-----===[[[ A I D S w i r e  D I G E S T  07.19.93 ]]]===-----


Clinton Nominee Leaves State Job *
New York Times (07/19/93), P. A13
Hilts, Philip J.

President Clinton's nominee for Surgeon General quit her job as
director of the Arkansas Health Department on Sunday to help
reduce opposition to her nomination. Dr. Joycelyn Elders
resigned and then flew from Little Rock, Ark., to Washington,
D.C., with the president so that she can undergo questioning by
the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee on Friday. Dr.
Elders' nomination has sparked controversy primarily because
she has been outspoken in her support for public health
measures such as early sex education, distribution of condoms
to young people, and the availability of abortion services to
indigent women. Her confirmation hearing was initially
scheduled for last Friday but was postponed after conservative
opponents raised several questions about her financial
dealings. One of their concerns was that Dr. Elders received a
$550-per-day consulting fee from the federal government to
prepare for her new job as Surgeon General, while still
collecting her pay from the Arkansas Health Department. In
addition to the consulting fees, the Clinton administration
revealed that Dr. Elders' husband had not paid Social Security
taxes on household help for his 97-year-old mother. According
to officials, the White House is satisfied with Elders'
explanations. Dr. Elders told them that she was simply
collecting accumulated vacation pay from Arkansas while working
in Washington and that she was not involved in the financial
arrangements for her mother-in-law.

Related Story: Washington Post (07/19) P. A7.


SJC Upholds Conviction, Says Needle Exchange Unjustified *
Boston Globe (07/16/93), P. 19
Wong, Doris Sue

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled Thursday
that the spread of HIV among IV-drug users does not pose enough
of a threat to justifies the illegal distribution of hypodermic
needles. The unanimous ruling upheld the indictment of two men
by a jury last year for violating the state law that makes it
illegal to distribute hypodermic needles without a
prescription. Attorneys for the two men, Harry W. Leno Jr. of
Ipswich, Mass., and Robert E. Ingalls of Salem, Mass., who each
received a one-year unsupervised probation sentence that was
suspended, called the SJC ruling extremely disheartening.
Daniel Beck, Leno's lawyer, said that he believed that most
people involved in the distribution of clean needles to drug
users "feel strongly enough about it that they are willing to
go to jail." During the trial, experts called in their defense
testified that needle exchange efforts save lives, bring
addicts into AIDS treatment and drug treatment programs, and
have not incited people to become addicts. But the SJC said the
defense of necessity did not apply here because the defendants
did not demonstrate that they were faced with an "imminent
danger" that is not "debatable or speculative," or that there
was no legal alternative. The SJC said, however, that the
defendants have the legal alternative of petitioning the
Legislature to pass a law to decriminalize the distribution of
needles. Such bills have been introduced but have been killed
in the Legislature over the past three years.


Man's Dream Survives With AIDS Walkathon *
Toronto Globe and Mail (Canada) (07/16/93), P. A4
Gibbon, Ann

Organizers of an AIDS walkathon scheduled for October in
Montreal are attempting to proceed with the plans even though
the director of the event has died of AIDS. Ron Farah, who died
of AIDS Monday night, was motivated to establish a foundation
to help people with AIDS in Montreal after he became ill in
1988. The 10-kilometer walk on Oct. 3, called Ca Marche (It
Works), is one of the projects created by the Farah Foundation.
Farah's own experience with AIDS and concern that Montreal was
behind other major cities in AIDS fundraising motivated him in
April 1992 to turn over Linda Lingerie, his $20-million-a-year
garment business, to his sister and devote all of his time to
the foundation. The goal of the foundation is to raise AIDS
awareness and enhance the lives of those who have the disease.
Since its initiation, the foundation has raised and distributed
more than $100,000 through high-profile events such as a black-
tie gala evening in May with comic Paul Reiser and a
Valentine's Day fundraiser with the Canadian rock group April
Wine. Aline Dupuis, the project director for the walk, said
that Farah was concerned that every major Canadian city, except
Montreal, had an AIDS walkathon. Farah thought there was an
urgent need to help Quebec, because of its high prevalence of
HIV infection. Organizers of the walk are hoping to attract
10,000 participants and have set a goal of $1 million. The
proceeds from the event will go to 32 AIDS groups across Quebec
that provide care and services to HIV-positive patients.


AIDS, Up Close *
Philadelphia Inquirer (07/19/93), P. E1
Collins, Huntly

An AIDS education exhibit targeted at young people is now being
previewed at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia and is
entitled "What About AIDS?" The exhibit, funded with $500,000
from the Centers for Disease Control and intended to be a
national prototype, opened last month for a summer-long field
test in Philadelphia. Resulting from the feedback of the
viewers, the exhibit will be revised, and then officially
opened on Oct. 21. Meanwhile, it will open at the New York Hall
of Science in Queens and at the Virginia Science Center in
Richmond, Va. The exhibit was designed by a consortium of eight
science museums, and its organization drew together a wide
range of interested parties, plus the CDC and the American
Medical Association. Experts who worked on the exhibit include
Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of infectious disease at the National
Institutes of Health, as well as other researchers, teachers,
doctors, and AIDS patients. The AIDS exhibit explicitly
illustrates the complicated life-cycle of HIV and the way in
which different anti-AIDS drugs are targeted at different
stages in the cycle. In addition, the exhibit uses hands-on
displays to facilitate the educational process. One of the
displays teaches young people the difference between a virus
and a bacterium by asking them to move a magnet across a model
of the human body. Another allows viewers to manipulate a graph
based on statistical figures to project what the AIDS epidemic
will look like under three scenarios.


A Czar Is Not What the AIDS Fight Needs *
Baltimore Sun (07/19/93), P. 9A
Greenberg, Daniel S.

Given historically awful fates of the last czar and many of his
predecessors, it is unknown why the Clinton administration
believes an AIDS czar will actually help the fight against the
disease, writes columnist Daniel S. Greenberg. Congress has
ordered what proponents refer to as a czar for AIDS research;
meanwhile, President Clinton, fulfilling his campaign promise,
has appointed such an individual to provide AIDS leadership for
all related issues. Because AIDS education and services
function mainly at the local and state levels, the appointment
of a White House AIDS czar only begins to address the problem
of how to attain desirable results. More federal AIDS funds for
cash-strapped cities and states is what is actually needed,
says Greenberg. The centralization of AIDS research at the
National Institutes of Health was imposed by Congress over
protests by the mainline scientific establishment. Now, control
will be tighter. But it is unclear how tight it will be, since
the legislation still allows a fair amount of flexibility at
NIH, and researchers there are known for continuing to do
things their own way, despite the rules. The real question is
whether scientific understanding of HIV has reached the point
where a directed, engineered approach will be effective,
concludes Greenberg.


