Shepeard Now Accepting Blood from Previously Deferred Veterans

Previously deferred donors, including a high percentage of veterans and active duty service members, are once again able to donate blood, platelets and plasma, according to officials at Shepeard Community Blood Center.

More than two decades ago, the Food and Drug Administration imposed a ban on blood donations from anyone who had spent more than six months in the U.K. and several other countries from 1980 to 1997 because of the possible risk of transmitting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, also known as Mad Cow Disease, to blood donation recipients.

The new guidance removes the deferral associated with the disease for time also spent in France and Ireland from 1980-2001; and receipt of a blood transfusion in the U.K., France and Ireland from 1980-present.

As of today, Shepeard can accept all new and previously deferred donors who lived in those areas.

Call Shepeard at (706) 737-4551 if you have questions or would like to schedule an appointment.