                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       March 8, 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


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"Wellcome Advises Shareholders to Accept $15.15 Billion Takeover 
Offer From Glaxo"
"Gingrich Criticized for Opposing Job Protection for Homosexuals"
"State Doctors Group Urges HIV Reporting"
"D.C. Health Spending Exceeds Other Cities'"
"Skeptics Give 'Miracle Brew' a Closer Look"
"Novel Cancer Treatments Highlighted at ..."
"The Immune Response Corporation Announces Fourth ..."
"AIDS in the Age of Hype"
"Adverse Cutaneous Reactions to Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole in 
Patients with the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and 
Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia"
"AIDS Proposal"
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"Wellcome Advises Shareholders to Accept $15.15 Billion Takeover 
Offer From Glaxo"
Wall Street Journal (03/08/95) P. A3;  Moore, Stephen D.
     In a decision that would create the world's largest 
pharmaceutical company, the directors of Wellcome PLC have 
advised their shareholders to accept the $15.15 billion takeover 
offer from Glaxo PLC.  The new company--to be called Glaxo 
Wellcome PLC--would put under the same corporate roof such 
top-selling drugs as Zantac, Glaxo's ulcer medicine, and 
Wellcome's Retrovir AIDS drug and Zovirax herpes therapy.  The 
acquisition will help the new combined company cut annual costs 
by about 10 percent.  The cost reductions will bolster earnings 
growth during a period of patent expirations on key drugs in 
1997-1998.  Zovirax's U.S. patent expires in 1997.  Although the 
sale is subject to U.S. antitrust approval, Glaxo reaffirmed 
Tuesday that discussions with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission 
"are making satisfactory progress and Glaxo is confident" that it
will receive regulatory clearance.  Related Stories: New York 
Times (03/08) P. D1; Washington Post (03/08) P. C1; Journal of 
Commerce (03/08) P. 7B
      
"Gingrich Criticized for Opposing Job Protection for Homosexuals"
New York Times (03/08/95) P. A19;  Gray, Jerry
     On Tuesday, House Speaker Newt Gingrich incurred the wrath of 
advocates for homosexual rights when he said there should be no 
federal protection for job rights based upon a person's sexual 
orientation.  "His remarks are disingenuous after he appeared 
yesterday with his sister, Candace, and told the truth about 
American families," said Elizabeth Birch--the executive director 
of the Human Rights Campaign Fund, the country's largest gay and 
lesbian political group.  Gingrich urged tolerance for gay men 
and women on Monday.  Candace Gingrich came to Washington, D.C., 
during the weekend to attend a political meeting sponsored by the
Human Rights Campaign Fund, as well as to lobby Congress on 
Monday to protect AIDS funding and to support laws protecting the
rights of homosexuals.  Related Story: Washington Post (03/08) P.
A17
      
"State Doctors Group Urges HIV Reporting"
Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (03/08/95) P. B1;  Shuit, 
Douglas P.
     On Monday, members of the California Medical Association (CMA) 
voted to ask for state legislation that would require anyone 
testing HIV-positive to be reported to county health authorities.
California law currently requires anyone with full-blown AIDS to 
be reported, but previous proposals for similar reporting of 
HIV-infected people have drawn strong opposition.  The resolution
calls for mandatory reporting of HIV infections by health care 
providers "for the purpose of partner notification and disease 
control only."  The vote was attacked by Michael Weinstein, 
director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation in Los Angeles, who 
called the decision "a victory for ignorance and phobia."  Prior 
to approving the HIV resolution, the CMA delegates rejected a 
resolution calling for mandatory HIV testing of pregnant women.
      
"D.C. Health Spending Exceeds Other Cities'"
Washington Post (03/08/95) P. A1;  Goldstein, Amy
     Although many of its residents receive inadequate care, the 
District of Columbia spends far more government money on health 
services than other large U.S. cities, reported a panel advising 
Mayor Marion Barry.  In 1994, the city spent $852 per person in 
local aid, compared to $335 per person in Boston, $473 in New 
York City, and $743 in San Francisco--the city most devastated by
the AIDS epidemic in the nation.  Warnings about the state of the
city's residents' health are not new.  Compared with other 
cities, the District has the nation's highest death rates from 
cancer and liver disease and the most rapid spread of HIV.  The 
panel blamed the expense and inadequacy of the District's health 
services on a lack of government planning and coordination of 
health services.  It concluded that a number of city agencies 
that operate medical services sometimes duplicate their efforts 
and are poorly managed.
      