Shalala Draws Line on AIDS Test Royalties *
Science (07/02/93) Vol. 261, No. 5117, P. 19
Stone, Richard

The Clinton administration has reaffirmed the Bush
administration position on the royalties that France's Pasteur
Institute is seeking on a blood test to detect HIV. The
institute began a campaign in January 1992 to convince U.S.
officials to renegotiate the percentage of royalties it
receives from an HIV test. But after unsuccessful negotiations
with the Bush administration, Pasteur's lawyers hoped that the
Clinton administration would be easier to persuade. Secretary
of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala said that the United
States will not renegotiate the agreement. "We've told [the
French] to forget it," she said. The controversy between French
and American researchers started in 1984, when Pasteur's Luc
Montagnier and the National Cancer Institute's Robert Gallo
began their fight over who first discovered HIV. By 1987, the
two parties agreed to be called "codiscoverers" and to have
their institutions split patent royalties from a test for HIV.
But after scientific misconduct was found in Gallo's lab and
reported last December, the French asked to renegotiate the
previous agreement. France expects to continue pressing its
case with the Clinton administration. "Secretary Shalala may
want this to go away, but it's an issue that's going to have to
be reckoned," said Michael Epstein, a New York lawyer for the
Pasteur Institute, who added, "We're certainly not going to let
this matter rest."


Army Expected to Clear AIDS Scientist *
Science (07/02/93) Vol. 261, No. 5117, P. 19
Stone, Richard

A U.S. Army investigation has found baseless the allegations
that AIDS researcher Robert Redfield misrepresented data from a
trial of a therapeutic AIDS vaccine, according to Army sources.
The sources say that Redfield, who worked at the Walter Reed
Army Institute of Research, was "slapped on the wrist" for some
non-research matters, but the report was expected to exonerate
him of misconduct allegations that emerged during the 1992
international AIDS conference. At the conference, Redfield
presented positive results from a trial of MicroGeneSys' gp 160
vaccine in HIV-infected patients. The Army undertook its
investigation last October after receiving formal complaints
from military researchers that Redfield had "overstated" the
trial's results at the conference. Since the probe started,
Redfield has maintained that no wrongdoing occurred. His
adversaries insist that the military is incapable of
investigating its own staff. The report from the investigation
is scheduled to be released soon.


Ambivalent Campaign *
Far Eastern Economic Review (07/08/93) Vol. 156, No. 27, P. 34
Hiebert, Murray

Although Vietnam has relatively low rates of HIV infection,
there could be an explosion of the epidemic as a result of
ignorance about the disease. Le Dien Hong, deputy chairman of
Vietnam's National AIDS Committee, stresses that "all the
necessary factors for an explosion are here. Contact with the
outside is increasing, while peo0ll's knowledge about HIV and
AIDS is still very low." Foreign AIDS experts commend Vietnam's
efforts for addressing the problem early, but they warn that
the widespread belief among Vietnamese that a person can only
contract HIV from foreigners could yield an influx of AIDS
cases in the coming decade. By late June 1993, only 549 cases
of HIV infection had been found in Vietnam, according to the
National AIDS Committee. Among the 549 cases, 472 are
Vietnamese and the rest are foreigners. Approximately 90
percent of the Vietnamese cases stem from IV-drug use, while
most of the others are among people who were treated for
sexually transmitted diseases. About 70 percent of the known
cases of HIV are among people who live in Ho Chi Minh City.
While the government has started an AIDS awareness effort in
newspapers, television, and secondary schools, few Vietnamese
seem to comprehend exactly how a person can become infected.
Only 3 percent of the people surveyed in Hanoi and 9 percent in
Ho Chi Minh City have "a full knowledge of AIDS," meaning that
they can correctly answer simple questions about the disease,
according to Hong of the AIDS committee. Moreover, a study
conducted by the non-governmental organization Care
International in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi found that 97
percent of respondents had heard of AIDS, but only 20 percent
believed they could contract HIV.


July 20, 1993


Treatment Errors Cited in Drug-Resistant TB *
Washington Post (Health) (07/20/93), P. 5
Boodman, Sandra G.

The dramatic rise in the rate of drug-resistant tuberculosis
cases may be partly due to common errors doctors make in
treating such patients, according to a recent report published
in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study
was conducted by Denver infectious disease experts Artin
Mahmoudi and Michael D. Iseman, who examined 35 patients with
drug-resistant TB. The authors found that in 28 cases, doctors
and other health care workers made an average of four
potentially dangerous errors during the course of treatment.
The most frequent mistakes included administering only one
antibiotic to a patient when four are needed for maximum
efficacy, postponing the start of drug treatment, administering
drugs for too short a time or at too low a dose, neglecting to
detect drug-resistant infections, and failing to deal with
patients who do not take their medication. The researchers
examined the records of patients with drug-resistant TB who
were admitted to Denver's National Jewish Center for Immunology
and Respiratory Medicine in 1989 and 1990. The researchers
compared the way the patients' cases were handled with clinical
standards for treatment defined by the Centers for Disease
Control, the American Thoracic Society, and the American
College of Chest Physicians. In order to reduce doctors'
errors, Mahmoudi and Iseman suggest expanding aggressive
professional education campaigns targeted at doctors and
increasing funding for TB control programs. They also advocate
"directly observed therapy"--watching reluctant patients take
their medication.


Sexual Activity Among American Teens *
Washington Post (Health) (07/20/93), P. 5

American teenagers are more likely today than in previous
generations to become sexually active between the ages of 15
and 19, according to data compiled by the federal Center for
Population Options. In a 1990 survey, the agency found that
first episodes of intercourse are mostly unplanned. Females who
reported preparing for their first sexual experience accounted
for 17 percent, whereas males constituted 25 percent. As a
result, few couples were equipped with contraceptives or took
steps to avoid spreading a sexually transmitted disease (STD).
The Sex Information and Education Council of the U.S. (SIECUS)
conducted a study in 1989 which found that more teens reported
performing or receiving oral sex than engaging in intercourse.
This trend may thwart unplanned pregnancies, but does nothing
to eliminate the risk of infection. The Centers for Disease
Control reports that every year 2.5 million American teenagers
contract STDs. This suggests that one in four sexually active
adolescents becomes infected--the highest rate of STD
transmission for any age group, the Children's Aid Society
estimated in 1991.


Caesareans May Lessen HIV Spread to Babies *
Washington Post (Health) (07/20/93), P. 5

Babies born to HIV-positive mothers may be less likely to
contract HIV if they are delivered by Caesarean section,
according to a study published in the Online Journal of Current
Clinical Trials. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public
Health discovered that 20.2 percent of the babies born by
vaginal delivery to HIV-positive mothers also became infected.
Among the babies delivered surgically from infected mothers,
however, only 14 percent contracted the virus, the researchers
reported. They revealed that Caesarean births had less risk of
HIV transmission after analyzing six studies conducted by other
researchers on perinatal HIV infection. In previous studies,
the rate of HIV transmission to babies ranged from 14 percent
to 32 percent. Some of the studies indicated that infants
contract HIV from their mothers either during the late stages
of pregnancy or during the birth process itself. Babies born by
Caesarean section are taken from the uterus through an
abdominal incision and therefore do not go through the birth
canal, which some studies suggest could be a source of HIV
infection. The researchers reported that "performing elective
C-section in HIV-infected women is potentially an effective
procedure." But they said that before new guidelines are
instituted for the delivery of such babies, there should be a
more comprehensive study involving at least 580 women.


