Date: Tue, 31 Oct 1995 09:29:52 +0500 From: ghmcleaf{CONTRACTOR/ASPEN/ghmcleaf}%NAC-GATEWAY.ASPEN@ace.aspensys.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 10/31/95 AIDS Daily Summary October 31, 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 ************************************************************ "Veterans, AIDS Patients May Lose Benefits" "AIDS Groups Fear Loss of Health Care Benefits" "Dole's Wife to Leave Job During Race" "Roche Holding Ltd.: FDA Approves Cytovene for an AIDS Application" "Digest: Cel-Sci" "Elton John Ties into a Good Cause" "Glyko Biomedical Announces Grants for New Genetic and AIDS Diagnostic Tests" "ICAAC's Small Advances" "AIDS Update: The Relaxation Response" "Buy, Don't Rent" ************************************************************ "Veterans, AIDS Patients May Lose Benefits" Washington Post (10/31/95) P. A11; Rich, Spencer The AIDS Action Council and two Cabinet members, Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Jesse Brown and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Donna E. Shalala, said Monday that hundreds of thousands of veterans and AIDS patients could lose present health benefits under Medicaid changes passed by Republicans in Congress. The problems of some of the veterans on Medicaid are "some of the most costly, including AIDS and psychiatric care," said Brown and Shalala. The two secretaries noted that "as many as 172,000 veterans could lose their Medicaid coverage by 2002," according to the House plan to block-grant the Medicaid system. Additionally, Mark Barnes, executive director of the AIDS Action Council, said the House Medicaid changes could "devastate health care for the AIDS community" by decreasing funds and permitting states to chose who will receive coverage. Meanwhile, a spokesman for the House Commerce Committee observed that the potential problems that veterans and people with AIDS face are based on Medicaid grants to the states in the committee bill, but that the House also added $12 billion nationwide for the program. "AIDS Groups Fear Loss of Health Care Benefits" New York Times (10/31/95) P. A22; Dunlap, David W. AIDS care organizations say they are concerned that the proposal to give more Medicaid control to states will force thousands of patients to do without such benefits as prescription drugs and home health care. These groups are worried that block grants will spur competition in state legislatures between AIDS patients, families, the elderly, and other disabled recipients. However, Craig Murphy, a spokesman for Rep. Joe L. Barton (R-Texas) who is a member of the House Commerce subcommittee, argued, "There's no reason to assume that there's anything wrong with the priorities a state would make." Republicans claim that Congress is not cutting back on care, citing the recent reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act as an example. Although grateful for that legislation, AIDS groups say it is not enough because "Ryan White dollars pale in comparison to the funding that Medicaid provides for so many people with AIDS," according to Dr. R. Scott Hitt, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. Statistics from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation show that in fiscal year 1994, public spending on health care for people with HIV and AIDS totaled $3.75 billion--of which almost 70 percent was paid for by Medicaid, 15 percent by the Ryan White Act, and 13 percent by Medicare. "Dole's Wife to Leave Job During Race" New York Times (10/31/95) P. A17; Holmes, Steven A. Elizabeth H. Dole, wife of Senate Majority Leader Robert J. Dole (R-Kan.), said she intends to keep her job as American Red Cross president even if her husband becomes President of the United States. Dole was granted a one-year unpaid leave of absence on Sunday to travel with her husband during the Presidential campaign. As she stepped down, Dole said she wanted to devote more time to the race and that she was worried that her continued presence as Red Cross leader would entangle the agency in politics. Earlier this year, Dole voiced concerns about information the Red Cross was preparing for an AIDS education program. A special panel, created in response to her complaints, also concluded that the material did not sufficiently warn people about the risk of AIDS and that the illustrations were too sexually explicit. Still, Dole's critics argued that she was trying to tone down the content to help her husband appeal to more conservative voters--a charge which she denies. Related Story: Washington Post (10/31) P. A4 "Roche Holding Ltd.: FDA Approves Cytovene for an AIDS Application" Wall Street Journal (10/31/95) P. B10 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given Hoffmann-La Roche Inc., Nutley, N.J., approval to market its AIDS drug Cytovene (ganciclovir) as a preventative treatment for cytomegalovirus retinitis. Until this point, the drug was available only as a maintenance treatment for the infection. Hoffmann-La Roche is a division of the Swiss drug giant Roche Holding Ltd. "Digest: Cel-Sci" Washington Post (10/31/95) P. D2 Alpha 1 Biomedicals' interest in Viral Technologies of Washington, D.C., has been acquired by Alexandria, Va.