                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                     December 13, 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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"Americans Receive New Medicines as Quickly as Others, FDA 
Asserts"
"One AIDS Virus Strain Apparently Weakening"
"Merck's Medco Unit Moves 'On Track,' Chairman Gilmartin Assures 
Analysts"
"Across the USA: Alabama"
"Chronicle: Guests Squeezing in to Honor Judy Peabody and Her 
AIDS Work"
"Interfaith Task Force Marks 10th Year"
"U.S. Prosecutors Drop Charges for AIDS-Infected Man"
"Japan Activists Urge Action in HIV Blood Scandal"
"First 500,000 AIDS Cases--United States, 1995"
"The Shocking Truth about Studies: Scientists' Love/Hate 
Relationship with AZT"
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"Americans Receive New Medicines as Quickly as Others, FDA 
Asserts"
Washington Post (12/13/95) P. A3;  Schwartz, John
     Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David A. Kessler said 
Tuesday that Americans receive new medicines as quickly as 
citizens of other countries, including treatments ranging from 
AIDS therapies to drugs for ovarian cancer, multiple sclerosis, 
cystic fibrosis and osteoporosis.  Kessler said the average total
development time for a U.S. drug is 11.5 years and cited an FDA 
study showing that 96 percent of all applications for new drugs 
and "biologics" are acted upon within the 12-15 month period 
required by law.  Another FDA study revealed that, in cases where
approval for a single drug was sought in the United States and 
another country, the FDA was more likely to have approved the 
drug first.  Gerald J. Mossinghoff, president of the 
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said the 
average total drug development time is really 15 years and 
fundamental FDA reforms are still a necessity.  Related Story: 
New York Times (12/13) P. C13; Washington Times (12/13) P. B9
      
"One AIDS Virus Strain Apparently Weakening"
Washington Times (12/13/95) P. A16
     A strain of HIV found primarily in West Africa has been weakening
in strength over time, thus enabling infected individuals to live
longer, a U.S. scientist reported at an AIDS conference.  
According to the Harvard AIDS Institute's Phyllis Kanki, a study 
of nearly 200 HIV-2-infected Senegalese women revealed that only 
one of the women developed full-blown AIDS after nine years.
      
"Merck's Medco Unit Moves 'On Track,' Chairman Gilmartin Assures 
Analysts"
Wall Street Journal (12/13/95) P. B6;  Tanouye, Elyse
     Merck & Co.'s managed medical care division is living up to 
expectations, according to Merck Chairman Raymond Gilmartin, who 
was attempting to eliminate speculation that Merck was fighting 
to make the acquisition worthwhile.  Medco is "on the track" of 
internal performance measures set for the unit, Gilmartin told 
analysts, noting that 13 percent of the drugs the unit sells are 
from Merck--up from 10 percent two years ago, when Medco was 
purchased.  Meanwhile, the executive also said that Merck would 
try to reduce costs by as much as $250 million in manufacturing 
and $100 million in other areas of the company.  Gilmartin added 
that the company intends to file for U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration approval of its AIDS drug Crixivan in early 1996.
      
"Across the USA: Alabama"
USA Today (12/13/95) P. 10A
     The case against 41-year-old Willie Robinson, who was accused of 
raping a seven-year-old girl when she was four, has been declared
a mistrial.  Prosecutors claim the girl contracted HIV during the
incident, and that she may not live to testify at next month's 
retrial.
      
"Chronicle: Guests Squeezing in to Honor Judy Peabody and Her 
AIDS Work"
New York Times (12/13/95) P. B9;  Brozan, Nadine
     The Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York has honored Judy Peabody 
for her 10-year commitment in the fight against AIDS.  For the 
majority of those years, Peabody has been the leader of a support
group for the caretakers of AIDS patients, has worked to improve 
services, and has raised funds.  She has helped hundreds of 
people affected by the disease.  In her own words, Peabody said, 
"I stopped counting at 70 or 80.  I don't need to know.  I just 
need to keep going."
      
"Interfaith Task Force Marks 10th Year"
Boston Globe (12/12/95) P. 38;  Ribadeneira, Diego
     Established in 1985, at a time when many churches hesitated to 
deal with AIDS because it was thought of as a homosexual disease,
the Ecumenical Task Force on AIDS has provided comfort and 
catharsis for thousands of people affected by the epidemic.  
Tuesday marked the interfaith organization's 10th anniversary, 
which was recognized at a service in Boston's South End.  
Episcopal Bishop M. Thomas Shaw was to deliver the sermon, as 
well as panels from AIDS memorial quilt.  The task force has held
more than 150 of its healing services in 90 different places of 
worship in Boston and eastern Massachusetts, including Martha's 
Vineyard.
      
