Date: Mon, 17 Jul 1995 09:50:57 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com AIDS Daily Summary July 17, 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 ************************************************************ "Merck to Provide New AIDS Drug" "Attempted Murder Conviction Upheld in HIV-Related Rape Case" "Advisers Back Baboon-Human Cell Transplant" "Polio Helps Doctor Treat HIV Patients" "Debate on H.I.V. Testing Raises Ackerman's Profile" "Helms Is Wrong Target" "AIDS Fear Brings Suspension" "Jeweler, Sharon Stone Settle $12 Million Suit" "Other Viruses Could Change and Become Human Danger, Experts Warn" "HIV Disease and Reproductive Counseling" ************************************************************ "Merck to Provide New AIDS Drug" Washington Post (07/17/95) P. A7; Gillis, Justin Merck & Co. is the second major drug company to announce an expanded access program for the drug indinavir sulfate, a member of the family of protease inhibitor drugs. Through a free lottery, Merck plans to distribute this drug known as Crixivan to 1,400 AIDS patients in the United States. Unfortunately, Merck and Hoffman-La Roche, which announced a similar program for the drug Invirase, must wait for the results from the clinical trials before beginning production of these drugs. Abbott Laboratories, the third company with a drug of this family in the last stages of testing, has not announced an expanded access program. Related Story: Wall Street Journal (07/17) P. B3. "Attempted Murder Conviction Upheld in HIV-Related Rape Case" Washington Post (07/15/95) P. B3; Shen, Fern The Maryland Court of Special Appeals has ruled that an HIV-infected Prince George's County resident can be convicted of attempted murder for raping a woman. This decision, the first such appellate ruling in the state, adds fuel to the national debate over whether additional penalties should be imposed on someone whose criminal actions put someone at risk of HIV infection. Officials in other states argue that an HIV-infected person who scratches, bites, spits at, or rapes another should be charged with attempted murder. But AIDS activists and others claim that murderous intent should not be assumed in such cases and note that such behavior rarely, if ever, transmits HIV. The court's opinion upheld last October's conviction of Dwight Ralph Smallwood for attempted murder in the sexual attacks of three women during 1993. Baltimore Sun (07/15) P. B1 "Advisers Back Baboon-Human Cell Transplant" Washington Post (07/15/95) P. A3; Schwartz, John On Friday, an advisory panel to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended allowing researchers to continue with a controversial AIDS experiment in which a baboon's bone marrow is transplanted into a human patient. Researchers hope that the specially treated cells from the baboon, which is not infected to HIV, will boost the patient's immune system. The panel members appeared moved by the impassioned testimony of friends and family of Jeff Getty, the San Francisco AIDS activist who is the most likely recipient of the test. Getty's sister Kim said, "If I don't do my job fast enough, I lose customers. If you don't do your job fast enough, people die...What if you are sitting on a solution to my brother's life, and he dies?" During the two-day hearing, the panel discussed safety precautions at length, including a strong recommendation that the patient be required to sign a pledge that he will engage in safe sex for the rest of his life to reduce the risk of transmitting any potential new pathogens. Although the FDA is not required to follow the panel's recommendations, it usually does. "Polio Helps Doctor Treat HIV Patients" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (07/17/95) P. B1; Arkush, Michael Dr. Jeff Galpin, a victim of polio in the early 1950s, believes a cure for AIDS is possible because, during his unexpected life, everything else has been. He believes his struggle with the fear and stigma surrounding polio gave him empathy, and his patients believe him. "He understands what it is like to be different," says one. Galpin is a field investigator for a federally approved experiment aimed at blocking the growth of HIV. Every few weeks, he administers shots to a group of 27 volunteers. The genes are derived from a HIV strain at Viagene, a San Diego biotechnology firm, whose gene therapy treatment is based on the concept that an AIDS patient's immune system can be reactivated and even strengthened with an injection of HIV's own genetic material. Galpin does not treat his patients differently because they are dying. All of us, he notes, are living on borrowed time. "Debate on H.I.V. Testing Raises Ackerman's Profile" New York Times (07/17/95) P. B4; Sack, Kevin Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D-N.Y.) is at the center of a Congressional debate over whether the government should require HIV testing of newborns. Although most states test infants for the virus that causes AIDS to help track the spread of the epidemic, parents are not informed of positive results because a positive test result would mean that the mother is infected. This year, Ackerman has campaigned aggressively to gather support for a bill that would require states to disclose the HIV test results to parents. His efforts showed success last week when leaders of the House