France Makes Ministers Liable for Mistakes *
New York Times (07/20/93), P. A6

Due to the scandal over HIV-contaminated blood in France,
legislators approved reforms that will facilitate the process
of prosecuting Cabinet ministers for any wrongdoing. Members of
the National Assembly and the Senate overwhelmingly endorsed
the measures, which could hasten action against former Cabinet
officials involved in the scandal. Approximately 1,200
hemophiliacs received blood transfusions in 1985 that health
officials knew were tainted with HIV; more than 300 of the
transfusion recipients have subsequently died of AIDS. The
victims of the scandal blamed the National Assembly last year
for avoiding prosecution to protect three colleagues: ex-
Premier Laurent Fabius, ex-Social Affairs Minister Georgina
Dufoix and ex-Deputy Health Minister Edmond Herve. The scandal
exposed the government, even though President Francois
Mitterand attempted to thwart the disaster by introducing the
reforms.


AIDS Cuts Into Actors Equity Health Coverage *
Reuters (07/19/93)
Morehouse, Ward

(New York, NY) Because of the increasing number of AIDS cases
among actors, the Actors' Equity Association health care plan
is in severe trouble. Alan Eisenberg, the executive secretary
of the 30,000-member Actors' Equity Association, said an
alarming amount of AIDS-related claims, coupled with the
general health care inflationary spiral in the last decade has
resulted in a dramatic reduction of benefits and a substantial
increase in eligibility requirements. Eisenberg said, "We have
not been able to cover as many people as we used to. It's
changed drastically in the 12 years since I started." Although
Equity has no exact statistics on the numbers of its members
with AIDS, industry experts believe AIDS has had a particularly
hard impact on the acting profession. An Equity actor had only
to work two weeks under most of the union's contracts in 1981
to qualify for five months of post-employment health care
benefits. But on June 1 of this year, the eligibility criteria
for coverage of the union increased to 20 weeks for a year's
post-employment coverage. The change is primarily caused by
escalating AIDS-related claims, and has been met with almost
universal opposition by members. Eisenberg said, "We were
losing so much money a month we had to do something." Last
week, Eisenberg completed a new proposal to cut back
eligibility requirements to 12 weeks of work. He said he hopes
the proposal will be ratified by both the Equity union
representatives and the seven "employer members" of the Equity-
League Pension/Health Trust Fund. If approved, the measure will
be effective Jan. 1, 1994.


Rape Victim Having HIV Refuses to Prosecute *
Reuters (07/19/93)

(Bangkok, Thailand) An HIV-positive Thai woman who was gang
raped by a dozen men refused to file charges against them
because she claimed they suffered enough by knowing that they
were exposed to the deadly virus, reported the Thai daily
Mathichon. The newspaper said the woman's doctor, a specialist
on the disease, brought up the woman's case when addressing an
AIDS seminar on Monday. The doctor said the former prostitute
stopped working after she learned she was HIV-positive, but was
raped by a dozen bicycle rickshaw drivers on her way home to
Fang district in Chiang Mai province. The police caught the men
but freed them after the woman refused to file criminal
charges. "I want to spend the rest of my life in peace in my
hometown. The men who raped me have been already punished by
getting AIDS," he quoted the woman telling police. By the end
of May 1993, about 2,039 Thais were reported to the Ministry of
Public Health as having AIDS. Among them, 1,192 are still
living. Approximately 350,000, to 400,000 are believed to be
HIV-positive.


Elton John Sells Record Collection for AIDS Charity *
Reuters (07/19/93)

(London) Singer and AIDS advocate Elton John is selling his
personal collection of 48,000 records in his latest attempt to
fight the disease. London auctioneers Sotheby's said Monday
that the celebrity expected to raise as much as $225,000 from
the collection, which includes rare boxed sets, demo discs, and
colored vinyls by Genesis and David Bowie. Sotheby's is calling
for sealed bids by July 19 of between $150,000 and $225,000,
with proceeds to go to the British AIDS charity the Terrence
Higgins Trust. If the entire set fails to attract a decent bid,
it will be sold in two lots of albums and singles. Chris
Proudlove of Sotheby's, who catalogued the collection for sale,
said, "It's an outstanding collection and forms a comprehensive
archive of pop music." Elton John started his own charity, the
Elton John AIDS Foundation, last November, and has also donated
concert proceeds to AIDS research.


CD4 T-Lymphocytopenia Without Opportunistic Infections
in HIV-Seronegative Ethiopian Immigrants to Israel *
Lancet (07/03/93) Vol. 342, No. 8862, P. 50
Pollack, S. et al.

It is undetermined what underlying conditions are responsible
for low CD4 counts among asymptomatic HIV-negative Ethiopian
immigrants to Israel, write S. Pollack et al. of the Rambam
Medical Center in Haifa, Israel. Approximately 15,000 Jews were
flown from Ethiopia to Israel in early 1991. The rate of HIV
infection in this Ethiopian community is 1.75 percent, and all
were infected in the year before arrival in Israel. Despite
recent infection and the very low prevalence of patients
exhibiting symptoms (less than 10 percent), CD4 counts were low
in a high proportion of infected individuals. CD4 cell counts
on the first assessment on average were 391/uL, and 31 percent
had counts of 300 or fewer. CD4 cells were first counted in
May-September 1991, soon after the arrival of the immigrants,
who were all well-nourished and in good physical condition. No
evidence of nutritional deficiencies was found. The
researchers' findings prompted them to assess the prevalence of
CD4 T-lymphopenia in HIV-negative healthy Ethiopian immigrants
who arrived in Israel in the same immigration wave. A total of
100 age- and sex-matched Ethiopian Jews were tested for CD3,
CD4, and CD8 T-cell subpopulations. Eight people had CD4 counts
under 300/uL, and 16 had counts below 400 without evidence of
immunodeficiency. Overall, median CD4 number was 591/uL,
whereas in age- and sex-matched non-Ethiopian Israeli Jews, the
median is 912. The Ethiopian Jews who recently arrived in
Israel are characterized by a high rate of hepatitis B,
intestinal parasites, and sexually transmitted diseases. But it
remains unknown why there are low CD4 counts among this
population, the researchers conclude.


