Special AIDS Edition (41-50) 1993

                         OF NOTE...

                        News to Use

Special AIDS Edition (41-50)                          December 1, 1993

Earl Appleby, Jr., Editor                             CURE, Ltd.

                             AIDS Addenda

Mary Fisher, an HIV-infected mother and member of the National

Commission on AIDS, fought back tears as she spoke of the AIDS death

of her ex-husband, Brian Campbell. "I've come from Brian's funeral. I

spent last Saturday holding our sons at his graveside...trying to make

sense of a 5 year-old's grief and a 3-year-old's questions...When next

my children stand at a parent's grave, they may be old enough to ask

whether the nation cares. God help the person who needs to answer

them." (A Mother's Heartfelt Cry, USA Today, 6/29/93)

Kristine Gebbie, Clinton's AIDS policy coordinator, ran "a racially

troubled poorly managed agency." So say people who worked for her as

Washington state health secretary. "My feeling is that she will be

dealing with people who have more prejudice against them than just

about anyone. I just hope they get a fair shake from her." --Debbie

Finley-Justus, former minority affairs director under Gebbie, whose

office subordinates dubbed the "Old South." (Ex-Workers Criticize AIDS

Czar, Bob Partlow & Joel Coffidis, USA Today, 6/30/93)

Displaying Kaposi's sarcoma bruises on his legs, Dr. Peter Jepson-

Young notes, "AIDS is not a focus in my life. It tends to be a bit of

a nuisance." The Canadian physician gets a See Eye dog on HBO's The

Broadcast Tapes of Dr. Peter. ('Dr. Peter' Shows Nobility in the Face

of AIDS, Matt Roush, review, USA Today, 7/1/93)

"Many have expressed concern about the potential impact of Judge

Sterling Johnson Jr.'s ruling ordering the release of the Haitians

held at Guantanamo Bay. This concern has been portrayed as a medical

and financial threat to Floridians, mainly because of perceptions that

medical costs will be high and public health will be threatened

because the AIDS virus might further spread. Many of my constituents

have expressed fear, but most are outraged and incensed at the double

standard to which Haitian refugees have been subjected." --Rep. Carrie

Meek (D-FL). (For Haitian Refugees, Equal Justice Under the Law, Meek,

op ed, Miami Herald, 7/5/93)

"No effective treatment or cure has been identified. Why shouldn't

these AIDS patients doomed according to current medical knowledge be

allowed to try any drug therapy they desire? Not only should the FDA

be allowing this self-experimentation, it should be actively

encouraging it and closely monitoring the result as an adjunct to the

unsuccessful efforts of so-called professional AIDS researchers." --

Anton Noimous, Silver Spring, MD. (Untested AIDS Treatment, Noimous,

let-ed, Washington Post Health, 7/13/93)

"Just five years ago fewer than 200 people in Thailand were known to

be infected with HIV. By late 1992 the number had risen to an

estimated 450,000." --Michael Merson, MD, head of the World Health

Organization's global AIDS program, who projected 30 to 40 million

persons world wide would be infected by the end of the decade. (AIDS

Epidemic Only Getting Worse, Washington Times, 8/10/93)

"It is morning rush hour and you see a car accident. You run to the

scene and discover a well-dressed 30-year-old man, apparently on his

way to work. He has suffered a heart attack; a bit of blood is

dripping from his forehead. Would you administer mouth-to-mouth

resuscitation? If you're a doctor, nurse, or resident at a large Los

Angeles teaching hospital, the answer is likely to be no...The reason:

fear of contracting a communicable disease, chiefly AIDS." (Contagion

a Barrier to Mouth-to-Mouth, Sandra Boodman, WP Health, 8/10/93)

"The neat houses and well-tended lawns, with occasional baseball

fields where children play and adults lounge, give this 40-acre estate

[in Santiago de las Vegas] the look of the prosperous neighborhoods

before Cuba's current economic crisis set in. There are no blackouts

like those that plague the rest of the island, and air conditioners

hum in each house. Chicken, pork, and beef are plentiful and each home

has a color TV. Medical care is free and available around the clock,

as are expensive medicines not found elsewhere. El Maranon, as the

estate was known before the revolution, is not the home of senior

government or military officials but of 283 HIV-positive people, the

oldest of the 13 sanitariums that dot the country as part of Cuba's

unusual approach to keeping the AIDS virus from spreading. The

strategy consists of providing the infected with medical treatment and

special diet, while limiting their ability to transmit the disease by

limiting their contact with society at large." (Patients Laud Cuban

AIDS Care, Douglas Farah, Washington Post, 8/11/93)