"U.S. Prosecutors Drop Charges for AIDS-Infected Man"
Reuters (12/12/95)
     U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman announced on Tuesday that a British 
man who has been charged with receiving millions of dollars 
stolen from AT&T will not be tried because he has AIDS.  Pitman 
explained, "It's twofold--first it is not humanitarian to send 
someone for his remaining days to prison, and [second] to house 
and care for a terminally ill person is very expensive."  Bill 
White, the attorney for Michael Lindsey Faulkner, said that 
charges against his client were dropped because he agreed to a 
civil settlement that involved turning over some assets to AT&T. 
Prosecutors claim that Faulkner's partner wired millions of 
dollars to U.S. banks, and that Faulkner then withdrew that money
and spent it on business and numerous luxury items.  Last week, 
AT&T Global Information Solutions and its London affiliate won a 
civil judgment against Faulkner for $16 million.
      
"Japan Activists Urge Action in HIV Blood Scandal"
Reuters (12/12/95)
     Some 2,000 Japanese students and labor activists protested 
outside the Health and Welfare Ministry in Tokyo on Tuesday, 
demanding that the Health Minister and other officials relinquish
their positions for not having done more to stop the use of 
contaminated blood products in the 1980s.  Nineteen-year-old 
Ryuhei Kawada, a university student who contracted HIV through 
blood products, implored the government to acknowledge its 
responsibility in allowing many of the country's hemophiliacs to 
become HIV-infected by permitting pharmaceutical companies to 
sell tainted blood products at that time.  Statistics from 
Japan's Health Ministry show that as of August 1995, there were 
1,026 cases of AIDS and 2,893 cases of HIV infection.  Of the 
estimated 5,000 hemophiliacs in Japan, 1,803 were infected with 
HIV and 530 had AIDS.
      
"First 500,000 AIDS Cases--United States, 1995"
Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (11/24/95) Vol. 44, No. 46,
P. 849
     A total of 501,310 AIDS cases had been reported to the U.S. 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as of Oct. 31, 1995.  
More than 62 percent of these individuals have died.  Nearly half
of the cases were reported between 1993 and 1995, while 10 
percent were reported in the years between 1981 and 1987 and 41 
percent were reported from 1988 to 1992.  Also, the proportion of
female AIDS patients grew from 8 percent in the 1981-1987 period 
to 18 percent during 1993 to October 1995.  The rate of AIDS 
among whites fell from 60 percent to below 45 percent, yet the 
rate among blacks and Hispanics increased 13 percentage points to
38 percent and 4 percentage points to 18 percent, respectively.  
Meanwhile, the proportion of AIDS cases among injection drug 
users rose from 17 percent between 1981 and 1987 to 27 percent in
the most recent reporting period.  A full 10 percent of the cases
resulted from heterosexual contact, up from 3 percent, and 45 
percent of the cases were among men who have sex with men, down 
from 64 percent.  Across the country, the rate of reported AIDS 
cases per 100,000 population was highest in the Northeast during 
1994--a trend which differs from the periods between 1988 to 1992
and 1993 to 1995, in which the South had the largest number of 
cases, as well as the largest proportionate increase in reported 
cases.
      
"The Shocking Truth about Studies: Scientists' Love/Hate 
Relationship with AZT"
Men's Fitness (11/95) Vol. 11, No. 11, P. 100;  Gower, Timothy
     It often seems as if scientific research "flip-flops," with 
studies contradicting each other for such reasons as flawed data 
or differences in scientific methodology.  For example, a 
double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the safety and efficacy
of AZT was stopped early for ethical reasons in 1986 because the 
death rate in the placebo group was nearly 20 times greater than 
in those who received AZT.  The results of the study led to the 
drug's 1987 approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for
use in people with full-blown AIDS.  However, the trial sparked 
controversy.  John Lauritsen, author of "Poison by Prescription: 
the AZT Story," claimed that the Phase II AZT trials were rife 
with violations of protocol that influence the results.  
Nevertheless, the drug's reputation rebounded, supported by 1990 
research by Paul A. Volberding, who concluded that AZT prolongs 
life in HIV-infected asymptomatic individuals.  Researchers at 
the Harvard School of Public Health, however, discovered that 
Volberding's study ignored the fact that AZT delayed disease 
progression by only about two weeks and that the people who took 
it experienced many unpleasant side effects.  Overall, although 
AZT is still a popular choice for controlling HIV infection, it 
was recently further attacked by a British study which found that
AZT delayed AIDS progression, but did not extend life.
      
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