-based Cel-Sci for nearly 160,000 shares of Cel-Sci common stock, giving Cel-Sci full ownership of the concern. Cel-Sci and Bethesda, Md.-based Alpha 1 formed the company nine years ago to investigate and develop a proprietary peptide that might be used in the treatment of AIDS. "Elton John Ties into a Good Cause" USA Today (10/31/95) P. 2D; Sparta, Christine Singer Elton John has lent his name to the Elton John Foundation Necktie Collection. The Italian silk ties will be available in The Knot Shop, a chain of neckwear stores, beginning this week, though some department and specialty stores will also carry them in the spring. Tie designer Jon Blades of the California-based company Whimsey Ltd. says that between 16 percent and 25 percent of the wholesale price of each tie will be donated to John's AIDS organization. "Glyko Biomedical Announces Grants for New Genetic and AIDS Diagnostic Tests" Business Wire (10/30/95) Glyko Biomedical Ltd., Novato, Calif., has been awarded two grants to be used for the development of diagnostic tests. The first grant is a Phase I SBIR award worth $67,000 from the National Institutes of Health. The company received the second grant of $60,000 in June from the Pediatric AIDS Foundation to investigate a novel test for AZT drug resistance in people with AIDS. "ICAAC's Small Advances" AIDS Treatment News (10/06/95) No. 232, P. 5; Smith, Denny At the Inter-Science Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy in September, scientists presented a number of studies that, while not dramatically important, could be useful for both doctors and patients on a day-to-day basis. For example, researchers from the University of Miami and the University of California in Los Angeles suggested conditions that could increase HIV penetration of the central nervous system. In the laboratory, they found that a model of the blood-brain barrier made out of human brain endothelial cells and a sublayer of fetal astrocytes could be broken by migrating monocytes, by tumor necrosis factor inflammation, and by exposure to the drug-abuse simulating cocaethylene. The researchers theorized that in humans, the blood-brain barrier can resist HIV when not challenged by such disruptions. Meanwhile, researchers from the National Institutes of Health and elsewhere said that the mucolytic agent NAC (N-acetyl-L-cysteine) could block the germination of spores of several kinds of fungi that cause pulmonary infections in immunocompromised individuals. Finally, several reports presented at the conference supported the use of cytokines in AIDS treatments, while many new antifungals and antimycobacterials were also introduced. "AIDS Update: The Relaxation Response" Men's Health (11/95) Vol. 10, No. 9, P. 42 Researchers at the University of Florida say that stress can have a detrimental effect on the health of HIV-infected persons. The researchers assessed the impact of stress on the immune systems of symptom-free HIV-positive males, and found that those people described as having "severe stress" had lower numbers of some immune-system cells, compared to relaxed persons. The findings indicate that it may be beneficial to the health of HIV-infected individuals to reduce their level of stress. "Buy, Don't Rent" POZ (10/95-11/95) No. 10, P. 62 The Actors' Fund has become a major landlord, a position evidenced by the fact that 40 percent of the group's funds distributed last year went directly to pay rent for HIV-infected persons. The Fund views affordable, appropriate housing as the greatest unmet need of AIDS patients, and is therefore buying and constructing homes on both the East and West Coasts. In New York City, the Fund is purchasing The Aurora, an empty 178-unit apartment building on West 57th Street. The facility will include a Fund-staffed community center which will help residents obtain benefits, as well as provide counseling and recreation. Establishing this home relieves the Fund of paying its clients' costly New York City rent. Meanwhile, in West Hollywood, the Fund is setting up two centers--the Palm View for AIDS patients, and the King's Road for the elderly, the disabled, and the poor.