When Miami lawyer Dan Dolan of Dolan Dobrinsky Rosenblum Bluestein recovered from a mild case of COVID-19, his first instinct was to donate convalescent plasma, which the Food and Drug Administration says can contain antibodies able to help seriously ill patients fight off the disease.

But after three weeks, he's still trying to donate.

Aside from receiving confirmatory emails or requests for paperwork after signing up with the American Red Cross and OneBlood, Dolan said it's been radio silence.

"There's never been a call, an email, a text or a smoke signal from anybody who said, 'Go here, go now and give blood,' " he said. "Even where I was able to identify a current patient in a hospital with a specific ID number related to transfusion, I have still not been permitted to give one drop of blood."

While the American Red Cross has yet to get back to Dolan about donating, he said a local hospital contacted him Friday about his OneBlood application to ask about donating plasma for a patient who was septic and critically ill.

"I was asked to submit my paperwork for a third time to the same blood bank," Dolan said. "And when I asked what time they wanted me to come in and donate, I was told without even a hint of urgency, that 'Maybe Monday, you should get a call.' "

Since then, OneBlood has rejected Dolan's offer to donate, saying his labs didn't fit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's donation protocols. He's been invited to reapply and might be able to donate in two weeks.

The hospital reportedly found another donor for the critically ill patient, according to Dolan, who volunteered for a blood test Monday to supply additional data.

The FDA's website encourages anyone eligible, who has been COVID-19-free for at least two weeks, to donate plasma.

"Individuals must have had a prior diagnosis of COVID-19 documented by a laboratory test and meet other donor criteria," the FDA's website says. "Individuals must have complete resolution of symptoms for at least 28 days before they donate, or alternatively have no symptoms for at least 14 days prior to donation and have a negative lab test for active COVID-19 disease."

Though Dolan had his last symptom March 21, OneBlood reportedly said it would prefer a few more weeks. Dolan also registered with the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project but received no response.

|

'Odd-feeling illness'

Generally fit and healthy, Dolan hadn't had a cold in years — until March 14, when he started feeling what he thought was a minor cough and scratchy throat. It was thankfully a mild case of the virus, which he described as "an odd-feeling illness" because of its "rhythmic nature."

"The waxing and waning of the symptoms was hallmark for this, where you feel sick one day and the next day you feel better and you think to yourself, 'It's over,' and then you get hit again that night with more fever," Dolan said.

Dolan quarantined himself and was ill for about eight days, with the worst symptoms being severe body pains and aches for about three days. He didn't experience any respiratory issues, and it took several days to get test results back, so Dolan only discovered he had COVID-19 after he had recovered.

Two of Dolan's friends fell ill around the same time and were hospitalized but have now recovered. They have also tried multiple times to donate plasma to no avail.

"Not one of us has been able to navigate our way through this infrastructure to be able to donate, and I don't have an explanation for it," Dolan said.

|

Why the delay?

Dolan said he doesn't aim to disparage or blame the organizations during a time of crisis but rather wants to understand what's happening behind the scenes.

"It's either that the need is not as great as it appears to be, although I don't know if that's true because there were people that had a need and I was not able to fill that need for them," Dolan said. "Or, No. 2, there's some infrastructure barrier to facilitating the donation and turning it into care that is not being addressed."

American Red Cross spokesperson Stephanie Rendon said the FDA has asked it to help identify prospective donors and manage distribution to hospitals through its new COVID-19 website.

"We understand the urgency and that there are patients who are in need and we are committed to facilitating and distributing convalescent blood donations," Rendon said. "So far, thousands of potential donors have responded to our call to help patients seriously ill with active COVID-19 infections. Unfortunately, fewer than half of these individuals have a documented confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 required by the FDA. Additionally, in order to be determined as eligible to participate in the COVID-19 convalescent plasma program donors also must confirm their last day of any COVID-19 symptom was 28 days prior to donation or confirm they have been completely symptom-free 14 days prior to donation and provide a negative COVID-19 test result."

OneBlood did not respond to a request for comment by deadline. Its President and CEO George "Bud" Scholl has said in a press release that Miami Mayor Francis Suarez became Florida's first donor April 3, and that OneBlood has worked "around-the-clock in order to implement the new FDA protocols to begin collecting COVID-19 convalescent plasma."

Dolan also registered with the National COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Project weeks ago but hasn't heard back. According to its Florida media relations team, that could be because the study only began Monday. One team member, Tracy Thompson, said the project is a grassroots effort.

"We are seeing new sites come online every day and getting multiple requests for information every day," Thompson said via email. "We are sharing the contact information of potential donors with confirmed doctors who are trying to collect convalescent plasma. Because of the lack of testing, this has been a difficult process."

Read more: