopsis from it's website below:
"What if your life-saving medicine contained deadly viruses – and the drug manufacturers, the government, and your own doctors knew but failed to warn you?
Through the eyes of survivors and family members, BAD BLOOD chronicles how a “miracle” treatment for hemophilia became an agent of death for 10,000 Americans. Faced with evidence that pharmaceutical companies and government regulators knew the product was contaminated with deadly viruses from the 1960s through the early 1990s, the hemophilia community launched a powerful and inspiring fight to right the system that failed them and to make it safer for all."
We're excited to have obtained a lot of footage and informative conversation about the ban and get it to our editor, Jessica Grossman, who has been breaking ground on the doc as we speak.
