DP Tool Club 17/CD_ASCQ_17_101194.iso/vrac/ad9408.zip/AD940805.TXT

Text File | 1994-08-05 | 8KB | 151 lines

                     AIDS Daily Summary
                       August 05, 1994

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information 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, and the CDC
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD

"World Wire: Trial in German AIDS Case Opens"
Wall Street Journal (08/05/94) P. A6
     Proceedings began yesterday in the trial of five former officials
of UB Plasma, the now-defunct German blood-products firm, for
their role in the sale of contaminated plasma from 1987 to 1993.
The prosecution contends that at least three people contracted
AIDS after using products supplied by UB Plasma, which
authorities shut down in October.  The company and its executives
are accused of supplying thousands of blood units that were not
properly screened for HIV.  They are charged with fraud and
causing bodily harm.  Related Stories: New York Times (08/05) P.
A7; Baltimore Sun (08/05) P. 4A

"Aids Under Review"
Financial Times (08/05/94) P. 8;  Abrahams, Paul
     The market for HIV/AIDS treatments in the six biggest
industrialized nations--the United States, Japan, Germany,
France, Italy, and the UK--should increase more than five-fold
over the next decade, according to a report by Pharma Strategy
Group.  The value of these markets is currently $264 million, and
accounts for about three-quarters of the global market for
anti-viral HIV/AIDS drugs.  Market growth would be propelled by
an increase in duration of treatment, which could double from
three years in 1993 to six years by 2003.  The proportion of
asymptomatic HIV patients who are taking treatment should climb
from 20 percent to 60 percent, which will also influence market
growth.  The report predicted that the market, which is at
present dominated by Wellcome's AZT and Bristol-Myers Squibb's
Videx, should fragment due to drug resistance and the emergence
of new products.  The market could collapse, the report concedes,
should HIV vaccines ever become a reality--but it argues that
this is not likely to happen within the next 10 years.

"Suit by Fired Lawyer With HIV Survives a Challenge"
Philadelphia Inquirer (08/05/94) P. B2;  Slobodzian, Joseph A.
     HIV patients not exhibiting disease symptoms can still be
considered disabled under the Americans With Disabilities Act,
U.S. District Judge Robert S. Gawthrop 3d ruled yesterday.  In
doing so, Gawthrop refused to dismiss a suit against the
Philadelphia law firm of Kohn, Nast & Graf by an attorney who
claims he was terminated because he was infected with the virus.
The suit will now go to trial in September.  Barbara A.
O'Connell, the firm's attorney, had argued that the ADA defines
disability as a physical or mental impairment that significantly
restricts one's "major life activities."  She said the
plaintiff's only affected life activity was procreation, and that
he was able to practice law.  Gawthrop disagreed, writing in his
decision that "...being HIV-positive places one within the
protection of the act."

"EU Funds China AIDS Project"
United Press International (08/05/94)
     The European Union today granted China $2 million to train
doctors and technicians how to treat AIDS and other sexually
transmitted diseases.  Although the incidence of AIDS in China is
still relatively low, with 1,174 documented cases out of a
population of 1.18 billion, the country's record level of STD
cases is almost certainly reflective of the onset of an epidemic.
The EU funding, to be distributed over a three-year period, will
be supplemented by an unspecified amount from the Chinese
government.

"AIDS Patient Battling Adams Bank Dies"
Washington Times (08/05/94) P. B8;  Munroe, Tony
     James Michael Layne Hall, an AIDS patient entangled in a two-year
legal battle with Adams National Bank, died yesterday of
complications of the disease before the case could be settled.
Hall, 30, sued the Washington, D.C., bank, claiming that his 1991
dismissal was an illegal attempt to reduce health insurance
costs.  An agreement was reached in June, but the terms were not
to be disclosed.  The bank sought to void the pact, however,
after a local newspaper reported that Hall had received a
settlement of $267,000.  The paper said it obtained the
information from court records, but attorneys for Adams Bank
argued that Hall breached the confidentiality clause by agreeing
to interviews with local newspapers.  Although the plaintiff has
died, a  contempt ruling must still be made to determine whether
the money will be returned to Adams National Bank.

"Patient Suing Doctor for Running Unauthorized Test for AIDS Virus"
Chicago Tribune (08/04/94) P. 1-7;  Fegelman, Andrew
     Dr. Nadira Alikhan, a physician who ordered an HIV test despite
the objections of her patient, did not violate an Illinois state
law requiring patient consent for testing and disclosure of
results, ruled Cook County Circuit Judge Sidney Jones III on
Wednesday.  Jones also said he doubted that Alikhan breached
confidentiality laws when she informed the patient's longtime
partner that he was HIV-positive.  The case--the first major test
of the confidentiality statute--goes to trial next month in a
legal battle that will essentially pit privacy rights and the
right to refuse treatment against a doctor's obligation to treat
someone who is sick.  The trial will determine whether the
patient, identified only as John Doe, is entitled to $10,000 that
the statute says may be imposed for intentional violation of the
law.

"HIV Infection Rises Among London's Pregnant Women"
Reuters (08/04/94)
     Laboratory figures, published in the British medical journal
Lancet, demonstrate that the rate of HIV infection among pregnant
women in London has spiked upward from one in 560 in January 1990
to one in 380 in June 1993.  The researchers concluded, however,
that "The prevalence of HIV-1 infection among pregnant women is
not expected to continue to rise indefinitely and will probably
level off as it has done in other countries."  Another study
published in the journal found that more drug addicts in the
Scottish capital of Edinburgh die from AIDS than from overdoses.
Researchers of the 10-year study attributed the situation to more
users injecting tranquilizers and more users infected with
Hepatitis C.

"More on the Declining Age at HIV Infection"
New England Journal of Medicine (07/14/94) Vol. 331, No. 2, P.
134;  Hughes-Davis, T.H.
     A new physician in 1983 would have likely waited longer before
documenting his or her first case of AIDS than would have a new
doctor in 1993, deducts T.H. Hughes-Davies, F.R.C.P.  In the same
vein, today's patient is apt to contract HIV after fewer
exposures now than 15 years ago, Hugh-Davies adds.  Therefore,
the decline in the age at infection with HIV described by
Rosenberg et al. in the March 17 issue of the New England Journal
of Medicine was not unexpected.

"Expanding the AIDS Arsenal"
U.S. News & World Report (07/11/94) Vol. 117, No. 2, P. 67
     The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a fourth drug
to fight HIV infection.  AIDS patients who cannot tolerate or no
longer benefit from AZT, ddI, or ddC will now be able to take
Stavudine, or D4T, which belongs to the same class of drugs as
the other three.  Stavudine does not cause anemia--one of the
most serious side effects of AZT use--but it does have its
disadvantages.  Some patients experienced peripheral neuropathy,
or pain, tingling, or numbness of the hands and feet.  Stavudine,
which will be sold under the name Zerit by Bristol-Myers Squibb,
should be available by prescription sometime this month.  The
daily wholesale cost will be $6.22, roughly the same as that of
AZT, and the manufacturer will help financially strapped patients
find funding, or receive the drug free of charge.