                     AIDS Daily Summary
                     November 01, 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
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Copyright 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"'Scott Doe' AIDS Lawsuit is Settled"
"And Now for Something Completely Different"
"AIDS Drugs Fail to Curb Dementia and Nerve Damage"
"Lifeline: AIDS & Needles"
"Insurance Rarer in AIDS-Ridden Southern Africa"
"Grace and Fear Mark AIDS Epidemic in San Francisco"
"7th on Sale Returns to New York; CFDA and Vogue Announce Fashion
Industry AIDS Benefit for May 1995"
"AIDS Drug Interactions Guide Available"
"Washington Whispers: Hazardous Duty"
"Crime, AIDS Money Rises; Heating Bill Aid, Transit Cut"
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"'Scott Doe' AIDS Lawsuit is Settled"
Philadelphia Inquirer (11/01/94) P. A1;  Slobodzian, Joseph A.
     The AIDS discrimination trial of "Scott Doe" ended Monday with a 
secret settlement that lawyer onlookers suggest would have to be 
at least $1 million.  Doe claimed that his employers dismissed 
him when they discovered that he was HIV-positive.  He filed the 
suit in August 1993, and was later joined by the federal Equal 
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and attorney Alan B. 
Epstein.  The EEOC lawyers made a separate agreement with Doe's 
former law firm, Kohn, Nast & Graf.  While continuing to deny any
wrongdoing, the firm agreed to comply with the federal Americans 
with Disabilities Act, and will post in its offices for 90 days a
notice describing the law's protections.
      
"And Now for Something Completely Different"
Washington Post (Health) (11/01/94) P. 7;  Weiss, Rick
     In an effort to demonstrate his disbelief that HIV causes AIDS, a
Florida physician pricked his finger twice last Friday with a 
needle that had just been inserted into the finger of an 
HIV-positive man.  At an alternative medicine meeting in 
Greensboro, N.C., Robert Willner inoculated himself with the 
infected blood to draw attention to what he calls "the greatest 
scam ever perpetrated."  Willner believes that AIDS is caused by 
malnutrition, recreational drug abuse, and modern medicines that 
include the AIDS drug AZT.  Officials are troubled by Willner's 
actions, saying that they help perpetuate any lingering doubts 
that the public may have over the cause of AIDS.  Robert C. 
Gallo, a co-discoverer of HIV said, "We'll never have data of a 
cause of a disease better than we have for HIV and AIDS..."  
Willner, however, is not alone in his beliefs.  He is part of a 
small but vocal group that insist that HIV is not the cause of 
AIDS.  Studies of injection drug users and health workers who 
accidentally inject themselves with an infected needle show that 
Willner has less than one-third of one percent chance of actually
becoming HIV-infected.
      
"AIDS Drugs Fail to Curb Dementia and Nerve Damage"
New York Times (11/01/94) P. C3;  Altman, Lawrence K.
     A study of six AIDS-related neurological conditions found that 
the incidence of infections that affect the brain and central 
nervous system is increasing among HIV-infected patients.  
Previous studies have found that AIDS drugs helped protect 
against such damage.  The increase was due in part to the 
negative effects of drugs such as ddI (didanosine), ddC 
(zalcitabine), and d4T (stavudine).  The conditions include 
toxoplasmosis, cryptococcal meningitis, and neuropathy.  The six 
conditions affected about 40 percent of the 2,641 HIV-infected 
gay males who participated in the study.  Dementia affected 
almost 20 percent of the patients.  There is a debate in the 
scientific community as to whether there has been a decline in 
the incidence of AIDS dementia.  A Dutch study suggested that the
use of AZT led to a significant decrease in dementia, but others 
disagreed, saying that the dementia only seemed to disappear 
because it is frequently fatal quickly.  Dr. Justin S. McArthur, 
head of the research team and a neurologist at Johns Hopkins 
School of Medicine, said that the data underscores the need for 
the development of more effective AIDS drugs.  He also said that 
while the survival rate after the development of opportunistic 
infections has increased, more people are living longer with 
severely suppressed immune systems--the period of vulnerability 
to neurological complications, especially opportunistic 
infections of the brain.
      