Cytomegalovirus Retinitis: When Looks Can Deceive *
Lancet (07/03/93) Vol. 342, No. 8862, P. 51

Cytomegalovirus retinitis (CMV) can be misdiagnosed in AIDS
patients even though it is the most frequent cause of vision
loss in these patients, write G. Diego Miralles of the Beth
Israel Medical Center in New York, N.Y. A 39-year-old
homosexual man with HIV infection presented with right-sided
loss of vision. He was examined by two opthalmologists, each of
whom diagnosed CMV retinitis. His CD4 count was over 500/uL at
the time. Following 9 months of treatment with foscarnet, he
was referred to the Beth Israel Medical Center, at which time
his CD4 cell count was 740/uL, his CMV serology was positive,
and his HIV seropositivity was confirmed. A third opthalmic
evaluation concluded that the patient had CMV retinitis, and
continued treatment was recommended. But in view of his high
helper lymphocyte count, the diagnosis was questioned and yet
another opthalmic evaluation sought. Fundoscopic examination
revealed scattered regions of retinal angiomas, retinal
aneurysms, and tortuous vessels, with intraretinal hemmorrhage
and retinal exudate. These angiomatous lesions were consistent
with a variantJof Coats' disease. When questioned directly
about the findings, the patient admitted to the presence of
visual abnormalities since early adolescence. But since the
diagnosis of CMV retinitis was an AIDS-related condition and
thus qualified him for permanent disability and other benefits,
he had concealed this fact from his doctors. Because CMV
retinitis in immunocompetent patients remains exceptionally
rare and present antiviral therapy is toxic, confirmatory
testing should be considered before such treatment is
administered, the researchers conclude.

July 21, 1993


Ottawa Knew Blood Tainted *
Toronto Globe and Mail (Canada) (07/20/93), P. A1
Picard, Andre

Leading Canadian health officials were aware that HIV-infected
blood was administered to hemophiliacs more than one year
before
it became necessary to heat-treat blood products to kill the
virus, according to one of Canada's top AIDS researchers.
Michael O'Shaughnessy told Radio-Canada that he revealed to
Health and Welfare Canada officials in July 1984 that his
research demonstrated that 56 percent of hemophiliacs were
infected with HIV. About a month later, O'Shaughnessy said he
spoke about his findings at scientific conferences where senior
members of the Health Department and the Canadian Red Cross
were present. The disclosure by Dr. O'Shaughnessy, who was then
director of the bureau of laboratory research at the Federal
Center for AIDS, is significant in the tainted-blood scandal
because it adds five months to the critical time period during
which Canadians were contracting HIV while federal and
provincial governments and the Red Cross contemplated what
should be done. Dr. O'Shaughnessy's comments also suggest that
a number of senior government officials knew of the issue long
before any action was implemented. He said that his research
findings, part of a larger study that will be published in the
New England Journal of Medicine, were known in July 1984, to
Alistair Clayton, director of the Federal Center for AIDS;
Janice Hopkins of the health protection branch of Health and
Welfare Canada; and Norbert Gilmore, chairman of the National
Council on AIDS.


FDA Threatens to Revoke Blood Bank Licenses *
Reuters (07/20/93)

(Washington) A San Francisco blood bank was warned by
regulators from the Food and Drug Administration that its
licenses will be revoked unless it immediately fixes problems
that threaten the safety of the blood it collects. The FDA said
it informed the Irwin Memorial Blood Bank of the San Francisco
Medical Society that its product and administration licenses
will be taken away unless it follows health guidelines. Last
spring, FDA inspectors found problems with laboratory
operations, computer operations, and record keeping, as well as
a failure to follow standard operating procedures. The agency
said that several of the problems had been pointed out in past
inspections and had not been corrected. The Irwin blood bank
will have 10 days to provide a plan for compliance with FDA
regulations. If it loses its product and establishment
licenses, the blood bank would be unable to ship blood and
blood products to other states. California health rules,
however, would determine whether the facility would stay open.
The FDA established strict rules on the collection of blood,
including provisions on the records of HIV testing. Such
records are available in case contaminated blood needs to be
traced. Irwin Memorial Blood Centers said, "After the most
recent inspection that ended in June, we submitted a detailed
action plan for responding to FDA's observations." It added it
had already begun implementing the action plan, which included
employee training and revising its standard operating
procedures to comply with good manufacturing practices.


AIDS Patient Who Was Allowed to Smoke Pot Dies *
United Press International (07/20/93)

(Panama City Beach, FL) The last AIDS patient to be allowed to
legally smoke marijuana in order to alleviate his pain from the
disease has died at age 31. Kenny Jenks, a hemophiliac who
contracted HIV from a tainted blood transfusion in the early
1980s, died of AIDS Monday at his home in Panama City Beach,
Fla. His wife Barbara, who contracted HIV from him, died in
March 1992. The couple received national attention after they
were convicted of three felony charges for growing marijuana.
They contended that smoking marijuana was the only way they had
to lessen the vomiting and nausea caused by AIDS and the drugs
used to fight the disease. In April 1991, the 1st District
Court of Appeal in Tallahassee, Fla., ruled in their favor.
After the trial, the couple was able to receive medicinal
marijuana through an experimental government program. Jenks
served as chairman of the Marijuana/AIDS Research Service. He
had indicated that he hoped President Clinton would allow
others to use marijuana for medicinal purposes. "Our major goal
is to have marijuana on a prescription basis, like any other
drug, where the decision would be between the doctor and the
patient," Jenks said last November. "It should be an option,"
he added. Last year, a federal program permitting marijuana use
as experimental treatment for AIDS, cancer, paralysis, and
chronic pain stopped accepting patients. Jenks happened to be
one of the few patients who continued to receive legal supplies
of marijuana.


Hurdles for an AIDS Vaccine *
Boston Globe (07/20/93), P. 15
Turner, Robert L.

The discovery of a successful AIDS vaccine will lead to several
bureaucratic problems unless the administration plans for it,
writes columnist Robert L. Turner. Martin Levin, director of
the Gordon Public Policy Center of Brandeis University in
Boston, says that instead of a "happy ending," the discovery of
an effective AIDS vaccine "will only usher in the next chapter
of this ordeal." Although Levin is not a health expert, he says
potential problems regarding the vaccine include the media
focusing on questions that "make the atypical seem typical." He
adds that some researchers will question the vaccine's
efficacy, while drug companies will want the government to
exempt them from suits due to adverse reactions. There will be
substantial distribution problems, as well as questions over
whether the vaccine will be free. Levin also says that "there
will be almost nothing about an AIDS vaccine that will be
either simple or noncontroversial." In Levin's view, the
discovery of a practical AIDS vaccine will lead directly to
confusion and delay, probably causing thousands of people to
become infected at a cost of billions of dollars and untold
human suffering. Levin contends that these issues can be
resolved only in practice, although some can be taken care of
ahead of time. The United States must start planning now for
the possible ramifications of successful AIDS vaccine
development, concludes Turner.


