Plasma donation centers screen for a long list of health conditions, medications, recent activities, and vital signs that can disqualify you, either permanently or temporarily. Some are obvious (active infections, blood-thinning medications), while others catch people off guard (a recent tattoo in certain states, low iron levels, or even a resting heart rate slightly outside the normal range). Here’s a detailed breakdown of what can keep you from donating.
Basic Eligibility Requirements
You must be at least 17 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds. Most centers also require a valid photo ID and proof of a permanent address. Falling below the weight minimum isn’t negotiable: smaller bodies have less blood volume, and removing plasma from someone who doesn’t have enough can cause serious side effects like fainting or drops in blood pressure.
Vital Signs That Disqualify You on the Day
Before every donation, staff will check your blood pressure, pulse, and a quick blood sample. FDA regulations set specific cutoffs. Your systolic blood pressure (the top number) must fall between 90 and 180, and your diastolic (the bottom number) must fall between 50 and 100. A pulse outside the 50 to 100 beats per minute range, or an irregular heartbeat, will also disqualify you for the day. A physician on site can sometimes override the pulse rule if they determine you’re healthy enough, but blood pressure failures typically mean you go home.
Your hemoglobin level, a marker of iron in your blood, also gets checked. Men need a level of at least 13.0 g/dL (or a hematocrit of 39%). Women need at least 12.5 g/dL (or a hematocrit of 36%), though some centers can accept women as low as 12.0 g/dL under an FDA-approved alternative protocol. If you’re slightly below the threshold, you’ll be turned away that day but can return once your levels recover. Frequent donors sometimes run into this repeatedly because regular plasma removal can deplete iron stores over time.
Medications That Disqualify You
Blood thinners are the biggest category. If you take any prescription anticoagulant, including warfarin, heparin, apixaban, rivaroxaban, or dabigatran, you cannot donate while on the medication. Your blood won’t clot normally, which creates risks during and after the donation process. If your doctor stops your warfarin or heparin, you need to wait 7 days. For most other blood thinners, the wait is 2 days after your last dose.
Isotretinoin (the active ingredient in Accutane and its generic versions) requires a 1-month wait after your last dose. The same goes for finasteride, a medication used for hair loss and enlarged prostate. Dutasteride, a related drug, requires a full 6-month wait. These medications can cause birth defects, and since plasma products could potentially reach a pregnant person, the waiting periods exist to ensure the drug has cleared your system.
Aspirin and common anti-inflammatory painkillers like piroxicam don’t disqualify you from donating plasma or whole blood. They do, however, require a 2-day wait if you’re donating platelets specifically.
Permanent Medical Disqualifications
Certain chronic conditions result in a lifetime ban. These fall into a few broad categories:
- Bleeding and clotting disorders: Hemophilia, Factor XI deficiency, and other coagulation factor deficiencies (except Factor XII deficiency) permanently disqualify you. The donation process itself poses too great a bleeding risk, and the plasma wouldn’t function normally as a blood product.
- Liver disease: Cirrhosis is a permanent disqualification. The liver produces many of the proteins found in plasma, so advanced liver damage compromises both donor safety and plasma quality.
- Neurological conditions: ALS and transverse myelitis both result in permanent deferral.
- Immune system disorders: Agammaglobulinemia (a condition where the body produces very few antibodies) and chronic granulomatosis are permanent disqualifiers.
- Vascular conditions: Buerger’s disease and carotid bruit lead to permanent deferral.
- Chronic fatigue syndrome: If formally diagnosed by a physician, this is a permanent deferral.
- Hemochromatosis: This iron-overload disorder is a permanent disqualifier.
- Certain infections: Chagas disease (trypanosomiasis) and disseminated coccidioidomycosis (a fungal infection that has spread beyond the lungs) permanently disqualify you.
- Xenotransplantation: If you’ve ever received a transplant of living cells, tissue, or organs from an animal source, you’re permanently ineligible.
HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C also result in permanent deferral at most centers. Prion diseases like Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) are another permanent disqualifier, and updated FDA guidance from 2022 still maintains restrictions related to the risk of variant CJD transmission.
Tattoos and Piercings
A new tattoo doesn’t automatically disqualify you. If you got it at a state-regulated facility using sterile, single-use needles and ink, you can donate with no waiting period in most states. The same applies to cosmetic tattoos like microbladed eyebrows, as long as they were done at a licensed establishment. However, if you got a tattoo in a state that doesn’t regulate tattoo facilities, you’ll need to wait 3 months.
Piercings follow similar logic. If single-use, disposable equipment was used (both the piercing instrument and the jewelry cassette), there’s no wait. If a reusable gun or instrument was involved, or if you’re unsure about the equipment, you need to wait 3 months.
Pregnancy and Postpartum
You cannot donate plasma while pregnant. After giving birth, the general recommendation is to wait at least 6 months before donating again. Some centers extend that, asking you to wait until you’ve finished breastfeeding. Pregnancy causes significant changes in blood volume, protein levels, and immune function, and the body needs time to fully recover before plasma removal is safe.
Sexual Activity and HIV Risk Screening
The FDA updated its approach to HIV risk screening in May 2023, moving away from blanket deferrals based on sexual orientation. The current framework uses individual risk-based questions for all donors regardless of gender or sexual orientation. These questions focus on recent behaviors that increase HIV transmission risk, such as having a new sexual partner or multiple partners within a specific timeframe. If your answers indicate elevated risk, you may face a temporary deferral.
Travel-Related Deferrals
Travel to areas where malaria is common typically triggers a waiting period, often 3 months to a year depending on the destination and duration of your stay. Certain regions of the United Kingdom and Europe previously triggered long-term deferrals due to concerns about variant CJD (linked to mad cow disease), though the FDA relaxed some of these restrictions in its 2022 guidance update.
Donation Frequency Limits
Even if you’re perfectly healthy, you can be turned away for donating too often. Federal rules cap plasma donation at twice within any 7-day period, with at least 2 full days between sessions. If you donated yesterday, you can’t donate today. Centers track this electronically, so showing up too soon will result in an automatic deferral regardless of how you feel.
Other Common Day-Of Deferrals
Several short-term situations will get you turned away on any given visit. These include having a cold, flu, or fever on the day of donation. Recent surgery, dental work, or any active infection can also trigger a temporary deferral. If you appear intoxicated, dehydrated, or visibly unwell, staff will send you home. Most of these are short waits: once you’ve recovered or enough time has passed, you’re welcome to try again.