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by andymboyle 1518 days ago
Some folks on certain medications (or just because) can have an increase in red blood cell production, sometimes called "blood thickening," I believe, and they can sometimes just get a prescription from a doctor to go to a donation facility. Or some facilities will still just allow you to do this if you tell them you need to get rid of excess blood for the reasons above, and then they dispose of it. (Not everyone requires a doctor's prescription for it.)

That's just one use case, obviously, so there is a system for some to get rid of excess blood, at least, in a similar manner as you would donate.
2 comments
EvanAnderson 1518 days ago
There was some discussion[0] on HN a few weeks ago organizations (like the Red Cross[1]) not accepting donations from patients who require therapeutic phlebotomy (hemochromatosis patients, for example) because their donation provides the donor a benefit (and therefore isn't strictly altruistic). That sent me down an interesting rabbit hole of reading (link in discussion).

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30808856

[1] https://www.redcrossblood.org/donate-blood/blood-donation-pr...

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jfengel 1518 days ago
I didn't realize that. I was briefly thought to have hemochromatosis, and had been "self-treating" via the Red Cross for years.

It turns out I didn't have hemochromatosis. It was merely a bit high, but knowing that I donated so often (both whole blood and platelets, which you can do more often), there was concern that the "self-treatment" was covering up a real problem.

I had not heard at the time that they wouldn't have wanted my blood. It was over a decade ago, and it's possible that the policy didn't exist then.

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dvdgsng 1518 days ago
I have hemochromatosis and here in Germany it's impossible for me to donate blood. It's not actually forbidden, afaik, but no company want's to give 'contaminated' blood to patients, even though it would be perfectly fine.
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jfengel 1518 days ago
Do you do phlebotomy some other way? Do you just draw the blood yourself and discard it?

It amused me very much at the time to think that "bloodletting" might, in fact, be medically prescribed.

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andymboyle 1518 days ago
Very interesting! Thanks for sharing.
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deluxeroyale 1518 days ago
People on steroids/that have been on need to do this regularly
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