Agenda: California Screaming *
Advocate (07/27/93) No. 634, P. 16

San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan had his office occupied by
nearly 50 AIDS and health care activists on June 15 in protest
of reductions he proposed in the city health budget. Edward
Zold, media coordinator for ACT-UP/Golden Gate, said, "A lot of
support services for people with AIDS are taking a direct hit.
He's leaving us with a really pathetic bare-bones budget."
Jordan hopes to cut the municipal public health department's
annual budget from $185 million to $95 million. However, he is
expected to encounter strong opposition from the city board of
supervisors, who are scheduled to have a final vote on his plan
on July 22.


Transporter-Independent Processing of HIV-1 Envelope
Protein for Recognition by CD8 T Cells *
Nature (07/08/93) Vol. 364, No. 6433, P. 158
Hammond, Scott A. et al.

HIV-1 envelope (env) protein is processed in infected cells by
a novel Tap-1/Tap-2-independent pathway that appears to be
localized to the endoplasmic reticulum, write Scott A. Hammond
et al. of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md. CD8
cytolytic T lymphocytes (CTL) identify virally infected cells
by recognizing processed viral antigen in association with
class I major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules on
infected cells. Processing begins in the cytosol with the
generation of peptides, possibly by a protease complex with
MHC-encoded subunits, known as the proteasome. Transport of the
resulting cytosolic peptides into the endoplasmic reticulum for
association with class I molecules is essential and probably
involves a heterodimer of the MHC-encoded proteins, Tap-1 and
Tap-2. It remains unclear whether other proteins that enter the
exocytic pathway are subject to processing by this Tap-1/Tap-2-
independent pathway. These proteins are not present in the
cytosol because of cotranslational translocation into the
endoplasmic reticulum. The properties that enable the HIV-1 env
protein (and possibly other proteins) to be processed by the

Tap-1/Tap-2-independent pathway are so far undetermined but may
be related to the inefficient manner in which the env protein
progresses through the exocytic pathway or its intracellular
association with CD4. Understanding of this novel Tap-1/Tap-2-
independent processing pathway may aid in the development of
AIDS vaccines that will incite env-specific CD8 CTL, the
researchers conclude.


HIV Quiet But Not Silent *
Nature (07/08/93) Vol. 364, No. 6433, P. 110
Weber, Johnathan and McClure, Myra

Even though early HIV infection is largely considered
asymptomatic, the virus is far from silent clinically or
virologically, write Jonathan Weber and Myra McClure of St.
Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, U.K. The site and
quantification of HIV infection in the early stages has
received a lot of attention. It has been suggested that
asymptomatic HIV infection is clinically silent, and that viral
replication may be limited to the lymph nodes. But in practice,
all HIV-positive people have some degree of fluctuating
lymphadenopathy throughout the asymptomatic stage, which may or
may not be sufficiently pronounced to be termed persistent
generalized lymphadenopathy. Hypergammaglobulinameia is also
detectable early in the course of HIV infection, and
thrombocytopaenia may occur throughout this period. Even when
people have a relatively high CD4 count of 500 or more, they
may experience recurrent folliculitis, especially in the beard
area, seborrhoeic dermatitis on the face and chest, and
generalized xeroderma; pityriasis versicolor infection is
common. While these conditions can be thought of as minor
opportunistic infections, "asymptomatic" subjects also report
bouts of self-limiting night sweats, generally without
objective fever, but often associated with profound lethargy
and fatigue. HIV yields systemic developments throughout the
course of infection, and while these conditions may not be
life-threatening, they certainly are not silent, the
researchers conclude.


Clinton Makes AIDS Czar Pick--At Last *
Advocate (07/27/93) No. 634, P. 27
Gallagher, John

President Clinton's June 25 appointment of Kristine Gebbie,
former director of the Washington State health department, as
the federal AIDS policy coordinator came after months of
criticism from AIDS activists who said Clinton was too slow in
filling the post. According to insiders, the timing of the
appointment was probably influenced more by the breakup of the
National Commission on AIDS than by the looming criticism.
Gebbie's appointment occurred just three days before the
commission issued a report that chastised the Clinton
administration for being slow to start addressing AIDS issues.
The commission's charter expired with the final issue of the
report, indicating that had the policy position not been filled
by then, the federal government would have been left with no
one dealing solely with AIDS. Some activists have complained
that Clinton selected Gebbie because she was not a well-known
person who would more easily draw attention to the epidemic.
However, Kevin Jones, spokesman for the Northwest AIDS
Foundation in Seattle, said, "We believe she will be a strong
advocate for people with AIDS." He added, "We did not agree
with everything she did, but we don't expect that from any
politician. But her door was open, and she was inclusive in the
decision-making process." AIDS activists said that at the
Washington health department, Gebbie worked aggressively to
defeat a proposal that would mandate HIV antibody testing of
health care workers. However, she favored an unsuccessful
attempt to require reporting the names of people who tested
HIV-positive, a policy Jones said AIDS organizations
"vehemently opposed."


July 22, 1993


Flaw Is Discovered in Crucial Research on AIDS Treatment *
New York Times (07/22/93), P. A1
Altman, Lawrence K.

After three months of testing a promising AIDS therapy,
questions have been raised on the validity of the study's
initial findings. Also, the principal researcher in the
original studies that led to the trial said yesterday that his
team had found a flaw in the research. The trial, paid for by
the federal government, is currently being conducted at medical
centers nationwide and involves 400 volunteers. The
Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said in February that
scientists there and at Harvard Medical School had found what
"may be the Achilles heel of HIV." The findings were made by a
Harvard medical student, Yung-Kang Chow, and Dr. Martin S.
Hirsch, the principal investigator for the study. The study was
published in the British journal Nature. Due to the widespread
publicity, the National Institutes of Health extended the
number of participants from 200 to 400. However, researchers
from two other teams in England and in the United States found
that they could not confirm part of the Harvard team's
findings. Dr. Hirsh said that after the new reports were
disclosed, his team repeated its original studies and found an
error in one part of the paper. He said the error was a
misidentification of a part of a mutant form of HIV used in the
experiments. The research had tested a combination of AZT and
ddI along with pyridinone and nevirapine to attack an enzyme
that makes copies of HIV's genetic material. In test tubes, the
combination of drugs blocked the virus from spreading. But
Hirsh and his colleagues later found there was a mutation that
escaped their attention and turned out to be responsible for
inactivating the reverse transcriptase.