"Lifeline: AIDS & Needles"
USA Today (11/01/94) P. 1D;  Vigoda, Arlene
     A new study sponsored by the American Foundation for AIDS 
Research has found that needle exchange programs could reduce by 
half the risk of new HIV infections in intravenous drug users.  
The researchers observed a New York City needle-exchange program 
where clean needles were given to 22,000 drug users.  The risk of
infection was calculated to be approximately 2 percent.  Some 
studies of addicts in New York suggest their HIV-infection rate 
to be about 5 percent.  Related Story: Washington Times (11/01) 
A7
      
"Insurance Rarer in AIDS-Ridden Southern Africa"
Reuters (10/31/94);  Mdlongwa, Francis
     As AIDS spreads rapidly through southern Africa, medical 
insurance companies are questioning how they will survive.  Old 
Mutual, one of South Africa's largest insurers, has added a 
clause to its life policies that allows it to refuse payment when
a holder dies of AIDS.  The firm estimates that it has lost 
almost US$1.25 million due to AIDS-related claims since July of 
1993.  Other companies request mandatory AIDS tests for policy 
holders and refuse to pay out benefits to those who die from 
AIDS.  One angry client said, "Insurance firms give an impression
they want only to make money and don't care about their 
customers."  Insurers, however, claim the strict measures are an 
attempt to slow an alarming drain of their financial resources by
families of AIDS patients.  It is estimated that 16 percent of an
estimated 40 million South African residents will be HIV-infected
by 1995.  In Zambia, officials predict that 1 million of the 8 
million population will die from AIDS by 1998.  In defense of 
insurers' actions, Barrie McCurdy, head of Zimbabwe's Life Office
Association, said, "There is no doubt that if nothing had been 
done, the industry would collapse."
      
"Grace and Fear Mark AIDS Epidemic in San Francisco"
Los Angeles Times (10/30/94) P. B1;  Tom, Dara Akiko
     The San Francisco health department recently announced that, for 
the first time in any U.S. city, AIDS was the leading cause of 
death among men in 1992.  That was the same year that health 
officials celebrated reaching a plateau in the number of new 
cases.  Many in San Francisco were not surprised by the high 
numbers.  "Between 1981 and 1984, there were 8,000 new infections
each year.  Those were entirely among gay men.  And now we're 
seeing, 10 to 12 years later, the consequences--the high rate of 
death," said Mitch Katz, director of San Francisco's AIDS office.
Although AIDS cases in gay men have decreased, the numbers of 
HIV-infected intravenous drug users and youths are increasing.  
There are many poignant stories about those who are infected with
HIV and how they are coping with the disease.  For example, AIDS 
counselor Richard, who declined to use his last name, says that 
"if I didn't get HIV, if I didn't get tested, I wouldn't be here 
today."  When he was diagnosed with HIV in 1985, he was a heroin 
addict.  He has been clean for four years and will start graduate
school in the fall.
      
"7th on Sale Returns to New York; CFDA and Vogue Announce Fashion
Industry AIDS Benefit for May 1995"
PR Newswire (10/31/94)
     The Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), in 
cooperation with the CFDA Foundation and Vogue Magazine, will 
hold 7th on Sale/The Return to New York on May 17-21, 1995.  For 
four days, shoppers will be offered fashions at discount prices. 
Donna Karan, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and Vogue's Anna Wintour
are chairing the event, which is being underwritten by Vogue.  
The event was originally held in New York City in 1990 and raised
a record-breaking $4.2 million, which was distributed to 
CFDA-Vogue Initiative/New York City AIDS Fund by the New York 
Community Trust.  7th on Sale/San Francisco in 1992 raised 
another $2.6 million.  Funds from the San Francisco sale were 
distributed by DIFFA to AIDS organizations in the San Francisco 
Bay area.
      
"AIDS Drug Interactions Guide Available"
AIDS Treatment News (10/07/94) No. 208, P. 1
     An 11-page fact sheet describing the interaction of frequently 
used drugs--including experimental ones--by HIV patients has been
prepared by Project Inform.  The list also includes suggestions 
for working with health-care providers--so that drug interactions
receive attention--and a glossary of medical terms used in the 
fact sheet.
      
"Washington Whispers: Hazardous Duty"
U.S. News & World Report (10/31/94) Vol. 117, No. 17, P. 38;  
Stanglin, Douglas;  Power, Samantha;  Impoco, Jim et al
     The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will soon require
that all people entering infectious areas at crash sites wear the
protective suits that rescue workers wear.  They will also have 
to go through safety training.  People such as investigators, 
reporters, and photographers could be denied access to sites 
where there could be a risk of HIV or hepatitis infection, if 
they do not have the protective suits and training .  After USAir
Flight 427 crashed in September, the crash site was declared a 
biohazardous area.  An NTSB official estimated that based on the 
prevalence of HIV, there was about a 50 percent chance that at 
least one of the 132 people on the fatal flight was HIV-infected.
      
"Crime, AIDS Money Rises; Heating Bill Aid, Transit Cut"
Crain's (10/10/94-10/16/94) Vol. 10, No. 41, P. 13;  Lipowicz, 
Alice
     The appropriations bills passed in Congress will direct more 
federal money in New York City to AIDS education, crime-fighting,
job retraining, and community block grants this year.  The Ryan 
White AIDS services program will receive $110 million for its 250
programs--up from $78 million last year.  New York state's share 
of subsidies for housing for people with AIDS is increasing as 
well.
      