"Skeptics Give 'Miracle Brew' a Closer Look"
USA Today (03/08/95) P. 1D;  Thomas, Karen
     The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and AIDS educators 
are studying the Kombucha mushroom tea--the current cure making 
the rounds.  The tea is a fermented home-brew used as a remedy 
for everything from cancer to AIDS to baldness.  Some experts 
say, however, that the tea could be harmful to people with 
impaired immune systems.  "We've never heard of anything that had
this number of inquiries," says Samuel Page of the FDA Natural 
Products Division.  "Its use is very widespread."  Page says that
Kombucha is not actually a mushroom, but a yeast and bacteria 
mass.  The FDA--which began brewing and testing the tea in 
January--is concerned about whether it has harmful properties, 
particularly when brewed under unsterile conditions.  Thus far, 
tests done in sterile labs have found the tea to be relatively 
harmless because "as the culture is growing, it does become quite
acidic, which is beneficial and would inhibit the growth of other
organisms," said Page.
      
"Novel Cancer Treatments Highlighted at ..."
HealthWire (03/07/95)
     Researchers and doctors from 10 different countries convened this
week at the Fourth International Conference on Bispecific 
Antibodies and Targeted Cellular Toxicity.  The conference was 
sponsored by E. Merck, Medarex Inc., and Concerted Action for the
Commission of the European Committees.  Michael W. Fanger of 
Dartmouth Medical School, conference chair, said, "Over the last 
few years, we have seen bispecific antibodies advance from being 
interesting research subjects to being highly promising 
therapeutic products."  He added, "Looking ahead, we should see 
advanced clinical trial results in cancer and AIDS patients as 
well as new bispecific approaches and methods for rapidly testing
their potential efficacy in patients."
      
"The Immune Response Corporation Announces Fourth ..."
PRNewswire (03/07/95)
     Immune Response Corp. posted a $17,399,000 net loss for the year 
on Tuesday, up from $15,738,000 last year.  The increase was 
primarily the result of research and development costs related to
Immune Response's gene therapy program and an increase in costs 
for the HIV immunotherapeutic program.  Contract research revenue
increased to $6,035,000 from  $4,768,000 in 1993.  However, 
investment income sank to $2,554,000 from $4,321,000.
      
"AIDS in the Age of Hype"
New York Times (03/05/95) P. E1;  Alfano, Eric
     By all appearances, Greg Louganis has thrown off the shackles of 
his self-imposed exile and been accepted as a former world-class 
athlete who has AIDS.  There has been, however, an undercurrent 
of cynicism surrounding the diver's disclosure, suggesting that 
he has not received the amount of support and sympathy from the 
public that tennis great Arthur Ashe and basketball superstar 
Magic Johnson received when they revealed they were infected with
HIV.  Ashe became HIV-infected through a blood transfusion and 
Johnson contracted the virus through heterosexual intercourse.  
"But Greg is gay and this is a morality issue for some people," 
said Sara Pettit, executive director of Out magazine.  Although 
Pettit took issue with the public unease about AIDS and gay 
athletes, it is hard to avoid how courage and commercialism were 
intermingled in this case--making it difficult to appreciate one 
without being cynical about the other.  "The publicity blitz 
seems calculating and somewhat cynical," Time magazine noted.  
The basis of the cynicism might be the "blood in the water."  
Louganis has been criticized for not informing the doctor who 
treated him or Olympic officials that he was HIV-positive after 
he hit his head during a dive.  The one thing Louganis has said 
he would change is the way in which he handled that situation.
      
"Adverse Cutaneous Reactions to Trimethoprim-Sulfamethoxazole in 
Patients with the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome and 
Pneumocystis Carinii Pneumonia"
Journal of the American Medical Association (03/01/95) Vol. 273, 
No. 9, P. 682b
     In a retrospective study, researchers assessed the value of 
clinical and laboratory parameters for predicting 
trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole-induced skin reactions and the 
effects of continued therapy in AIDS patients.  The reasons why 
AIDS patients are predisposed to cutaneous drug reactions are 
poorly understood.  Of the 38 patients treated with 
trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, 18 developed cutaneous reactions 
in an average of 11 days.  Such treatment was continued in 19 of 
the 20 patients who did not develop skin reactions.  No clinical 
or laboratory parameters were found to be predictive of 
trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole-induced cutaneous reactions.  By 
treating through hypersensitivity, 67 percent of the patients, 
who otherwise might have had to stop therapy with 
trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, were able to continue treatment.
      
"AIDS Proposal"
Science (02/17/95) Vol. 267, No. 5200, P. 945;  Baumann, Eleen;  
Bethell, Tom;  Bialy, Harvey et al.
     In 1991, the Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV/AIDS
Hypothesis became displeased with the state of the evidence that 
HIV was the cause of AIDS, write Baumann et al.--the group's 
members--in a letter to the journal Science.  The group suggests 
that researchers independent of the HIV establishment should 
audit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's records of
AIDS cases, keeping in mind that the correlation of HIV with 
AIDS--upon which the case for HIV causation rests--is itself an 
artifact of the definition of AIDS.  The group also wants 
independent researchers to investigate the validity of the 
so-called "AIDS tests," particularly when the tests are used in 
Africa and Southern Asia, to see if they reliably record the 
presence of antibodies, as well as live and replicating virus.
      
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