Surgeon General Nominee's Condom Plan Had Secret Flaw *
Baltimore Sun (07/22/93), P. 15A

The controversial condom distribution program executed by the
Arkansas Health Department did not reveal that as many as five
percent of the condoms tested defective, and the federal
government considered a court order to seize them. However,
state Health Department officials, including then-Director M.
Joycelyn Elders, now President Clinton's nominee for Surgeon
General, decided that there should be no public disclosure of
the problem. The Associated Press obtained government documents
that demonstrate that the state was distributing more than 1
million condoms a year, all purchased from Ansell Inc. of
Dothan, Ala., under the brand name LifeStyle. The Food and Drug
Administration conducted tests on four lots of the Arkansas
condoms and found a defect rate more than 10 times higher than
the limit set by the agency. The FDA allows for a defective
rate of 3 condoms per thousand, but the agency's tests revealed
one lot with a defective rate of 5 per hundred. The company
argued that the tests themselves were defective because the FDA
was using old equipment. The rate of defectiveness was high
enough that the FDA moved immediately to issue a court order
that would permit U.S. marshals to seize the condoms, according
to documents obtained by the Associated Press. Arkansas health
officials, however, decided that withholding the information
about the potential defects served a greater public health
purpose.


AIDS Fund Allotment Draws Protesters' Ire *
Philadelphia Inquirer (07/22/93), P. B1
Collins, Huntly

Philadelphia's first attempt to allot federal money through a
competitive bidding process drew opposition from about 150
protesters who demonstrated at a meeting of The Philadelphia
AIDS Consortium, a regional planning organization. The
protesters, most of them black, said the process had unfairly
overlooked grassroots groups that provide AIDS education in the
black community, where HIV is spreading most rapidly. The city,
which must decide which groups will receive part of the
$475,330 provided by the Centers for Disease Control for AIDS
education, has hired outside evaluators to scrutinize local
proposals for the money. The money from the CDC is down
significantly from last year, when Philadelphia received
$657,681 from the same source. Health Department officials have
refused to disclosed the funding recommendations of the outside
review panel. However, they have said they are now trying to
find other money to meet the shortfall. According to sources,
the city's two largest black AIDS groups--BEBASHI (Blacks
Educating Blacks About Sexual Health Issues) and the AIDS
community Education Program--were not recommended for the AIDS
education money by the review panel. But both groups have been
told by city health officials that the city is likely to make
up much of their threatened losses with other funds. Still,
protesters yesterday said they wanted the CDC money, and
claimed that groups with roots in the white community were
recommended for the money at their expense.


Ssenyonga Dies Before Verdict: Man Accused
of Spreading HIV *
Toronto Globe and Mail (Canada) (07/21/93), P. A4

A Canadian HIV-positive man accused of knowingly transmitting
the virus to several women died yesterday of AIDS, leaving a
judge to decide whether to issue a verdict in the case, said an
activist. Charles Ssenyonga died Tuesday morning, said a
nursing supervisor at Listowel Memorial Hospital, where the
Ugandan immigrant and former shopkeeper had been recently
admitted. Justice Dougald McDermid of the Ontario Court's
General Division is expected to deliver his verdict on Aug. 4
after Ssenyonga's three-month trial in London on three counts
of criminal negligence causing bodily harm. Mike Sauer,
assistant executive director of the AIDS Committee of London,
said, "If there's not a decision, there will be all kinds of
people who get nothing." However, a verdict may also be
ineffective because Ssenyonga could never serve a penalty nor
be set free, said Sauer. Ssenyonga had previously pleaded not
guilty and was banned from having sex at one point. He tested
HIV-positive in 1989. Later, three women he had had unprotected
sex with between then and 1991 also tested positive for HIV. In
June, he spent four days in the witness box and testified that
he sometimes thought of death, but said he had not thought
about the inevitable deaths of the women he allegedly infected.
Ssenyonga's lawyers contended that he suffered from a
psychological condition known as post-traumatic stress
disorder, which caused his conscious mind to block out his
illness.


Humor Magazine Eases AIDS Pain *
American Medical News (07/19/93) Vol. 36, No. 29, P. 12

A humor magazine designed for HIV-positive individuals
encourages its readers to exhibit a "petulant bad attitude."
Michael Botkin is the editor of Diseased Pariah News, a
magazine that uses dark humor to alleviate the pain of living
with AIDS. He said, "We say that since we're losing out on most
of life, we're entitled to get as much as we can out of the
small amount of time that's left." Although the magazine
doesn't typically address AIDS research or potential cures, it
sometimes prints health advice like "get fat, don't die," and
recipes and personal ads for people with the disease. "When you
live with AIDS, and if you think each day can be your last, you
can become immobilized and unable to do any thing," said
Botkin. "Anger is better than depression, but you can't be
angry all the time. So, it's important to step back and say,
'This is totally crazy.' Humor is a good way to deal with
AIDS." Botkin, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1988 while working
on his PhD in psychology at the University of California--
Irvine, left school and became a counselor at a gay clinic in
San Francisco. Botkin said, referring to the magazine's refusal
to address AIDS research issues, "We're pretty cynical about
that stuff now." He added, "The more you learn about the latest
therapy, the more side effects there are and the less promising
it looks." Diseased Pariah News costs $3 and has a nationwide
circulation of 5,000.


Corporations That Confront the Scourge of AIDS *
Business and Society Review (Spring 1993) No. 85, P. 21
Booth, MacAllister

With more than 100 people contracting HIV every day and as many
as 10 million Americans predicted to be infected by the year
2000, businesses should implement their own AIDS education
programs because they will not be able to avoid the pandemic
any longer, writes MacAllister Booth, president and chief
executive officer of Polaroid Corporation. The U.S. business
community has been slow to acknowledge the threat of AIDS, with
only 20 percent of companies having AIDS policies and even
fewer providing AIDS education. Despite the 150,000 Americans
who have died from AIDS, society can save millions of lives by
responding now with effective education and prevention
programs. Also, if current trends continue, AIDS will swallow
as much as $100 billion from the U.S. economy by the end of the
century--the equivalent of about 1 percent of the U.S. gross
national product. But American businesses can help improve the
quality of AIDS education for employees and their families.
Moreover, businesses can create workplaces that foster a
compassionate environment for employees with the disease or
those who have family members or partners with AIDS. Polaroid
established an extensive AIDS education program in 1987, and
made it company policy that the disease be treated like any
other life-threatening illness. Employees with AIDS are
eligible for a full range of benefits, to work accommodations,
and to continued employment. Furthermore, when HIV-positive
employees know they will be treated with respect and their jobs
are not at risk, they are likely to come forward earlier. What
results is better health care for the worker and significantly
lower costs for the company, concludes Booth.


