Date: Tue, 16 Apr 1996 10:47:35 +0500 From: "Flynn Mclean" Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary 04/16/96 AIDS Daily Summary April 16, 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 ************************************************************ "Cashing in Insurance for a Last Fling or a Lasting Legacy" "Red Cross Paid Witnesses Thousands" "Across the USA: Nebraska" "China Plans to Combat Infectious Diseases" "Zimbabwe--Health: To Tell or Not, Is the Question" "TennCare MCOs Must Cover New AIDS Drugs" "Immune Response's HIV Agent Promising; Hybridon HIV Drug Tests Get Underway" "Prestigious Hospitals in Miami and Needle..." "FDA Weighs Approval of HIV RNA Test" "Can AmFAR Survive AIDS?" ************************************************************ "Cashing in Insurance for a Last Fling or a Lasting Legacy" Journal of Commerce (04/16/96) P. 1A; MacLeod, Helen R. The growth in viatical settlement companies, which buy life insurance policies from people with terminal illnesses and collect the death benefit when their customers die, has prompted concern and calls for regulation. There are currently about 50 such companies, which started in the late 1980s, stimulated by deaths from AIDS. AIDS patients still account for 90 percent of the customers, but at least one company is seeking cancer patients. The deal allows dying people to fulfill dreams of travel or of leaving something behind. William B. Kelly, president of the Viatical Association of America, says the industry is experiencing a period of growth, allowing only serious companies to survive. Twelve states now require viatical companies to have licenses and four states are considering such legislation. Caregivers, who require money for non-medical expenses, often approach the companies about the policies, rather than the patient themselves. "Red Cross Paid Witnesses Thousands" Toronto Globe and Mail (04/15/96) P. A4; Picard, Andre The Canadian Red Cross paid its former director Roger Perrault almost $100,000 for his testimony in the tainted-blood inquiry. Perrault's assistant, Martin Davey, received almost $50,000 for his testimony. The agency said that the men were reimbursed for the expenses billed, including preparation time and travel expenses, because the Commission of Inquiry on the Blood System in Canada refused to do so. So far, the 1,052 people who were infected with HIV from the tainted blood, have received $30,000 annually. The Red Cross and other parties have filed a lawsuit to keep the commission from issuing findings of wrongdoing, which could then be used in criminal or civil proceedings. The Inquiry has paid for a number of reports it commissioned which were related to investigations into the blood system. "Across the USA: Nebraska" USA Today (04/16/96) P. 9A Since the implementation of a Nebraska law requiring cases of HIV infection to be reported, 198 cases have been documented. Before the law went into effect in July, only AIDS cases were reported. "China Plans to Combat Infectious Diseases" Reuters (04/16/96) China will spend $60 million by the year 2000 to implement a disease-prevention boundary along its southwestern border. The system would be set up at six border crossings along Yunnan Province's 2,486-mile border with Vietnam, Laos, and Burma. The government hopes to halt the spread of children's infectious diseases and HIV across the borders. Yunnan, China's main drug-trafficking area, now has 2,000 people infected with HIV, more than 70 percent of China's total. Although trade and contact across the borders have increased significantly with China's economic reforms, they have also allowed diseases to spread. "Zimbabwe--Health: To Tell or Not, Is the Question" IPS News Service (04/15/96) In a controversial move, Zimbabwe Vice President Joshua Nkomo recently disclosed that his son died of AIDS. Although 10 percent of the country's population has HIV, the country has taken a conservative stance on the issue. The media, for example, says that patients die "after a long illness," instead of dying of AIDS. Doctors had officially listed Nkomo's son's death as "respiratory complications," but Nkomo was open about the his son having AIDS when he spoke at his burial. Some people in the country question Nkomo's openness, saying he violated the privacy of his son's wife and children. Even though AIDS awareness is taught in Zimbabwe, the disease is treated as a curse, and infected people are seen as social outcasts. AIDS workers advocate an attitude change, but say privacy should be a concern. "TennCare MCOs Must Cover New AIDS Drugs" Reuters (04/15/96) The 11 TennCare managed care organizations that cover TennCare patients must pay for the newly approved protease inhibitors to treat HIV infection, the TennCare Bureau decided. The decision was based on the federal government's decision to require Medicaid to cover the drugs. Approximately 2,000 Tennessee patients with HIV will be eligible for the protease inhibitors, which could cost as much as $12,000 per patient. "Immune Response's HIV Agent Promising; Hybridon HIV Drug Tests Get Underway" Reuters (04/12/96) Immune Response announced that 12 of 25 HIV-positive patients participating in a trial of its Remune agent have responded positively. One patient died 5 years after the study began in 1987, and 11 are still alive and using the drug. The overall health and T-cell counts of the patients receiving Remune have appeared to stabilize. Meanwhile, Hybridon Inc. announced that it is launching two new clinical studies of GEM 91, its genetic antisense compound for the treatment of HIV-1 infection and AIDS. "Prestigious Hospitals in Miami and Needle..." Business Wire (04/15/96) Bio-Plexus, the maker of the patented Punctur-Guard self-blunting needle, which reduces the risk of accidental needlesticks, said Monday that Mercy Hospital in Miami and Albert Einstein Hospital in Philadelphia will convert their facilities to the Punctur-Guard needle. Bio-Plexus continues to test its new Punctur-Guard Winged Set, while the Food and Drug Administration considers this device for approval. "FDA Weighs Approval of HIV RNA Test" Lancet (04/06/96) Vol. 347, No. 9006, P. 959; Barnett, Alicia Ault The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is deciding whether to approve wider use of a polymerase chain reaction test that measures HIV viral RNA. Roche Diagnostic Systems' Amplicor HIV Monitor test has been used for research, but the company wants to broaden its uses to include indicating disease prognosis, monitoring the effects of antiretroviral therapy, and predicting clinical end-points. An FDA advisory committee decided in March that Roche had provided enough evidence of the test's ability to measure drug effectiveness, but asked for more data on its usefulness in patient care. "Can AmFAR Survive AIDS?" New York (04/08/96) P. 28; Jacobs, Andrew The American Foundation for AIDS Research (AmFAR), like other AIDS organizations, has suffered from a lack of funding as public interest in AIDS has waned in recent years. Actress Sharon Stone, AmFAR's new chairman, has said she will raise $76 million for the organization over the next three years. AmFAR has spent $83 million on AIDS research so far, and many of its early grants, including those to fund work on protease inhibitors and gene therapy, are showing results. AmFAR's founder, Mathilde Krim, was a cancer researcher at Sloan-Kettering Hospital when AIDS first appeared. In 1985, the organization joined with an AIDS charity set up by Elizabeth Taylor, adding to its legitimacy and visibility. Terry Beirn, who served as executive director until his death, brought Krim's and Taylor's groups together, helped write the Ryan White Care Act, and pushed for getting people with HIV and AIDS included under the Americans with Disabilities Act. While AmFAR was able to turn AIDS into a popular cause by involving celebrities, it mostly ignored grassroots donors including gay men and AIDS activists. Also, Taylor's involvement in AmFAR declined, and the organization has had difficulty finding celebrities to lead its fund-raising efforts. Supporters hope Stone's enthusiasm revives the foundation's efforts.