North Carolina's top health official, joined by public health leaders from eight other states and the District of Columbia, is asking the Food and Drug Administration to lift a three-month waiting period for gay men who are sexually active to donate blood.

On Thursday, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kody Kinsley sent a letter to FDA Commissioner Robert Califf asking the agency to remove a blood donor deferral policy that prevents men who have had sex with another man in the last 90 days from donating blood. In addition to Kinsley and N.C. Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Tilson, the letter was signed by health officials from California, Connecticut, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, Oregon and Washington, D.C.

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