Eyeing Buyers Clubs *
American Druggist (07/93) Vol. 208, No. 2, P. 11
Ostrowidszki, Victor

The Food and Drug Administration is taking a tougher stance on
the underground businesses known as AIDS "buyers clubs." The
FDA cautioned the clubs that extreme promotion of their
merchandise could constitute health fraud. In addition, the
agency ordered the clubs conduct their operations under the
supervision of a physician and warned them against distributing
potentially harmful products. In a letter to the 12 recognized
buyers clubs, the policy was outlined by Dr. Randolph F.
Wykoff, director of the FDA's office of AIDS coordination. The
"FDA has become increasingly concerned about certain potential
threats to the health of people with AIDS and advanced HIV
disease posed by the activities of some groups," said Wykoff.
"These include: The lack of physician involvement in the
medical care of their clients; the sale of injectable products
of unknown purity, sterility, and strength; the sale of
products with unknown sources of manufacture; and the
promotion, distribution, and commercialization of unproven and
potentially dangerous products." The FDA has permitted HIV-
positive patients to import unapproved treatments under a
"personal use" policy. As a result of this demand, buyers clubs
have emerged to serve as information clearinghouses for
treatment alternatives. Buyers for the underground operations
obtain the drugs abroad that either are not available in the
United States or are available only at much higher prices and
subsequently distribute them to patients.


July 23, 1993


AIDS Cases From Sex on Rise for Women *
New York Times (07/23/93), P. A12
Altman, Lawrence K.

Heterosexual intercourse has replaced intravenous drug use for
the first time as the most common route of HIV infection among
women, according to health officials from the Centers for
Disease Control who reported figures from 1992. About 60
percent of those women had been sex partners of men who were
IV-drug users, and most of the remaining sex partners consisted
of bisexual men. Until 1992, most women who were diagnosed as
having AIDS had contracted the disease through IV-drug use, the
CDC said in its weekly report. As the AIDS epidemic enters its
13th year, women continue to account for a growing percentage
of people with AIDS in the United States. The number of AIDS
cases among women increased 9.8 percent in 1992, while the
number of cases involving men rose 2.5 percent. The source of
infection among American women varied with the region of the
country. More women in the Northeast contracted HIV from IV-
drug use, while HIV transmission through heterosexual
intercourse was more common among women with AIDS in the South,
Midwest, West, and the United States territories, said the CDC.
Dr. John Ward, an AIDS official at the CDC, said the agency's
report was intended to be an early warning sign of the threat
of AIDS to heterosexuals. Still, he said the statistics did not
indicate a sharp change in the epidemic. Dr. Ward added that
because HIV-positive women can transmit the virus to their
babies, the increase in AIDS cases involving women is even more
significant. Last year, transmission of HIV to infants in the
perinatal period ranked second, behind heterosexual spread, as
the largest proportionate increase in AIDS cases.

Related Stories: Washington Post (07/23) P. A7; Los Angeles
Times (07/23) P. A5; USA Today (07/23) P. D1; Philadelphia
Inquirer (07/23) P. A7; Baltimore Sun (07/23) P. 16A.


Judge Affirms Maker's Patent for Drug That Fights AIDS *
New York Times (07/23/93), P. A12

The patent held by Burroughs Wellcome Co. for its anti-AIDS
drug AZT was upheld by a federal judge yesterday in a decision
that ends a legal battle with two generic drug companies that
sought to break the company's monopoly. United States District
Judge Malcolm Howard issued a direct verdict in favor of
Burroughs Wellcome, declaring the company's researchers the
"sole inventors" of the treatment. Lawyers for the two generic
drug companies, Barr Laboratories Inc. of Pomona, N.Y., and
Novopharm Ltd. of Canada, said they would appeal the case in
the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington. Robert Gunter,
president of Novopharm, said the decision is discouraging for
AIDS patients, but added that his company would proceed with
its battle to change Burroughs Wellcome's six patents on the
drug. "The people who will lose will be the people who will
need AZT right now at a lower price. We don't look at this as a
defeat. It's a legal delay in the process," said Gunter. Barr
Laboratories and Novopharm have disclosed that they could
produce a generic version of AZT that would cost about half the
annual treatment price of $2,000 to $2,500. During the trial,
both generic drug makers argued that Burroughs Wellcome is not
the sole inventor of AZT. They said that the company could not
have known about AZT's efficacy in humans without subsequent
tests conducted by two scientists at the National Institutes of
Health. Barr Laboratories and Novopharm want the patents
altered to include the names of the two NIH researchers. The
federal agency supports their claim, and says it will award
nonexclusive licenses if co-inventorship is proven in court.

Related Story: Los Angeles Times (07/23) P. B4; Journal of
Commerce (07/23) P. 6A.


Scientists Acknowledge Flaw in 3-Drug Attack on AIDS Virus *
Washington Post (07/23/93), P. A3
Brown, David

The theory of the combination AIDS therapy involving three
drugs is apparently incorrect, even though some of the findings
that led to the theory are still promising, said researchers
from the Massachusetts General Hospital yesterday. The
technique, called "convergent combination therapy," is based on
the belief that HIV can only mutate itself a limited number of
times before it is permanently destroyed. After being published
in the British journal Nature in February, the concept received
worldwide recognition because it appeared to offer the next-
best thing to a cure for AIDS: a permanent cessation of virus
replication in human cells. Martin S. Hirsch, an AIDS
researcher at Massachusetts General and Harvard University,
said, "Our feeling now is that this triple-drug therapy is
going to be very useful for a while, but that sooner or later a
resistant mutant [virus] will emerge to all three drugs." In
addition, he said there is still "very good reason to think
that a three-drug regimen might be more effective than a two-
drug regimen. This is still a strategy worthy of study." Dr.
Hirsch and his co-authors yesterday sent a letter to Nature
correcting their original findings. The National Institutes of
Health currently is conducting two clinical studies in which
HIV-positive patients are taking combinations of three drugs.
The studies were planned before the paper was published in
Nature, and will not be affected by the admission of mistakes
in the laboratory experiments, said NIH officials.


AIDS Groups' Feud in Hub Intensifies *
Boston Globe (07/22/93), P. 32

Two AIDS organizations from Massachusetts are at odds over
assertions that one of them discriminates against HIV-positive
IV-drug users. The Boston-based National AIDS Brigade received
a 1,500-signature petition from the AIDS Action Committee of
Massachusetts demanding an investigation into the Brigade's
claim that AIDS Action discriminates against IV-drug users with
AIDS. The AIDS Action Committee has denied the assertion. AIDS
Action's move comes as the group seeks criminal charges against
the AIDS Brigade, alleging that Brigade workers illegally
solicited funds and defrauded the AIDS Action Committee on June
6 during a pledge walk. The AIDS Brigade has denied any
wrongdoing at the walk.


