Donor eligibility requirements specific to Whole Blood, Red Blood Cells and Plasma collected by apheresis.
21 C.F.R. § 630.15
in effectEffective: 2024-07-01(a) What additional donor eligibility requirements apply when you, an establishment that collects blood or blood components, collect Whole Blood or Red Blood Cells by apheresis?
(1) Donation frequency must be consistent with protecting the health of the donor.
(i) For a collection resulting in a single unit of Whole Blood or Red Blood Cells collected by apheresis, donation frequency must be no more than once in 8 weeks, and for apheresis collections resulting in two units of Red Blood Cells, the donor must not donate more than once in 16 weeks.
(ii) The limitations in paragraph (a)(1)(i) of this section apply unless the responsible physician examines the donor at the time of donation and one of the following conditions exists:
(A) The donation is for autologous use as prescribed by the donor's physician and the responsible physician determines and documents that the donation may proceed; or
(B) The donation is a dedicated donation based on the intended recipient's documented exceptional medical need and the responsible physician determines and documents that the health of the donor would not be adversely affected by donating.
(2) Therapeutic phlebotomy. When a donor who is determined to be eligible under § 630.10 undergoes a therapeutic phlebotomy under a prescription to promote the donor's health, you may collect from the donor more frequently than once in 8 weeks for collections resulting in a single unit of Whole Blood or Red Blood Cells, or once in 16 weeks for apheresis collections resulting in two units of Red Blood Cells, provided that the container label conspicuously states the disease or condition of the donor that necessitated phlebotomy. However, no labeling for the disease or condition is required under this section if:
(i) The donor meets all eligibility criteria;
(ii) The donor undergoes a therapeutic phlebotomy as prescribed by a licensed health care provider treating the donor for:
(A) Hereditary hemochromatosis; or
(B) Another disease or condition, when the health of a donor with that disease or condition will not be adversely affected by donating, and the donor's disease or condition will not adversely affect the safety, purity, and potency of the blood and blood components, or any products manufactured from them, and the collection is in accordance with a procedure that has been found acceptable for this purpose by FDA; and
(iii) You perform without charge therapeutic phlebotomies for all individuals with that disease or condition.
(b) What additional donor eligibility requirements apply when you, an establishment that collects blood or blood components, collect Source Plasma or plasma by plasmapheresis?
(1) Medical history and physical examination. Except as provided in § 630.25:
(i) The responsible physician must conduct an appropriate medical history and physical examination of the donor on the day of the first donation or no more than 1 week before the first donation and at subsequent intervals of no longer than 1 year.
(ii) The responsible physician must examine the donor for medical conditions that would place the donor at risk from plasmapheresis. If the donor is determined to be at risk, you must defer the donor from donating.
(iii) The responsible physician must conduct a new medical history and physical examination of a donor who does not return for 6 months.
(2) What requirements apply to obtaining informed consent?
(i) The responsible physician must obtain the informed consent of a plasma donor on the first day of donation or no more than 1 week before the first donation, and at subsequent intervals of no longer than 1 year.
(ii) The responsible physician must obtain the informed consent of a plasma donor who does not return within 6 months of the last donation.
(iii) The responsible physician must explain the risks and hazards of the procedure to the donor. The explanation must include the risks of a hemolytic transfusion reaction if the donor is given the cells of another donor and the risks involved if the donor is immunized. The explanation must be made in such a manner that the donor may give their consent and has a clear opportunity to refuse the procedure.
(iv) If a donor is enrolled in a new program, such as an immunization or special collection program, the responsible physician must again obtain an informed consent specific for that program.
(3) Weight. You must weigh a donor at each donation.
(4) Total protein level. You must determine the donor's total plasma protein level before each plasmapheresis procedure. The donor must have a total plasma protein level of no less than 6.0 grams per deciliter and no more than 9.0 grams per deciliter in a plasma sample or a serum sample.
(5) Examination before immunization. (i) No more than 1 week before the first immunization injection for the production of high-titer antibody plasma, the responsible physician must conduct an appropriate medical history and physical examination, as described in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, in addition to assessing the general donor eligibility requirements under § 630.10. It is not necessary to repeat the medical history and physical examination requirement in paragraph (b)(1) of this section, if the immunized donor's plasma is collected within 3 weeks of the first immunization injection.
(ii) You are not required to repeat the medical history and physical examination required under paragraph (b)(1) of this section for a donor currently participating in a plasmapheresis collection program and determined to be eligible under § 630.10 unless the medical history and physical examination are due under paragraph (b)(1)(i) or (b)(1)(iii) of this section.
(6) Deferral of donors due to red blood cell loss. (i) You must defer a donor from donating plasma by plasmapheresis for 8 weeks if the donor has donated a unit of Whole Blood, or a single unit of Red Blood Cells by apheresis. However, you may collect plasma by plasmapheresis after a donation of Whole Blood or a single unit of Red Blood Cells by apheresis after at least 2 calendar days have passed, provided that the extracorporeal volume of the apheresis device is less than 100 milliliters.
(ii) You must defer a donor from donating plasma by plasmapheresis for a period of 16 weeks if the donor donates two units of Red Blood Cells during a single apheresis procedure;
(iii) You must defer a donor for 8 weeks or more if the cumulative red blood cell loss in any 8 week period could adversely affect donor health.
(7) Exceptions to deferral due to red blood cell loss. You are not required to defer a Source Plasma donor from donating plasma by plasmapheresis due to red blood cell loss if the following conditions are met:
(i) The responsible physician examines the donor at the time of the current donation and determines and documents that the donor is in good health and the donor's health permits the plasmapheresis;
(ii) The donor's plasma possesses a property, such as an antibody, antigen, or protein deficiency that is transitory, of a highly unusual or infrequent specificity, or of an unusually high titer;
(iii) The special characteristics of the donor's plasma and the need for plasmapheresis of the donor under § 630.20(b) are documented at your establishment; and
(iv) The extracorporeal volume of the apheresis device is less than 100 milliliters.
(8) Malaria. Freedom from risk of malaria is not required for a donor of Source Plasma.
(9) You must comply with other requirements for collection of plasma in part 640 of this chapter and this part including restrictions on frequency of collection as specified in §§ 640.32 and 640.65 of this chapter.
Source: eCFRURL: https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2024-07-01/title-21.xmlFetched: 7/26/2026