home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Software Vault: The Diamond Collection
/
The Diamond Collection (Software Vault)(Digital Impact).ISO
/
cdr16
/
ad950224.zip
/
AD950224.TXT
Wrap
Text File
|
1995-02-24
|
12KB
|
213 lines
AIDS Daily Summary
February 24, 1995
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 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
************************************************************
"Doctor Says He Treated Louganis Without Gloves Because of Time"
"Tolerance, Not Blame, for Louganis"
"Condom Use Increases Among Youths, Study Says"
"House GOP Targets $17 Billion in Cuts"
"Clintonites Fight a Regulatory Freeze by Pushing 'Horror'
Stories"
"Pharmacia Inc. Announces Clinical Trials for Tuberculosis
Prevention; Study to Target People with HIV and the Underserved"
"Two AIDS Bills in Washington State Concern Health Authorities,
Educators"
"Pacific Legal Foundation Sues to Strike Down Sacramento County's
Needle Exchange Program"
"Patent Office Expedites AIDS, Cancer Inventions"
"The 100 Smartest New Yorkers"
************************************************************
"Doctor Says He Treated Louganis Without Gloves Because of Time"
Washington Post (02/24/95) P. D1; Knight, Athelia
James C. Puffer, chief physician for the U.S. Olympic team at the
1988 Olympics in Seoul, said that when he stitched Greg Louganis'
bleeding head after the diver hit his head on the springboard,
protective gloves were not "immediately available," and that he
had to act quickly so that the diver could continue to compete.
Louganis revealed this week that he has AIDS, and that he knew he
was HIV-positive before the 1988 games. He did not tell Puffer
or the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC). "I had to make a quick
decision as to whether I was going to close the wound or wait for
gloves to be found and risk not being finished in sufficient time
for him to compete his last dive...The risk, while there, was
minimal," explained Puffer. He added that Louganis informed him
several months ago that he was HIV-positive during the 1988
Olympics. Puffer has been tested and found to be HIV-negative.
National and international Olympic officials said on Thursday
that they do not expect any changes in their guidelines as a
result of Louganis' disclosure. "There is no HIV testing," said
Mike Moran, a spokesman for the USOC. "Athletes can go to their
own physician" to take the test, "but those test results are
confidential." Related Story: New York Times (02/24) P. B7
"Tolerance, Not Blame, for Louganis"
New York Times (02/24/95) P. B7; Vecsey, George
Instead of asking whether Greg Louganis did the right thing by
concealing his HIV-positive status, the real question should be
whether government and health authorities worked hard enough in
facing AIDS during the early years of the epidemic, writes George
Vecsey for the New York Times. The stigma surrounding AIDS has
led to a long reign of hysteria that would have kept anyone
quiet, he contends. Although the risk from an athlete bleeding
on someone is minute, Louganis will be remembered because Dr.
James Puffer--who did not know until a year ago that Louganis was
infected at the time of the 1988 Olympics--treated him without
gloves. The doctor's minimal risk would not happen today because
medical staff wear thick latex gloves while treating athletes
with cuts. Gary Briggs, trainer for the Cleveland Cavaliers,
sprays his hands with Derma Shield, a foam that protects for four
hours. Briggs said he would not expect an athlete to tell him if
he were HIV-positive. Vecsey said that instead of criticizing
Louganis, he would prefer to think of him for his grace and his
dignity rather than for a snap decision made in a moment of
terror. Let the attention to Greg Louganis help us all confront
and defeat AIDS, he concludes.
"Condom Use Increases Among Youths, Study Says"
Washington Post (02/24/95) P. A4
Although high school students are now more likely to use a condom
than they were years ago, nearly half say they did not use one
the last time they had sex, officials from the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported on Thursday. A
total of 53 percent of the 16,000 students surveyed had engaged
in sexual intercourse at least once, and 18.8 percent had had sex
with at least four different partners. "We're very concerned
that the percentage of young people who are engaging in
intercourse remains so high," said Lloyd Kolbe, the CDC's
adolescent and school health director. In 1993, 52.8 percent of
students said they had used a condom the last time they had sex,
compared to 46.2 percent when a similar study was conducted in
1991. "In this era, with sexually transmitted diseases,
including HIV infection so prevalent," Kolbe said, "we're
concerned that [52.8 percent is] not nearly enough." Related
Story: New York Times (02/24) P. A14
"House GOP Targets $17 Billion in Cuts"
Wall Street Journal (02/24/95) P. A12; Rogers, David
After two days of working with the federal budget, the
Republicans have produced a spending-cut bill that seeks to
recover almost $17 billion from prior funding for
Democratic-backed domestic programs. The sweeping cuts from
labor, housing, health, and education programs are accompanied by
provisions aiming to restrict regulatory units such as the
Environmental Protection Agency. About $276 million of the cuts
would come from targeted initiatives to address problems of
lead-based paint and housing for people with AIDS. Related
Stories: New York Times (02/24) P. A14; Washington Post (02/24)
P. A1
"Clintonites Fight a Regulatory Freeze by Pushing 'Horror'
Stories"
Wall Street Journal (02/24/95) P. A1; Shafer, Ronald G.
