                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      February 15, 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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"AIDS Agency Denies Basic Services, Suit Says"
"Liposome Tech Drug Gets FDA Panel OK"
"Amgen Wins Round in Court Battle Against Genetics Institute Inc."
"On-Field AIDS Risk Seen Low to Athletes"
"On My Mind: The Wrong Target"
"Across the USA: Washington"
"Teen Convicted in Double Murder to Appeal"
"Sexually Transmitted Disease Product Sales to Top $2 Billion, 
Spurred by Biotechnology, Demographics"
"Control of Nosocomial Transmission of Multidrug-Resistant 
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis among Healthcare Workers and 
HIV-Infected Patients"
"What to Do Before AIDS Strikes Home"
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"AIDS Agency Denies Basic Services, Suit Says"
New York Times (02/15/95) P. B4;  Lee, Felicia R.
     Three AIDS advocacy groups filed a class-action suit in Federal 
court on Tuesday alleging that thousands of people with AIDS were
going without basic services such as food, shelter, and medical 
care because the New York City Division of AIDS Services has been
hurt by budget and staff cuts.  The suit, which was brought under
the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and other federal and
state laws and regulations, appears to be the first in the United
States to contend that a city agency had discriminated against 
people with AIDS.  Officials who met last month with community 
groups that work with AIDS patients said that despite higher 
caseloads, increasingly efficient management has enabled the 
agency to meet people's needs.  The suit claims that cases have 
been improperly closed, and that there are lengthy delays and 
inaccuracies in dispensing benefits.  The papers also say that 
the caseloads are too high and that the workers are improperly 
trained.
      
"Liposome Tech Drug Gets FDA Panel OK"
Investor's Business Daily (02/15/95) P. A2
     An FDA advisory panel has recommended accelerated approval for 
Liposome Technology Inc.'s DOX-SL, a treatment for AIDS-related 
Kaposi's sarcoma in patients who do not respond to other forms of
treatment.  If the FDA adopts the panel's recommendation, 
Liposome Technology will be required to present additional data 
on DOX-SL's benefits.  Dr. Charles Schiffer, chairman of the 
panel, said, "The problem is, when you have a study with a lot of
faults, you have a lot of skepticism."
      
"Amgen Wins Round in Court Battle Against Genetics Institute Inc.
"
Wall Street Journal (02/15/95) P. B4
     Amgen Inc. won another round in the continuing battle against 
Genetics Institute Inc. over the U.S. rights to the anti-anemia 
drug erythropoietin (EPO).  Genetics Institute plans to appeal a 
U.S. District Court ruling on Tuesday that held that a 1991 
ruling against Genetics Institute precluded it from suing Amgen 
based on a new patent that Genetics Institute received last year.
The latest ruling followed a lawsuit brought by Amgen, which 
sought to declare invalid a Genetics Institute patent for its 
version of EPO, which increases red blood cell production and is 
used in treating AIDS, kidney failure, and other diseases.
      
"On-Field AIDS Risk Seen Low to Athletes"
Reuters (02/14/95);  Mikkelsen, Randall
     Doctors at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 
have found that athletes have little reason to worry about 
getting AIDS from on-the-field injuries, and that HIV infection 
should not prevent an athlete from competing.  "Athletes need not
be excluded from participation in a sports activity solely 
because they are infected with HIV or (the hepatitis B virus)," 
wrote the CDC doctors in an article in Annals of Internal 
Medicine.  The agency also said that athletes and coaches should 
orient AIDS-prevention efforts on off-field activities, where 
there are greater risks.  Although there have been two reported 
cases of HIV transmission during bloody fistfights, there has 
been no documented case, the report said.  In a separate study in
the same journal, researchers who had studied injuries during 155
National Football League Games in 1992 estimated the risk of an 
accidental HIV transmission during a game was no more than once 
in every 58.6 seasons.
      
"On My Mind: The Wrong Target"
New York Times (02/14/95) P. A19;  Rosenthal, A.M.
     In an op-ed column in the New York Times, A.M. Rosenthal comments
on the nomination of Dr. Henry W. Foster as Surgeon General.  
Some pro-choice people are concerned about how many abortions he 
performed and whether he gave an accurate accounting in the 
beginning.  Foster denies that he said he only performed one 
abortion but that he remembers one most--for a woman with AIDS.  
The anti-abortion movement is using all of its force to kill the 
nomination as Surgeon General of a respected physician because he
has performed a medical procedure that is not only legal but 
constitutionally upheld by the Supreme Court.  The target of 
those who support Foster, however, should be the pro-life 
movement as well as members of Congress who were pro-choice when 
they contemplated the women's vote at election time, but now edge
away from Foster because the anti-abortionists are showing how 
hard they will fight.  The hearings should decide whether he 
should be Surgeon General or that an abortion audit is more 
important than his life's work.  Rosenthal hopes Dr. Foster has 
the courage to refuse any suggestions that he should withdraw 
before or during the hearings.
      
