                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       May 14, 1996
     
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 National AIDS Clearinghouse, or any
other organization. Reproduction of this text is encouraged;
however, copies may not be sold, and the CDC National AIDS
Clearinghouse should be cited as the source of this information.
Copyright 1996, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD
     
     
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"Most Hemophiliacs Reject Settlement From Baxter, Bayer on 
Infection Suit"
"Ex-Employee With HIV Sues ABA"
"Drug Czar Criticizes Needle Exchanges" 
"Mail-Order HIV Saliva Test Raises Concerns" 
"Turf War Erupts Over AIDS Walk"
"AIDS Affects More People Than You Think" 
"Researchers Find Clue to AIDS Fatigue" 
"Health-Malaysia: HIV Spread Prompts Malaysia..."
"Survival From Early, Intermediate, and Late Stages of HIV 
Infection"
"AIDS Office Opposes Outside Planning" 
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"Most Hemophiliacs Reject Settlement From Baxter, Bayer on 
Infection Suit"
Wall Street Journal (05/14/96) P. B6;  Burton, Thomas M.
     The $640 million settlement offered by Baxter International, 
Bayer, Rhone-Poulenc Rorer, and Green Cross to U.S. hemophiliacs 
infected with HIV through the use of tainted blood products has 
been rejected by a majority of the U.S. hemophiliacs suing the 
companies.  Part of the companies' agreement was that at least 95 
percent of the 500 plaintiffs participate and that the number of 
other lawsuits filed by the group be limited to 100.  The 
companies met with lawyers of the plaintiffs on Monday in 
Philadelphia, and only a few of the participants said they 
thought the deal would collapse.  They said the companies will 
have until Friday to revise their offer.  The proposal, made last 
month, would provide about $100,000 to people infected with HIV 
or to their families.  An estimated 6,000 to 10,000 people were 
infected and at least 3,000 people have died as a result.  The 
plaintiffs hold that the companies knew they were distributing 
blood products from people who were contaminated with hepatitis B 
and hepatitis C and that they should have acted sooner to treat 
their products for all viruses.  Related Stories: USA Today 
(05/14) P. 3A; Washington Times (05/14/) P. A8
     
"Ex-Employee With HIV Sues ABA"
Washington Post (05/14/96) P. A4;  Locy, Toni
     Larry E. Ray, a lawyer for the American Bar Association (ABA)
in Washington who claims he was fired after he was found to have 
HIV and began experiencing symptoms of disease, is suing the 
organization seeking more than $10 million in damages.  Ray had 
worked at the ABA for 16 years and is well-known as an expert in 
handling dispute resolution, a time-saving alternative to 
litigation.  He has also been active in community service and gay 
groups in his neighborhood.  Ray's supervisor said he was fired 
due to "performance problems," even though Ray was never informed 
of any such problems.  The supervisor also allegedly harassed Ray 
about taking accumulated medical leave when he began showing 
symptoms of his disease.
     
"Drug Czar Criticizes Needle Exchanges" 
Houston Chronicle (05/13/96) P. 2A
     Retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, head of the Office of National
Drug Control Policy, spoke out against needle exchange programs, 
saying they only help addicts continue to use drugs.  "The focus 
should be on bringing help to this suffering population--not give 
them more effective means to continue their addiction."  
Supporters of needle exchange programs say they help reduce the 
spread of HIV and help get drug users into treatment programs.  
In the last three years, the number of needle exchange programs 
has doubled to at least 83 in 25 states.  The programs are seen 
as having some benefit by many state and local officials, and 
even cautious anti-drug advocates.
     
"Mail-Order HIV Saliva Test Raises Concerns"
Toronto Globe and Mail (05/13/96) P. A6;  Immen, Wallace
     Saliva tests for HIV being sent to Canadians by mail order
from a U.S. company are worrying doctors and medical regulators. 
The test has not been submitted for regulators to evaluate its 
reliability, and Christian Choquet, of the bureau that regulates 
medical devices, said that such assays are known to give a higher 
rate of false positives than blood tests.  The tests are 
available for $90 for a set of two and are being sold to people 
who are afraid of blood tests and do not want to wait for lab 
results.  A loophole in the law allows people to import the tests 
for their personal use, but advertising or distributing the tests 
would be illegal because they are not approved.  The company, 
based in Buffalo, N.Y., said it plans to submit the saliva test 
for regulatory approval in Canada.
     
