                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                        June 5, 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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"Blood Bank Is Held Liable in AIDS Case"
"15 Years of AIDS: The Epidemic's Legacy of Change"
"As Mother Battles Court, a Child in Baltimore Suffers With AIDS" 
"Addicts in HIV Study Won't Be Treated"
"Blood Inquiry 'Hijacked,' Lawyer Fears" 
"Two AIDS Tests OK'd"
"Inmates to get Needle-Cleaning Kits"
"Living in the Shadow of AIDS: For Many Teens, the Disease Is 
Ever-Present but Still Unreal"
"Breathe Deeply and Hold"
"About-Face"
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"Blood Bank Is Held Liable in AIDS Case"
New York Times (06/05/96) P. B2;  Hanley, Robert
     In a New Jersey Supreme Court ruling Tuesday, the American 
Association of Blood Banks was found negligent for not enacting 
stricter screening tests for HIV in the early 1980s.  The court 
upheld a $405,000 jury award to a former state resident who 
contracted HIV from blood he received during surgery in 1984.  
The blood was a donation from a blood center that was part of the 
national organization.  The case could serve as a precedent for 
other people infected with HIV through donated blood.   The 
association held that it was not at fault, noting that it would 
not be able to afford the legal costs associated with such cases. 
Furthermore, the organization threatened to end voluntary 
inspections of blood centers, hospital blood banks, and 
transfusion services.  Such an action would force government 
agencies to take over the inspections and enforce safety 
standards.
     
"15 Years of AIDS: The Epidemic's Legacy of Change" 
USA Today (06/05/96) P. 1D;  Painter, Kim
     In the past 15 years, since the first cases of AIDS were 
identified, the disease has changed how blood banks and health 
care workers deal with blood, and how Americans talk about sex.  
Sex is discussed more openly, more graphically, and more often.  
Studies show that while more teenagers are having sex, they also 
use condoms more frequently.  Public discussion of homosexuality 
has also increased as a result of the AIDS epidemic.  Moreover, 
dentists now wear gloves to prevent transmission of HIV and other 
viruses, and blood banks are more selective of their donors.  AIDS 
advocacy groups, meanwhile, have opened the door for other patient 
advocacy groups for diseases that include breast cancer.  Since 
the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, the number of injection drug 
users has not declined, and infections among members of this 
group, their sex partners, and their children now represent a 
large number of U.S. HIV infections, the Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention reports.
     
"As Mother Battles Court, a Child in Baltimore Suffers With AIDS" 
Washington Post (06/05/96) P. D1;  Lewis, Nancy
     The mother of a 3-year-old Burtonsville, Md. girl dying of
AIDS is to blame for the child's grave condition, doctors say. 
The woman refuses to believe that medical care would have helped 
her daughter, and she has not been treated for her own infection 
with HIV for at least the past 18 months.  Health officials and 
police had been looking for the girl since Jan. 30, when the 
mother repeatedly failed to keep appointments at an AIDS clinic 
and would not answer the door for home health care workers.  When 
the mother did take the girl to the University of Maryland's 
pediatric AIDS clinic in Baltimore in April, it was too late to 
slow the progression to AIDS.  The woman, a suspected drug user 
who was previously treated for drug abuse, then took her daughter 
into hiding again.  The girl's grandmother took her to the 
hospital on May 10, and doctors now estimate that she has up to 
three months to live.
     
"Addicts in HIV Study Won't Be Treated"
Toronto Globe and Mail (06/04/96) P. A10;  Coutts, Jane
     A Vancouver doctor has criticized a study to determine
whether intravenous drug users will contract HIV because, he 
says, the study does not offer the subjects treatment to prevent 
them from becoming infected.  Stanley de Vlaming, who treats 
addicts at the Gastown Medical Clinic, said the research, 
conducted by the Vancouver Injection Drug Use Study, is unethical 
because methadone treatment for drug addiction has been proven to 
reduce the risk that drug users will contract HIV.  Two ethics 
panels have approved the study, saying that the researchers 
should not have to provide treatment that is not provided by 
society.  Vlaming is also concerned about paying the volunteers 
for their participation, fearing that the payment will only 
enable their addiction.  The ethics panels, however, said not 
paying them would be discriminatory.
     
