It's frustrating

[xp_wallflower]

As a medical professional, there are often decisions you make that are difficult and at times the choices you make can appear cruel, or even heartless but you do the best you can with the resources and the knowledge that you have.

Firstly, an older article on the costs of blood screening, these are for tests that they already have and know what to test for:

https://www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=754

The health system in America is broken - there are no buts about it. Money plays way too much of a role in the system and the choices made due to that fact can be draconian.

Not taking openly mutant blood is as much about cost as it is about prejudice, although I do believe there is fear involved.

It is much, much easier to simply say 'We will not allow mutants to donate' then it is to fund research into new blood screening that will take into account the huge variance of possible mutations and how their blood might interact with that of a recipient.

I am not saying the decision by the Mayo clinic is right, or fair, or helpful in any way. I do not excuse the results of fear, even if it can be warranted. But there is more then just one side of this story. Do not blame the people on the ground for these decisions. They have a job to do just as everyone else does. If you must protest, then protest where it's needed, at the executive level, at the Government level.

Or go into business and design those new blood screening tests and then offer them to the Red Cross and other donation places for free.

Comments

[xp_wildchild]

Laurie. No. You're being a weird robot. Not letting visible mutants donate blood is just fucking bigotry, just like not letting dudes who are currently fuckin' other dudes donate is bigotry. It's not like the mad cow and for fuck's sake, I googled for 15 seconds and a test for vCJD is right around the fucking corner.

First FIRST OF ALL that article's saying that the risk of getting a disease from blood donation is so low that extra testing is not worth it, learn to read.

SECOND My fucking TEETH aren't contagious, Laurie.

Third Ken Orlotan is a bigoted assclown and get better sources for your "Oh well it's okay to be a bigot if it means we spend a little bit less to save someone's life" that doesn't come from a guy whining about how much HASSLE it was to implement the ACA in Texas.

[xp_wallflower]

I am not being a robot, Kyle. I just have a different perspective on this. I didn't say don't protest, did I? Not letting visible mutants donate is bigotry, absolutely.

It's not completely out of left field however that mutant blood might be of a higher risk factor. Given that even if there was a reliable test for the X-factor gene that didn't cost a fortune and wasn't useless beyond saying 'yes, this person is a potential mutant'. We would still not be able to reliably map out all possible allergies, incompatibilities or straight up fatal poisons a mutant's blood might have to even another mutant.

What is it with you and the teeth? (I disposed of them. They were unhygienic.)

Still, as Wanda and Natasha have said, it is better to protest then to stay silent and have them believe we are okay with rights being taken away.

[xp_wildchild]

Oh my god this isn't about my old teeth this is about how if I walk into a blood donation place I get rejected when I smile and you don't unless you tell them "hey I'm a filthy mutie"

I mean not you YOU because you're a weird robot person but

I mean jesus, Laurie, it's not just about... like, there are people who don't even know they're mutants how does this stop them from donating - they can only stop people like ME who look like mutants

[xp_wallflower]

Lucky. I was about to launch into a lecture about hygiene and bio waste.

I am only a weird robot person sometimes. I have a taser now.

I'm not saying it's not bigotry. Of course it's bigotry to only prevent visible mutants from donating.

It's just hard to argue that without knowing all the reasons that they can throw at you for why it's not bigotry.

[xp_erverse]

I literally hope you die.

[xp_wallflower]

You're such a sweetheart.

[xp_havok]

Quentin, down.

Serious question - has anyone actually looked into this? Like, I literally donated blood -all the time- in California and I've never heard anything about anyone getting some weird mutated mutation thingy (excuse me inability to use Science words) after getting a blood transfusion. Lor, too, and no one ever turned green or anything. And I'm pretty sure something weird happening to someone after a blood transfusion would make the news.

Other than bigotry, what's the excuse? If our mutation doesn't effect our blood, then what harm will it do to a regular person? And if we're going to go down the road of "mutants can't donate to regular people" then we'd also have to address "Can mutants with different mutations donate to each other if there's actually an effect?"

You seem smarter than me in the whole biology thing, and I think you already know the answer to that last one. It's BS. If I donate blood to Q, he's not going to suddenly blow up. If I donate to blood to a non-mutant, then... what? Presumably the same thing, because my mutation isn't in my blood, it's in my... I'll get back to you on that one because I'm not entirely sure myself.

If the mutation effects the mutant's blood - like, idk, they have poison blood or something, is that a thing? - then sure, okay, they probably shouldn't be donating to anyone, mutant or not. If they just have pointy bits or a tail then why not? They're not going to pass on their tail to whoever gets their blood.

[xp_wallflower]

This is a good starter: http://www.hematology.org/Patients/Basics/5583.aspx#a2

As I said, I'm not a hematology major, but the ban on visible mutants isn't as cut and dry as we might like.

There are many factors to consider and while there might be new tests on the horizon, they are always expensive.

I'm not saying don't protest. I'm not even saying don't protest at the Mayo clinic. I am saying make sure that when you are protesting that you talk to them from a position of power. Knowledge is power.

Otherwise they'll make their excuses and simply ignore you.

[xp_scarlet_witch]

Apologies, Laurie, but protesting at the places that take on the policy is exactly what protesters should be doing. On top of protesting at every level between the Mayo Clinic and the government.

Of course they have a job to do. But science is not infallible and people have, and probably will continue to do so, make poor - and bigoted decisions - in its name.

[xp_wallflower]

I'm not against the protests as such. Although I do think a combination of grass roots action plus talking to the power players is a better strategy.

Like I said to Alex, the main motivation may be bigotry but if they can use actual medical science to get what they want, then they'll use it.

The FDA is not friendly at this point in time. New testing procedures for blood to make sure mutants can donate safely may take years to be passed given the current climate.

It makes it easy for such bans to pass through, and very hard to argue against given the actual real dangers given how widely the X-Gene can mutate physiology.

In a closed system such as the mansion, we have the time and resources to make sure we have everyone on file and that all the boxes are ticked during treatment. Emergency departments are a lot less clean, and a lot more dangerous should something go wrong.

[xp_blackwidow]

The people in high places don't care about protests until it makes the news. Protests like this, like Wanda said, are exactly what's needed. People like that need their hands forced to make decisions that go against their own agendas.

[xp_wallflower]

I understand. I'm just worried that this will lead to people on the ground getting hurt.

Angry people rarely stop to think about who is really responsible.

And I'm aware this sounds like hand wringing from someone who is not overly affected by such bans. I am someone more likely to bank my own blood before needing an operation given my unique physiology.

I don't disagree with the need to make sure that any moves this Government makes are protested when they are unjust.

I'm just unsure as to whether this is the complete injustice it is being hailed as.

[xp_blackwidow]

There may be science behind the justifications they're using but in this atmosphere that only makes things look more discriminatory.

Where optics are concerned, simply the appearance of an untoward outcome no matter the original intent screws everything up. Change only comes about when everyone's had enough and yes, collateral damage may happen but that is simply a fact of life.

[xp_wallflower]

True. And it's hard to argue for pure science when scientists themselves are as illogical and prone to bigotry as anyone else in the population.

Unfortunately, not everyone can be in it merely for the discoveries and the benefit to humanity.

This entire situation is so offensive to my own held beliefs on what we should and shouldn't be doing with medical science.