Commerce Committee announced that they had agreed to draft bipartisan legislation for the mandatory HIV testing of newborns whose mothers were not tested during pregnancy. Ackerman admits that this issue may be the most serious domestic policy issue he has tackled. "I'm not usually involved in these kinds of issues...but this one is rather compelling," he said. "Helms Is Wrong Target" USA Today (07/17/95) P. 11A; Snow, Tony While critics assailed Sen. Jesse Helms' (R-N.C.) recent comments on federal AIDS funding, they ignored his central argument that the government spends a disproportionate part of its medical budget on AIDS, writes columnist Tony Snow in USA Today. Helms' diatribe also enabled the diversion of public attention from a major healthcare scandal, that federal law frustrates efforts to cure such diseases as childhood cancer and Alzheimer's. The AIDS debate leaves the impression that everything important in medicine occurs in federal labs. This is not true, Snow contends, because while the government puts billions of dollars into research each year, pharmaceutical companies spend even more. The scandal, however, is that most proven wonder drugs first appear abroad. More than 60 percent of all new drugs approved between 1990 and 1994 were introduced in foreign markets, and Americans had to wait an average of six more years to have access to them. In conclusion, Snow notes that while Helms makes a tempting target for ridicule, people who really care about saving lives should focus on other things, such as taxes and regulations, that have become major obstacles to patients. "AIDS Fear Brings Suspension" Washington Post (07/15/95) P. A2 A mail carrier in Charleston, W.Va., has been suspended indefinitely with pay because of his refusal to serve a couple with AIDS, even after attending an AIDS education class. Tim Snodgrass, who refused to deliver mail to Fred and Pat Grounds after they moved into a home for people with AIDS, said he was afraid of injuring himself on the home's metal mail slot and becoming infected from envelopes and stamps the couple had licked. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there are no known cases of HIV transmission through saliva. "Jeweler, Sharon Stone Settle $12 Million Suit" Baltimore Sun (07/15/95) P. 2A Actress Sharon Stone has settled her $12 million lawsuit against a jeweler, who will make a donation to the American Foundation for AIDS Research to resolve the dispute. The argument began in 1993, when Stone wore a $400,000 diamond necklace during the promotional tour for the movie "Sliver." The actress, claiming that the necklace was a gift from the jeweler, sued him in 1994, charging misrepresentation and breach of contract. The exact amount and additional terms of the settlement were not released, but the necklace was returned to the jeweler. "Other Viruses Could Change and Become Human Danger, Experts Warn" American Medical News (07/03/95-07/10/95) Vol. 38, No. 25, P. 15 Researchers at a meeting of the American Society of Microbiology cautioned that HIV and Ebola may be forewarning of several other fatal viruses that could spread through the human population as the result of genetic mutation or social changes. The researchers said that constant medical vigilance is the only protection against such viruses. According to Rockefeller University's Stephen Morse, viruses such as HIV and Ebola may have existed in nature for years, but only became fatal after some genetic change or some new method of exposure developed. Richard Courtney of Pennsylvania State University said the recent pattern is such that "emerging viral diseases are becoming more frequent, not less." Morse said an emerging virus could take advantage of failures in some public health measures, such as the lack of clean water or slack efforts at inoculation. "HIV Disease and Reproductive Counseling" Focus (06/95) Vol. 10, No. 7, P. 1; Kurth, Ann There are several factors that HIV-infected women may consider when making reproductive decisions and HIV-related treatment choices once pregnancy is underway. In order to make an informed decision, women need to have the available facts about HIV infection and pregnancy. Maternal-fetal transmission can occur as early as the first trimester, though now it appears that as much as 60 percent of transmission occurs late in pregnancy or during labor and delivery. Recent findings from the National Institutes of Health AIDS Clinical Trials Group O76 study suggest that AZT can reduce the risks of such transmission by two-thirds. Although encouraging, women should be aware of the need for long-term follow up in the study, as well as balance the possible benefits of AZT against the risks to their fetuses. Women who know of their HIV infection in time to make decisions about whether to continue their pregnancy should consider the effect of HIV on the pregnancy, on the mother's health, on the fetus, and later, on the infant. Some studies indicate that there is some decline in cell-mediated immune response during pregnancy, especially in T-helper subsets. The most effective way to prevent pediatric HIV infection is to prevent infection in women. This goal would require more prevention and testing outreach to male partners, more accessible and female-friendly addiction treatment, and greater emphasis on women's roles beyond reproduction.