"Diana O., a mother of three who lives in Freeport, said a television

reporter once came to interview her, but knocked on a neighbor's

apartment door by mistake. A few months later the neighbor moved...In

her own family, Diana spoke of her illness, but found relatives would

no longer wash and cut her hair. 'I have a daughter who tells people I

have cancer,' she said, and fell silent. 'If that helps her out. it's

OK. If she's too ashamed to tell people her mother is dying of

AIDS.'...Patrick Daniels, a 57-year-old writer who is legally blind,

believes that...The East Hampton Star, stopped publishing his

freelance articles because a picture of him appeared on the front page

of the New York Times...with an article about older men with

HIV...'They have a facade of being awfully liberal, awfully

understanding, awfully humane, but it's about a quarter-inch deep,' he

said...These are the quiet ravages of AIDS on Long Island [NY], which

has the highest suburban rate...in the nation." (Where AIDS Advances,

Understanding Lags, Diana Schemo, New York Times, 8/12/93)

"It has relieved a great deal of stress in my life. One of the most

easily removed immune suppressions is stress. One way to reduce stress

is on individuals is financial security." --John Plater, 26, on the

$23,400 he receives from the Canadian government annually to help him

cope with the HIV he contracted via tainted blood. But his April check

was his last. (Canada's Payments to AIDS Victims Ends, Anne Swardson,

Washington Post, 8/13/93)

"With all the controversies over the role and effectiveness of United

Nations peacekeepers, one issue that has received scant attention, and

that UN officials are loathe to discuss, is the presence of AIDS among

the peacekeeping forces. The militaries of countries in sub-Saharan

Africa are known to have HIV infection rates as high as 80%...A UN

official explains that 'we do not discriminate between black, white,

or AIDS-infected people.'" (UN Peacekeepers and AIDS, Time, 8/16/93)

40% of the beds in the Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi's largest,

are occupied by patients with AIDS, but, unlike the exotic infections

often seen in Europe and North America, most suffer and die from

common illnesses treatable with antibiotics, such as bacterial

pneumonia, dysentery, and tuberculosis. (AIDS in Africa--It's a

Different Story, Susan Obie, Washington Post Health, 8/17/93)

A woman found a note in George Sirls' apartment that discussed his

feelings about being HIV-positive. Earlier that day she had been

intimate with Sirls, 46, a volunteer at Houston's People with AIDS

Center. Authorities are charging Sirls under 1989 Texas law making it

a felony to expose someone intentionally to AIDS. (Woman Claims

Partner Hid HIV Status, Washington Times, 8/18/93)

"A government effort to conduct a multiyear test of several AIDS

vaccines was torpedoed by MicroGeneSys Inc.'s refusal to donate its

vaccine for testing, federal officials said...Instead, the Pentagon is

returning to a plan pushed through Congress last year, to spend $20

million testing only the company's vaccine VaxSyn....'I'm

flabbergasted,' said G. Kirk Raab, president and chief executive

officer of Genetech, Inc., a biotech company based in South San

Francisco, California. 'It's pathetic that the government would spend

taxpayers' money' for AIDS research 'in such an unscientific and

political way.'" (US to Test MicroGeneSys AIDS Vaccine After Firm

Torpedoes Broader Study, Marilyn Chase and Thomas Ricks, WSJ, 8/23/93)

"This has nothing to do with segregation. It's a quality-of-life issue

for the patients and an efficiency issue for us. I think it makes very

good sense." --Harry Singletary, Florida Corrections Secretary, on

plans to house 150 inmates in the final stages of AIDS in an Orlando

'AIDS-care' prison, a plan denounced by some civil libertarians as "a

throwback to the days of leper colonies, an attempt to warehouse" AIDS

patients. (Florida Plans 'AIDS-Care' Facility for Ill Inmates, David

Kidwell, Washington Post, 8/24/93)

"I've done a lot of stories about AIDS, and people would ask me,

'Doesn't it upset you doing these stories?' And I'd say, 'No. The

disease--the DISEASE has me on the verge of tears often.' But being

able to do a story gives me a feeling that I'm doing something against

the disease, doing something to combat it. If I can give other people

opportunities where they can help combat this epidemic, I think that

relives the pressure on all of us, to some extent." --Joe Lovett,

independent producer of the ABC special "In a New Light '93." (Program

Sheds 'Light' on AIDS, Scott Williams, Washington Times, 9/3/93)

"The National Commission on AIDS, created four years ago to advise

Congress and the president on the development of 'a consistent

national policy' to address the HIV epidemic is scheduled to expire

today...The commission's final report is neither boastful nor

optimistic but surprisingly frank about the members' disappointment

that its recommendations have not been quickly accepted and put into

practice...It is understandable that the task of grappling with this

horror--trying with limited national resources to mobilize and

energize the fight against AIDS--is dispiriting. But the commission

has not been ineffective. By prodding, goading, criticizing, and

demanding action, it has had an effect. Its final plea for compassion

for victims, commitment of resources, and clear national leadership

should be taken seriously." (The AIDS Commission's Final Plea,

editorial, Washington Post, 9/3/93)

