require the FDA to lift the ban on blood donations by US citizens that lived in Europe between 1980-1996.

In 1999, the FDA banned blood donations from anyone that lived in Europe or the UK for more then 6 months between January 1, 1980 - December 31, 1996. This includes a SIGNIFICANT number of military veterans and their families. In 2002, the FDA revised these rules to make them even more restrictive lowering the exposure time from 6 months to 3 months. The FDA also included the following statement in the rule making, "Tests are being developed to detect CJD and vCJD infections in blood and plasma donors." What is the status of that test? 10 years have passed since this rulemaking. A test should be finalized, or if it is final and available, the test should be utilized by blood banks at the direction of the FDA and military veterans and their families should be allowed to donate blood.