"Turf War Erupts Over AIDS Walk"
Philadelphia Inquirer (05/14/96) P. B5;  Gold, Russell
     An AIDS walk planned for June 2 in Doylestown, Pa., has come 
under fire from a Philadelphia-based non-profit group that holds 
its own AIDS walk every fall.  From All Walks of Life (FAWOL) has 
withdrawn the $18,450 it had promised to the Bucks County social 
service agency that would receive funds raised by the walk.  
Audrey Tucker, executive director of the Family Service 
Association of Bucks County, said FAWOL's response was especially 
surprising because the agency had honored FAWOL's request not to 
hold a fund-raiser six weeks before its own AIDS walk.
     
"AIDS Affects More People Than You Think"
Richmond Times-Dispatch (05/13/96) P. A8;  Forsyth, Claire D.
     In a letter to the editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch,
Claire D. Forsyth responds to an editorial that implied that 
middle-class, non-drug using heterosexuals have little risk of 
contracting HIV.  From her experience with the Richmond AIDS 
Ministry, Forsyth says HIV affects a variety of people, and no one 
should feel immune to the virus.  She emphasizes that no one should
assume they are safe from HIV and criticizes the editorial for 
spreading potentially dangerous misinformation.
     
"Researchers Find Clue to AIDS Fatigue" 
United Press International (05/14/96)
     Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at 
Galveston report that a protein called gp120, a natural part of 
the surface of HIV, may play a role in disrupting the sleep of 
AIDS patients, causing them to experience debilitating 
exhaustion.  According to Mark Opp, a sleep researcher, gp120 
disturbed the sleep habits of laboratory rats.  The finding, 
which will be published in the new issue of the American Journal 
of Physiology, may lead to the development of drugs to prolong 
the time when people infected with HIV still have enough energy 
for their normal activities.  Moreover, notes Opp, the finding 
may indicate that the gp120-based vaccines currently being tested 
may produce some harmful side effects.
     
"Health-Malaysia: HIV Spread Prompts Malaysia..." 
IPS/PANOS News Service (05/12/96)
     The spread of HIV in Malaysia and Malaysia's failure to
control drug users has led the government of Kuala Lumpur to 
consider other ways to deal with the growing drug problem.  The 
number of people in Malaysia with HIV has increased significantly 
in recent years, to about 15,000, although the actual number is 
estimated to be much higher.  Intravenous drug users may account 
for 80 percent of the cases reported.  The nation's drug 
rehabilitation centers, prison-like facilities where people are 
taken if caught with possession of illegal drugs or found to test 
positive for drugs, have been plagued by problems resulting from 
poor living conditions and poorly trained staff.  The relapse rate 
among inmates is estimated to be as high as 70 percent.  The 
government is in the process of improving treatment for drug 
addiction.
     
"Survival From Early, Intermediate, and Late Stages of HIV 
Infection"
Journal of the American Medical Association (05/01/96) Vol. 275, 
No. 17, P. 1329;  Enger, Cheryl;  Graham, Neil;  Peng, Yun; et 
al.
     Studies estimating the survival time after an AIDS diagnosis
have suggested that patients are living 6 to 12 months longer 
than 10 years ago.  Cheryl Enger, of the Johns Hopkins School of 
Medicine, and colleagues estimated survival time based on the 
stage of the disease, defined by CD4 cell count, duration of 
infection, and presence of clinical symptoms.  The researchers 
compared estimates of survival for two groups of homosexual men 
with HIV--one group that was infected before antiretroviral drugs 
became widely available and a group that was infected after that 
time.  Among the men in the study, antiretroviral drugs were not 
used until 1987, but use increased to 19 percent by the end of 
1988 and to at least 48 percent by 1992.  The researchers found 
that risk of death decreased after the use of antiretrovirals and 
Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia prophylaxis became more 
widespread, but long-term prognosis remains poor for people with 
low CD4 cell counts.  Enger et al. note that it is essential to 
identify other therapeutic strategies to increase survival.
     
"AIDS Office Opposes Outside Planning"
Nature (05/02/96) Vol. 381, No. 6577, P. 5;  Wadman, Meredith
     The recommendations in a recent report on federally funded
AIDS research, issued by 118 scientists and AIDS experts, have not 
been welcomed by the directors at the National Institutes of 
Health (NIH).  The March report recommended that the agenda for 
federally funded AIDS research be partially decided by external 
scientists involved in reviewing research grants.  Currently, 
peer review groups select proposals based on scientific value, not 
the nature of the research, but the expert panel said that research
priorities should be considered in this review.  William Paul, 
director of the NIH Office of AIDS Research, told a congressional 
subcommittee that the NIH directors are universally opposed to 
giving grant reviewers authority in setting research priorities, 
saying that they felt the panel of experts "had probably not given 
adequate consideration" to the matter.
     
     
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