Of 1,863 US inmate deaths in 1991, 528 were due to AIDS. All but 15 of

the AIDS fatalities were males. New York ranked number one with 210

AIDS deaths, followed by New Jersey (66), and Florida (59). (NY Tops

in Inmate AIDS Deaths, Washington Times, 9/13/93)

All but one of Canada's ten provinces and two territories agree to pay

persons who contracted HIV from contaminated blood a $20,000 lump sum

and $30,000 a year for life in return for agreeing not to sue. The

holdout, Nova Scotia. had enacted a more liberal compensation program

earlier this year. (AIDS Compensation, Washington Post, 9/17/93)

"I was a visiting professor at Mount Sinai [School of Medicine in New

York] three years ago. They presented two cases to me of AIDS patients

who died with unexpected lactic acidosis [a buildup of metabolic

byproducts in cells]. I couldn't figure out what had happened to

them." (Cases Linked to AZT Show Difficulty of Tracking Rare Side

Effects, David Brown, Washington Post, 9/20/93)

US District Judge Aldon Anderson rules a 1987 law invalidating the

marriage of people with AIDS violates the Americans With Disabilities

Act and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The request to overturn the

law was made by two families and Utah Attorney General Jan Graham.

(Judge Rules Marriage Law Unfair to AIDS Patients, MJ, 9/20/93)

Representing more than 10,000 members affected by AIDS, the National

Hemophilia Foundation sets a September 30 deadline for Baxter

International and four other companies to delineate a plan for a

compensation fund for hemophiliac who contracted AIDS through clotting

agents. Sources inside the negotiations say the NHF is demanding $5

billion, of which $3.5 billion would come from the federal government.

(The High Price of Blood, David Greising, Business Week, 9/27/93)

"We need to set an example...I want all of you to take this as serious

as I do." --Pres. Clinton, announcing all federal workers will receive

training regarding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and managers

will be advised how to adjust workplace rules to accommodate people

infected with HIV. (All Workers to Get Instructions in 'AIDS 101,'

David Brown, Washington Post, 10/1/93)

"You have these horrible conflicts dividing people, while more people

are getting infected, and more people are getting sick." -Frank Oldham

Jr., director, New York City Office of Gay and Lesbian Health,

rejecting an informal offer to head Washington, DC's Agency for

HIV/AIDS. (A Leading Candidate to Head DC AIDS Agency Says NO, Amy

Goldstein, Washington Post, 10/14/93)

"Facing a growing AIDS scandal, the German government has launched a

criminal investigation into a federal agency that admitted it kept

quiet for years about suspicious blood supplies used for transfusions

in 1985 and earlier were contaminated with HIV-blood supplies than

infected more than 2,300 people." (HIV-Infected Blood Scandal Rocks

German Health Program, Steve Vogel, Washington Post, 10/26/93)

"Health officials called today for all patients who received

transfusions or other blood products since the early 1980s to undergo

AIDS testing as a widening scandal over contaminated blood threatened

to trigger panic across Germany." (AIDS Tests Are Urged in German

Blood Crisis, Rick Atkinson, Washington Post, 11/4/93)

To mark World AIDS Day, the US Post Office will issue a commemorative

stamp honoring AIDS awareness, The stamp to be issued December 1

features the red ribbon that symbolizes the AIDS-awareness movement.

(Organizations Prepare for AIDS Day, Scott McCaffrey, MJ, 11/8/93)

"Workers at this storefront [Berlin] AIDS center are cynical about the

tainted blood scandal that has tripled calls to their hotline. They

think the government and media have encouraged unwarranted panic.

Since federal Health Minister Horst Seehofer announced last mont the

discovery of blood products infected with the virus that leads to

acquired immune deficiency syndrome, hardly a day has gone by without

a media blast. The cover of the respected magazine Der Spiegel says it

all: 'AIDS Angst Dirty Business With Blood.'" (German AIDS Workers

Upset by Blood Hysteria, Martinsburg Journal, 11/9/93)

                      Health Care Plans and Pans

"Advocates for AIDS coverage have qualms--worries that budget concerns

would limit care for people whose lives can't be saved, fears that

experimental treatments common to AIDS patients won't be covered. But

to (David) Lewis (diagnosed with AIDS five years ago), the bottom line

is that the Clinton plan would protect others from the nightmare he

went through. When his insurance company halved his benefits and

quadrupled his premiums to $500 a month. Lewis faced premiums and

unreimbursed medical costs exceeding $12,000 a year. That forced him

to quit his job as library director in Plymouth, Massachusetts, and do

what 47% of all HIV patients do--turn to public assistance. (AIDS Camp

Plea: Pass Reform Plan, Richard Price, USA Today, c. 10/18/93)

                        A Word From Our Sponsor

OF NOTE is CURE's biweekly digest of disability/medical news. This Special

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Special Editions include Abled, AIDS, Cancer, Family, Health Care,

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