As a House vote approaches on a GOP-proposed regulatory freeze,
the White House is urging agencies to cite ill effects. The
Department of Transportation, for example, has issued 10 pages of
endangered rules, such as one requiring airline first-aid kits to
include latex gloves to prevent AIDS spread. The GOP has called
the alarms a pro-regulatory ruse.
"Pharmacia Inc. Announces Clinical Trials for Tuberculosis
Prevention; Study to Target People with HIV and the Underserved"
PR Newswire (02/23/95)
Pharmacia Inc. has announced the beginning of two clinical trials
for Mycobutin, the only available treatment in the United States
for the prevention of disseminated Mycobacterium avium complex
(MAC). MAC is the fastest growing bacterial opportunistic
infection in AIDS patients. The first trial will compare
Mycobutin's short-term impact on tuberculosis (TB) prevention
with one year of standard TB preventative therapy in patients who
have tested positive for both HIV and TB. The other trial will
evaluate Mycobutin's efficacy in preventing TB in anergic
injection drug users.
"Two AIDS Bills in Washington State Concern Health Authorities,
Educators"
Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News (02/22/95); Porterfield,
Elaine
Public health authorities, civil libertarians, and educators are
concerned about two AIDS-related bills before the Washington
state legislature. One bill would require AIDS testing of anyone
arrested for suspicion of prostitution or patronizing a
prostitute. State Rep. Pat Scott introduced the bill at the
request of police vice officers in Everett, saying that police
are frustrated at repeatedly arresting certain people for
prostitution knowing they have AIDS. The bill also contains a
provision that anyone who has AIDS and engages in prostitution
can be charged with second-degree assault, a felony. The other
bill, which would remove oversight of public school AIDS
education from the state Department of Health, would eliminate an
important safeguard to public health, said Greg Smith,
legislative liaison for the state Department of Health. "We
think that medical accuracy in AIDS education material is
extremely important in fighting the AIDS epidemic," he said.
"Pacific Legal Foundation Sues to Strike Down Sacramento County's
Needle Exchange Program"
Business Wire (02/22/95)
The needle exchange program in Sacramento County violates
California laws which prohibit the furnishing of needles for
purposes of drug use, according to legal documents filed
Wednesday by the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF). Attorneys for
PLF have sought to intervene in a lawsuit recently filed by
county officials who are trying to obtain court approval of the
program. On Nov. 29, 1994, the Sacramento County Board of
Supervisors approved the program in concept, saying that a clean
needle supply would stem the spread of AIDS among injection drug
users. "A lawful and more compassionate approach to reducing the
spread of AIDS among addicts is to get them to stop using
needles, clean or dirty," said PLF's Director of Litigation
Anthony T. Caso. Under the California Health and Safety Code, it
is a misdemeanor to provide hypodermic needles without a
prescription under circumstances where one should reasonably know
that they will be used to inject a controlled substance into the
body.
"Patent Office Expedites AIDS, Cancer Inventions"
AIDS Treatment News (02/10/95) No. 216, P. 1; James, John S.
On Feb. 3, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) Commissioner
Bruce Lehman told AIDS Treatment News that the PTO will now allow
AIDS and cancer patent applications to receive top priority
review. The new status is applicable only if the patent
applicant requests it, and if the request is approved by the PTO.
The new rule will be important in instances where a drug
developer or other inventor has a high-priority invention and
wants to move it quickly. The new system will accelerate
development of the drug, as well as facilitate the discovery of
other treatments because companies often keep their research
secret until the patent is granted. Many medical patents,
however, are deliberately delayed by the companies that apply for
them because if the patent is approved for marketing, the 17-year
patent term will start running. By the time, the drug or medical
device is approved, part of the 17 years will have already
passed. The recently approved GATT treaty (the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade) should reduce such problems by shifting the
U.S. patent term to 20 years from the date of filing, not 17
years from the date of issuance.
"The 100 Smartest New Yorkers"
New York (01/30/95) Vol. 28, No. 5, P. 39; Kaminer, Ariel;
MacFarquhar, Larissa; Schillinger, Liesl
Included in New York magazine's list of the 100 smartest New
Yorkers are epidemiologist Don DesJarlais and activist Larry
Kramer. In 1985, DesJarlais was the first to publicly state that
distributing clean needles to intravenous drug addicts would slow
the spread of AIDS. He helped establish needle-exchanges and
bleaching centers around the country, in Europe, and in Asia.
The results of his Syringe Exchange Evaluation project, which
were released this fall, showed that needle-exchange programs
reduce infection rates, and they do not attract new users.
Kramer is best known as the man who founded ACT UP and co-founded
the Gay Men's Health Crisis. He is currently working on a novel
that, unfinished, is already a couple of thousand of pages.