Date: Wed, 15 Feb 1995 09:55:35 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com 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 ************************************************************ "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" ************************************************************ "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. THE END.