"Blood Inquiry 'Hijacked,' Lawyer Fears"
Toronto Globe and Mail (06/04/96) P. A4;  Picard, Andre
     A lawyer involved in the legal challenge to Canada's federal
inquiry into the tainted blood tragedy, told the Federal Court of 
Canada Monday that the inquiry has been "hijacked" by the Red 
Cross, governments, and pharmaceutical companies.  Harvey 
Strosberg, who is representing a group of people infected by HIV, 
charged that the parties are using the legal challenge as a way 
to control what will appear in the inquiry's final report.  
Strosberg estimated that the legal challenge, involving 37 
lawyers, including himself, is costing more than $6,000 an hour. 
A lawyer for the Hepatitis C Survivors' Society said reform of 
the blood system depends on the inquiry's complete examination 
and recommendations.
     
"Two AIDS Tests OK'd"
Houston Chronicle (06/04/96) P. 6A
     Two tests for HIV were approved by the Food and Drug 
Administration on Monday.  OraSure, the first oral test for HIV 
antibodies, appears to be as accurate as the standard blood test 
for the virus.  Doctors hope the test will attract people who 
would be wary of taking a blood test.  The second test, 
Hoffmann-La Roche's Amplicor assay, will help doctors predict how 
fast patients will develop AIDS by measuring the amount of HIV in 
the bloodstream.
     
"Inmates to get Needle-Cleaning Kits" 
Toronto Globe and Mail (06/04/96) P. A4
     Inmates in Canadian prisons will soon receive bleach kits
for cleaning needles, even though the Canadian Corrections 
Service does not allow drug use.  The kits will be offered as an 
attempt to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.  As of 
March 1, there were 147 reported cases of HIV or AIDS in Canada's 
federal prisons, up from 37 in 1991.
     
"Living in the Shadow of AIDS: For Many Teens, the Disease Is 
Ever-Present but Still Unreal"
USA Today (06/05/96) P. 5D;  Peterson, Karen S.
     Today's teenagers grew up in the presence of AIDS and HIV; 
however, some members of USA Today's Teen Panel say they still 
feel like the disease cannot strike them.  Others say they 
believe that anyone is at risk for HIV, and some claim they are 
tired of hearing about the disease.  Aaron Benavidez, 16, of 
Stockton, Calif., said he started volunteering at a local AIDS 
organization as a result of learning about the disease through a 
school assignment.  He believes that teens are not well-educated 
about AIDS.
     
"Breathe Deeply and Hold"
POZ (05/96) P. 64;  Feehan, Amy
     Although drug prophylaxis for Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia
(PCP) is the standard of care for AIDS patients, a debate 
continues over the use of conventional versus alternative 
treatment.  Without drug prophylaxis, more than 80 percent of 
people with AIDS would die of PCP.  With it, PCP incidence has 
decreased and survival has increased.  Bactrim, the drug most 
commonly used to prevent PCP in AIDS patients, has potential side 
effects, however, and many patients are wary of its potential 
long-term effects.  Alternative therapies, meanwhile, including 
nutritional supplements and herbs, do not have proven benefits 
against PCP but are virtually free of side effects.  Health 
Education AIDS Liaison and Project AIDS International are two 
organizations that oppose prophylaxis against PCP, claiming that 
it increases a patient's chance of developing other health 
problems, including cryptosporidiosis, tuberculosis, and wasting 
syndrome.  Prophylaxis advocates, however, say that such 
arguments are exaggerated and detract from the proven, 
recommended treatment.  A compromise attractive to many patients 
who could not otherwise tolerate prophylaxis drugs is to combine 
them with alternative therapies to lessen their side effects.
     
"About-Face"
Advocate (05/28/96) No. 708, P. 20;  Moss, J. Jennings
     Rep. Robert Dornan (R-Calif.), who has seen his
controversial proposal to force the discharge of all HIV-positive 
military members first passed and then repealed, was able to get 
the national security subcommittee he chairs to approve a new 
version of the ban in April.  President Clinton signed the ban 
into law in February, but also supported its repeal, which 
Congress voted for on April 25.  The repeal was seen as a great 
victory for gay rights and AIDS activists, who credit Clinton and 
the Pentagon for their support.  A group of senators initiated 
the repeal, which was approved as part of the 1996 spending bill. 
Dornan reacted to the repeal with anger, sounding off against 
Clinton.  His new proposal adds full medical and disability 
benefits for all discharged HIV-positive service members, 
benefits he was against previously.  He would also allow military 
leaders to keep any HIV-positive personnel who had at least 15 
years of service.  Another proposal from Dornan seeks to repeal 
the "don't ask, don't tell" policy.  Gay rights advocates say 
they are certain that Congress will reject a second foray into 
the issue of barring HIV-infected service members from the armed 
services and will also avoid getting back into the fight over 
gays in the military.
     
     