Health Chief to Meet With AIDS Groups *
Philadelphia Inquirer (07/23/93), P. B5
Collins, Huntly

Philadelphia's health commissioner agreed yesterday to meet
with local AIDS organizations regarding a bitter dispute over
federal AIDS education funds. Dr. Robert K. Ross' decision
comes after a heated meeting on Wednesday, where the
Philadelphia AIDS Consortium demanded that Ross show up at a
public meeting Monday to discuss the funding altercation. The
Philadelphia AIDS Consortium (TPAC) consists of 65
representatives of local AIDS groups who serve as a planning
body that allocates some federal AIDS funds. At the meeting,
approximately 150 protesters, most of them black, chastised the
city Health Department for its management of a competitive-
bidding process used to allot $475,330 in AIDS education funds
from the Centers for Disease Control. Some of the protesters
threatened Richard Scott, director of the city's AIDS
Activities Coordinating Office. While Ross agreed yesterday to
meet with TPAC, he said he would not accept the kind of tactics
used against Scott on Wednesday. He added, "It's exactly those
kinds of tactics that saddled Philadelphia with the reputation
at the federal level that our funding [system] is political and
not substantive." Dr. Ross said that the city, in its bid for
federal Ryan White CARE Act funds, "was penalized to the tune
of $2 million" this year because federal officials believed its
funding allocation process was too political. He also said that
although he was going to hire an outside review panel to divvy
up the CDC money, he hoped to find city and state money to
account for the federal budget shortfalls incurred by some
agencies, including BEBASHI (Blacks Educating Blacks About
Sexual Health Issues).


Ontario Expands Testing for HIV *
Toronto Globe and Mail (Canada) (07/22/93), P. A1
Mackie, Richard and Fuller, Ann

Ontario's chief medical officer of health has recommended that
any resident who received a blood transfusion between 1978 and
1985 should be tested for HIV. Dr. Richard Schabas' statement,
backed by Health Minister Ruth Grier and various health groups
in the Canadian province, increased the importance of testing
for those who received transfusions, or even think they may
have received one. The statement comes after a study at the
Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto showed that large numbers
of people do not realize that the transfusions they received
occurred during the period before blood was tested for HIV,
said Grier. In the past, the Health Ministry has issued
warnings recommending that people get tested if they had a
transfusion before blood was screened for the virus. Dr.
Schabas said that although the ministry had promoted HIV
testing, some doctors did not recognize the urgency of
recommending the procedure to patients. He said he wrote a
letter to all physicians in the province re-emphasizing the
policy because of indications that many people were not aware
they had had transfusions or had assumed there were no problems
resulting from the transfusions. Dr. Schabas said in his letter
that the study of cardiac patients who received blood
transfusions at the Hospital for Sick Children demonstrated
that five of the six former patients were HIV-positive but had
not exhibited any symptoms of AIDS. He also encouraged
physicians to go beyond merely counseling patients.

Related Story: Financial Times (07/23) P. 3.


Panel: Let Prisoners Get Experimental AIDS Drugs *
Boston Globe (07/22/93), P. 27
Locy, Toni

HIV-positive inmates should be allowed to volunteer to
participate in clinical trials of new AIDS drugs, according to
an advisory AIDS task force which supported the proposal by the
Massachusetts Department of Correction. Charles McDonald, a
spokesman for the Executive Office of Public Safety, said the
task force requested that Secretary Thomas C. Rapone and
Correction Commissioner Larry DuBois revise state regulations
that currently bar inmates from getting access to experimental
drugs. In addition, the task force urged Gov. William Weld's
administration to devise a procedure for the inmates to receive
approval to obtain such drugs that will not be so cumbersome as
to "defeat the purpose" of changing the regulation, said
McDonald. The department's proposal is endorsed by the
Massachusetts Correctional Legal Services, which represents
inmates. Although the move was commended by Anne Braudy, a
legal services staff attorney, she said the group believes the
proposal is not extensive enough. McDonald said the Department
of Correction wanted to change the regulation because of the
growing numbers of prisoners who were IV-drug users and are
HIV-positive. In order to change the regulation prohibiting
inmate use of experimental drugs, the Department of Correction
had to hold a public hearing, which occurred Monday, and must
institute a set of procedures for obtaining the experimental
drugs.


Humor Magazine Eases AIDS Pain *
American Medical News (07/19/93) Vol. 36, No. 29, P. 12

A humor magazine designed for HIV-positive individuals
encourages its readers to exhibit a "petulant bad attitude."
Michael Botkin is the editor of Diseased Pariah News, a
magazine that uses dark humor to alleviate the pain of living
with AIDS. He said, "We say that since we're losing out on most
of life, we're entitled to get as much as we can out of the
small amount of time that's left." Although the magazine
doesn't typically address AIDS research or potential cures, it
sometimes prints health advice like "get fat, don't die," and
recipes and personal ads for people with the disease. "When you
live with AIDS, and if you think each day can be your last, you
can become immobilized and unable to do any thing," said
Botkin. "Anger is better than depression, but you can't be
angry all the time. So, it's important to step back and say,
'This is totally crazy.' Humor is a good way to deal with
AIDS." Botkin, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1988 while working
on his PhD in psychology at the University of California--
Irvine, left school and became a counselor at a gay clinic in
San Francisco. Botkin said, referring to the magazine's refusal
to address AIDS research issues, "We're pretty cynical about
that stuff now." He added, "The more you learn about the latest
therapy, the more side effects there are and the less promising
it looks." Diseased Pariah News costs $3 and has a nationwide
circulation of 5,000.


Corporations That Confront the Scourge of AIDS *
Business and Society Review (Spring 1993) No. 85, P. 21
Booth, MacAllister

With more than 100 people contracting HIV every day and as many
as 10 million Americans predicted to be infected by the year
2000, businesses should implement their own AIDS education
programs because they will not be able to avoid the pandemic
any longer, writes MacAllister Booth, president and chief
executive officer of Polaroid Corporation. The U.S. business
community has been slow to acknowledge the threat of AIDS, with
only 20 percent of companies having AIDS policies and even
fewer providing AIDS education. Despite the 150,000 Americans
who have died from AIDS, society can save millions of lives by
responding now with effective education and prevention
programs. Also, if current trends continue, AIDS will swallow
as much as $100 billion from the U.S. economy by the end of the
century--the equivalent of about 1 percent of the U.S. gross
national product. But American businesses can help improve the
quality of AIDS education for employees and their families.
Moreover, businesses can create workplaces that foster a
compassionate environment for employees with the disease or
those who have family members or partners with AIDS. Polaroid
established an extensive AIDS education program in 1987, and
made it company policy that the disease be treated like any
other life-threatening illness. Employees with AIDS are
eligible for a full range of benefits, to work accommodations,
and to continued employment. Furthermore, when HIV-positive
employees know they will be treated with respect and their jobs
are not at risk, they are likely to come forward earlier. What
results is better health care for the worker and significantly
lower costs for the company, concludes Booth.


NOTE:  Compilation by Michael Tidmus : AIDSwire. All rights
reserved. Permission is granted to republish on electronic
media for which no fee is charged, provided the complete text
of this notice is attached to any republished portion or
portions.

* From the AIDS Daily Summary. The Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS Clearinghouse has made this
information available as a public service only. Providing this
information does not constitute endorsement by the CDC, the CDC
Clearinghouse, or any other organization. Reproduction of this
text is encouraged; however, copies may not be sold. Copyright
1993, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD.

-----===[[[ A I D S w i r e  D I G E S T  07.19.93 ]]]===-----
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