                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       August  1, 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
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Copyright 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD

"$2.7 Million Awarded in AIDS Treatment Fraud"
Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (08/01/94) P. B2;  Colker, 
David
     A Los Angeles Superior Court jury has ordered North Hollywood 
Medical Center to pay total damages of $2.7 million for its role 
in the administering of the controversial drug Viroxan to five 
AIDS patients.  The jury found the hospital, as well as two 
physicians, liable for negligence, conspiracy, fraud, as well as 
violation of state medical codes.  The hospital was ordered to 
pay a $1.8 million punitive award to be shared between two of the
five patients; four of the five patients are to share in a 
$925,000 award for their physical injuries, as well as for their 
pain and suffering.  Ray Henke, attorney for the patients, said, 
"The jury made it abundantly clear that the doctors were guilty 
of AIDS fraud and that the hospital conspired with them."
      
"Trying to Hit a Home Run Against AIDS"
New York Times (08/01/94) P. C7;  Fainaru, Mark
     Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants became the first 
big-league professional sports club to sponsor an AIDS-benefit 
program on Sunday, when it held "Until There's a Cure Day" prior 
to the team's game with the Colorado Rockies at Candlestick Park.
The pre-game ceremony featured a speech by Mary Fisher, the 
HIV-infected woman who gave a similar presentation at the 1992 
Republican National Convention.  "On behalf of more than one 
million Americans infected with AIDS, I am here to salute the San
Francisco Giants," Fisher said.  "Today, the San Francisco Giants
demonstrate that AIDS is as all-American as Abner Doubleday's 
sport."  Each member of the Giants wore a red ribbon symbolizing 
AIDS awareness stitched to his uniform, and the team donated $1 
from each ticket sold for the game to various AIDS organizations 
in the San Francisco area.  Team officials said they hope to 
sponsor a league-wide AIDS benefit next season.  Giants manager 
Dusty Baker said, "I'm very proud of this organization.  This is 
the first organization not to be afraid to come forward and say 
something positive" on behalf of AIDS patients.  Related Story: 
Washington Post (08/01/94) P. C7 Related Story: Washington Post 
(08/01) P. C7
      
"Program Places Those With AIDS in Family Settings to Receive Care"
Baltimore Sun (08/01/94) P. 1B;  Selby, Holly
     Baltimore's C.A.R.E./Project Home program places AIDS patients 
who otherwise would be homeless or forced to stay in nursing 
homes in private residences or helps them live in their own 
homes.  The state-funded program, perhaps the only one of its 
kind in the country, recently was named a finalist for the Ford 
Foundation/Harvard University Innovations in State and Local 
Government Award.  Ten of the finalists for this award will 
receive a $100,000 grant.  To be accepted into the 
C.A.R.E./Project Home program, participants must exhibit two or 
more disabling symptoms of AIDS.  Project Hope, now serving about
1,100 people, less than 500 with AIDS, originally began as a 
program for the retarded, and was expanded in 1986 to include 
people with AIDS.  The non-profit organization Housing Unlimited 
Group, or HUG, is also working to provide housing to patients 
with AIDS and the virus that causes AIDS.  Half of all Americans 
with fatal illnesses are homeless, the National Commission on 
AIDS says.
      
"AIDS Conference to Confront Emerging Asian Plight"
Reuters (08/01/94);  Moffett, Sebastian
     While sub-Saharan Africa is the home of two-thirds of today's 
AIDS cases, Asia may one day have more AIDS cases than any other 
region in the world.  Until 1988, Asia was, for the most part, 
untouched by the deadly disease.  However, the World Health 
Organization calculates that Asia's 2.5 million AIDS cases will 
quadruple to more than 10 million by the end of the century.  
This year's Tenth International Conference on AIDS will be held 
in Yokohama, Japan, marking the first time the annual meeting 
will be held in an Asian nation.  The event comes at a time when 
the numbers of HIV victims and potential victims are rapidly 
increasing, and hopes for a cure are dim.
      
"Who Owns AIDS"
Washington Post (07/30/94) P. A17;  Hentoff, Nat
     The defeat of Democratic New York State assemblywoman Nettie 
Mayersohn's bill, which would require the state to tell mothers 
if their newborns are HIV-infected, raises the question of when 
the right to privacy should no longer be first priority.  
Mayersohn's bill was prevented from coming to the assembly and 
Senate floors because it is an election year, and many considered
it unwise to offend female activist and other groups.  A 
recurrent argument by Mayersohn's opponents against making New 
York give mothers the medical facts has in part to do with the 
mothers' reactions.  If a woman is told she and her infant must 
be tested, she may completely avoid the health care system, 
Mayersohn's opponents argue.  Others disagree.  One woman who 
discovered her son was HIV-infected nine months after his birth 
wishes she had known sooner.  "I gotta know, so I can take care 
of him and myself," she says.  In defense of her bill, Mayersohn 
spoke at this year's New York Legislative session.  " ... Our 
failure to pass a mandatory HIV testing bill makes us accomplices
... in the abuse and neglect of the most neglected children in 
our state."  Legislators will meet in Albany next January to 
redress the issue.
      
"Situation Angry, But Not Hopeless"
Men's Fitness (08/94) Vol. 10, No. 8, P. 108
     A study of 53 New York City men who had been diagnosed with AIDS 
for at least three years sought to determine if AIDS patients are
largely suicidal.  Only six percent experienced persistent 
depression, and both of the two men who attempted suicide had 
tried to do so before being diagnosed.  In general, the 
researchers found that the level of psychological health among 
the subjects was positive.  The most discerning characteristic, 
they noted, was not hopelessness, but anger.
      
"AIDS Co-Culprit Wreaks Havoc"
Men's Fitness (08/94) Vol. 10, No. 8, P. 108
     AIDS researchers are beginning to focus on some of the viruses 
that take advantage and cause severe illness when HIV weakens the
immune system, especially HHV-6.  While generally harmless in 
healthy individuals, the virus can cause widespread organ damage 
among people who have AIDS.  In one study, scientists looked at 
34 tissue samples extracted from lungs, lymph nodes, spleens, 
kidneys, and livers of nine patients who had died from AIDS.  All
of the samples indicated widespread, active HHV-6 infection.
      
