
                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      August 22, 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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"States Move to Ration Promising AIDS Drugs"
"Blame Me for Blood Scandal, Begin Says" 
"Across the USA: Louisiana"
"AIDS-Tainted Blood Probe in Japan"
"Clinton Signs Bill to Give Portability in Insurance" 
"Neal Dickerson Dies at 38; AIDS Activist, TV Producer"
"Am. Issues-Glance: Marijuana Use Debated"
"Employee Can Sue Hospital for Disclosing He Had an AIDS Test" 
"A Randomized Trial of Clarithromycin as Prophylaxis Against 
Disseminated Mycobacterium Avium Complex Infection in Patients 
With Advanced Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome"
"Device Detects AIDS Virus Quickly"
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"States Move to Ration Promising AIDS Drugs"
Wall Street Journal (08/22/96) P. B1; McGinley, Laurie
     In response to the increased demand for protease inhibitors,
state programs that provide AIDS drugs are being forced to limit 
the drugs they can provide, or reject new patients, to avoid 
running out of funds.  The programs provide drugs at no charge to 
lower-income AIDS patients who are not privately insured, but are 
not poor enough for Medicaid.  Two-thirds of the funding comes 
from the federal government, with the remaining third supplied by 
the states.  Some states are dealing with the increased 
enrollment and demand for protease inhibitors by limiting the 
eligibility of new patients, or eliminating other AIDS drugs,
while a few are charging small co-payments.  Currently, 17 states 
do not provide protease inhibitors, angering AIDS patients who 
became hopeful about the much-heralded drugs.  However, other 
states, Maryland and New York among them, are increasing their 
contributions to cover the deficit.  Congress has approved an 
additional $52 million for the programs this year, and President 
Clinton has requested $65 million more for 1997.
     
"Blame Me for Blood Scandal, Begin Says"
Toronto Globe and Mail (08/21/96) P. A1; Picard, Andre
     Former Canadian health minister Monique Begin says her 
willingness to take the blame for the country's tainted-blood 
scandal is a matter of "personal morality and integrity" as well 
as a demonstration of "ministerial responsibility."  Begin, who 
served as the minister of health and welfare from 1976 to 1984, 
accepted the blame in a letter to the Commission on Inquiry on 
the Blood System in Canada, writing that "politicians must 
definitely be accountable, and I am therefore prepared to join 
the 'named' people to answer the inquiries of your commission."  
The inquiry was awarded the legal right to make findings of
wrongdoing against 17 people, including Red Cross employees and 
federal government officials, some of whom worked under Begin.  
The panel, however, was also prohibited from making allegations 
against 47 others, including former ministers of health and 
senior bureaucrats--Begin and her deputy ministers among them.
     
"Across the USA: Louisiana"
USA Today (08/22/96) P. 8A
     Most HIV services provided by Louisiana charity hospitals
would be eliminated, along with emergency rooms in two hospitals 
and a cancer treatment center in another, under a plan to cut $31 
million from the state's charity hospital budgets.
     
"AIDS-Tainted Blood Probe in Japan"
Washington Post (08/22/96) P. A28
     The Japanese drug firm Green Cross has been raided by
prosecutors, increasing the likelihood that the company's former 
president will face criminal charges over the sale of HIV-tainted 
blood products.  Renzo Matsushita is charged with allowing 
tainted products to be sold even after U.S. researchers warned
that unheated blood products could carry HIV and other infectious 
agents.  The raid of Green Cross' headquarters marked the 
beginning of the first criminal investigation into why major drug 
companies continued to sell the dangerous products even after a 
safe alternative was made available in late 1985.
     
"Clinton Signs Bill to Give Portability in Insurance" 
New York Times (08/22/96) P. B12; Purdum, Todd S.
     President Clinton signed the health insurance reform bill 
Wednesday, calling the legislation "a long step toward the kind 
of health care reform our nation needs."  The bill allows workers 
to keep their health care coverage if they change or lose their 
jobs and prohibits health insurance companies from denying 
coverage to people who have pre-existing conditions.  Other 
provisions offer tax breaks for long-term care and for insurance 
paid for by self-employed workers.  Clinton said he would like to 
see more changes, including more coverage for the unemployed and 
for mental health care.
     
"Neal Dickerson Dies at 38; AIDS Activist, TV Producer"
Washington Post (08/22/96) P. B4
     Neal Dickerson, an AIDS activist and former television news 
producer who had AIDS, died Aug. 19 of complications related to 
cancer treatment.  Dickerson served as editor of the AIDS Policy 
Newsletter and had also written a manual, "Pushing Public 
Policy," now used by the National Association of People with AIDS 
and other organizations.  He also authored a series of books 
titled "The Politics of AIDS," which covered such issues as HIV 
testing, research, drug approval, long-term survival, and managed 
health care.
     
"Am. Issues-Glance: Marijuana Use Debated" 
United Press International (08/21/96) 
     Following the recent closing of a San Francisco club that 
provided marijuana for medicinal purposes to AIDS patients and 
others, the debate of legalization for such uses has resurged.  
In California, a ballot initiative to allow doctors to prescribe 
marijuana will be voted on in November, but law enforcement 
agencies and California Gov. Pete Wilson oppose the measure.

"Employee Can Sue Hospital for Disclosing He Had an AIDS Test"
Reuters (08/21/96)
     An Illinois hospital employee has won the right to sue his
employer for disclosing the fact that he took an HIV test after
possible on-the-job exposure to the virus.  A state Appellate
Court ruled that, because the hospital decided to treat the
employee after he was exposed to contaminated blood, the employee
should have been considered a patient.  Consequently, that man
had a right to confidentiality regarding his HIV test.

"A Randomized Trial of Clarithromycin as Prophylaxis Against
Disseminated Mycobacterium Avium Complex Infection in Patients
With Advanced Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome"
New England Journal of Medicine (08/08/96) Vol. 335, No. 6, P.
384; Pierce, Mark; Crampton, Sheri; Henry, David; et al.
     Infection with Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC), the most
common opportunistic infection in advanced AIDS patients, causes
night sweats, fever, weight loss, and diarrhea, and can shorten
survival.  The only drug approved by the Food and Drug
Administration for treating the infection is clarithromycin, a
macrolide antibiotic.  Dr. J. Carl Craft of Abbott Laboratories,
and colleagues, tested the safety and efficacy of clarithromycin
as a prophylactic treatment for MAC infection in 667 patients in
the United States and Europe.  The study was stopped after the
first interim analysis revealed that only 6 percent of the
patients taking the drug developed the infection, compared to 16
percent of those taking a placebo.  During the 10-month follow-up
period, 32 percent of the patients in the treatment group died,
compared to 41 percent of those in the placebo group.  The
authors conclude that, in patients with advanced AIDS,
prophylactic use of clarithromycin prevents MAC infection,
reduces mortality, and is well tolerated.

"Device Detects AIDS Virus Quickly"
Nikkei Weekly (08/05/96) Vol. 34, No. 1734; P. 10
     A new HIV testing device, developed by Nippon Roche KK,
Olympus Optical, and Tosoh Corp., can detect the virus that
causes AIDS more quickly than traditional antibody tests.  The
new test detects HIV's genetic material, rather than the
antibodies produced in response to the infection which can take
six to eight weeks to appear.  The test is being studied for
effectiveness at hospital and blood-supply centers associated
with the Japanese Red Cross Society.  The Ministry of Health and
Welfare commissioned the $7.4 million project.