"Across the USA: Washington"
USA Today (02/14/95) P. 6A
     Sen. Cal Anderson of Washington has announced that he has been 
HIV-positive for years and that he now has non-Hodgkins lymphoma,
a complication of the disease.  Anderson, who is the 
Legislature's only openly gay lawmaker, plans to continue 
working.
      
"Teen Convicted in Double Murder to Appeal"
Reuters (02/14/95)
     Marvin McClendon, the teenager sentenced last week to two 
consecutive life terms in prison for the murders of two gay men, 
will appeal his conviction, his lawyer said on Tuesday.  The 
17-year-old was convicted by a Jones County jury in Mississippi 
for the shooting deaths of 34-year-old Robert Walters and 
24-year-old Joseph Shoemake.  McClendon said he killed the men in
self-defense, claiming that they had tried to rape him and that 
he was afraid of contracting AIDS.  His attorney described the 
men as "sexual predators," and introduced results from a 
post-mortem test showing that Walters was HIV-positive.  Jeannene
Pacific, the Jones County District Attorney, noted that 
McClendon--who was armed with a handgun--could have left the men 
at any time.
      
"Sexually Transmitted Disease Product Sales to Top $2 Billion, 
Spurred by Biotechnology, Demographics"
Business Wire (02/14/95)
     A new study by the international high-technology research firm 
Frost & Sullivan forecasts that, supported by emerging 
bio-engineered drugs and demographic trends, U.S. sales of 
sexually transmitted disease diagnostic test and therapeutic 
products will increase from $1.67 billion in 1993 to $2.05 
billion in the year 2000 at a 3 percent compound annual rate.  
The report, "Sexually Transmitted Disease Diagnostics and 
Therapeutics Market: Bio-Engineered Pharmaceuticals Play a Major 
Role in New Product Development," found that therapeutics 
accounted for 56 percent of market revenues in 1993, with viral 
diagnostics at 39 percent and bacterial diagnostics at 5 percent.
Increasingly, manufacturers are using biotechnology to alter 
drugs to improve their performance.  For example, polymerase 
chain reaction diagnosis has been made available for testing for 
chlamydia and is available in Europe for HIV testing.  In the 
summer of 1994, a fourth anti-retroviral was approved for use 
against HIV.  Although none of the current medications provide 
satisfactory results alone, some seem to provide benefits when 
used in combination with other anti-retrovirals and therapies.
      
"Control of Nosocomial Transmission of Multidrug-Resistant 
Mycobacterium Tuberculosis among Healthcare Workers and 
HIV-Infected Patients"
Lancet (01/28/95) Vol. 345, No. 8944, P. 235;  Wenger, Peter N.; 
Otten, Joan;  Breeden, Alma et al.
     Following an outbreak of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis 
(MDR-TB), among patients at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, 
Fla., researchers studied patient and healthcare worker behavior 
at the hospital to evaluate the efficacy of infection-control 
measures.  In MDR-TB patients and healthcare workers with 
tuberculin-skin conversions on the HIV ward, they looked for 
evidence of positive acid-fast bacilli in sputum during initial 
and follow-up visits.  A total of 80 percent of the MDR-TB 
patients in the initial period and 45 percent of the  MDR-TB 
patients during follow-up had been exposed to an infectious 
MDR-TB patient on the HIV ward before control measures were 
implemented.  No episodes of MDR-TB could be traced to contact 
with infectious MDR-TB patients on the HIV ward after the 
implementation of control practices.  Skin test conversions among
healthcare workers on the HIV ward dropped from 28 percent during
the initial period to 18 percent in the late follow-up periods.  
They were not linked to increased exposure to MDR-TB patients, 
and were not significantly higher among workers on the HIV ward 
than on a control ward without TB patients.  The implementation 
of measures similar to the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention's 1990 TB-control guidelines proved to be effective in
halting transmission of MCR-TB to healthcare workers and 
HIV-infected patients.
      
"What to Do Before AIDS Strikes Home"
American Management Association (02/95) Vol. 84, No. 2, P. 49;  
Bordwin, Milton
     AIDS presents a unique business problem.  Laws imposing legal 
requirements and restraints on a business are written on the 
basis of well-established medical and scientific standards.  
However, much of the population--including employees and 
customers--do not believe in the standards.  The first step in 
achieving compliance with the many regulations is to have a 
written policy statement that is distributed to employees, 
discussed at appropriate meetings, and put into practical working
effect.  Because AIDS falls under the Americans with Disabilities
Act, an employer is required to make reasonable accommodations, 
so long as the employees are still able to perform the functions 
of their jobs.  Instituting a workplace program to educate 
employees may avoid some of the problems an AIDS case can cause. 
Not only will the education be beneficial for each individual, 
but it should also improve working relationships among the 
employees and an AIDS-infected worker.  Information can be 
obtained from sources including the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention, the Office of HIV/AIDS Education at the American 
Red Cross, and the National Leadership Coalition on AIDS.
      
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