From server@aspensys.com Wed Dec 4 06:41:54 1996 Received: from casti.com (vector.casti.com [199.181.80.100]) by qrd.rdrop.com (8.6.9/8.6.9) with ESMTP id GAA11623 for ; Wed, 4 Dec 1996 06:41:52 -0800 Received: from aspen3.aspensys.com by casti.com (8.6.9/NX3.0M) id JAA05308; Wed, 4 Dec 1996 09:40:01 -0500 Received: by aspen3.aspensys.com (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4) id JAA14168; Wed, 4 Dec 1996 09:36:35 -0500 Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 09:36:35 -0500 Message-Id: <32A508F2@SmtpOut.em.cdc.gov> Errors-To: shelly_olim_at_aspenpo@smtpinet.aspensys.com Reply-To: aidsnews@cdcnac.aspensys.com Originator: aidsnews@cdcnac.aspensys.com Sender: aidsnews@cdcnac.aspensys.com Precedence: bulk From: "Vaux, Lenore" To: qrd@vector.casti.com Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary, 12/04/96 X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Comment: CDC National AIDS Clearinghouse X-Mailer: Microsoft Mail V3.0 AIDS Daily Summary Wednesday, December 4, 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 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 ****************************************************** "Leader of Black Gay Forum Favorite to be AIDS Czar" "Devious Efforts to Legalize Drugs" "California Issues Marijuana Guidelines" "Criticism of Marijuana Initiatives Mean, Late" "S. Florida Events to Benefit AIDS Victims" "Money Crisis Sinks Betak Home for AIDS Patients" "HIV Positive Not Linked to Suicides" "AIDS Experts Stress Basic Research" "Maternal Viral Load, Zidovudine Treatment, and the Risk of Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 From Mother to Infant" "Bad Blood?" ****************************************************** "Leader of Black Gay Forum Favorite to be AIDS Czar" Washington Times (12/04/96) P. A1; Bedard, Paul Phill Wilson, co-founder of Los Angeles' National Black Gay and Lesbian Leadership Forum, is the leading candidate for the vacant position of AIDS czar, according to White House officials and AIDS activists. Wilson, who has AIDS, is the choice of many AIDS activists who say the appointment would show President Clinton's commitment to the AIDS battle. "If Phill Wilson is in the mix, he'd be an excellent choice with front-line experience," said Kim Mills, of the Human Rights Campaign, a homosexual lobbying group. "Devious Efforts to Legalize Drugs" Washington Post (12/04/96) P. A25; Califano Jr., Joseph A. In a commentary in the Washington Post, Joseph A. Califano Jr., president of the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, criticizes the campaigns in Arizona and California to legalize the medical use of certain drugs. Califano contends that the Arizona effort falsely led voters to believe that the measure would toughen penalties for violent crime and support drug prevention and education, and that the loosened controls on LSD and heroin were barely mentioned. He says the campaign for California's Prop. 215 showed the measure as a way to help the seriously ill, and did not mention that it would require only the verbal recommendation of a doctor for anyone to use marijuana. Califano says the use of private money to fund the campaigns contributed to the misleading campaigns, and he suggests that Congress act to protect states from outside private interests. "California Issues Marijuana Guidelines" Washington Times (12/04/96) P. A8 In an effort to enforce California's new medical marijuana law, State Attorney General Dan Lungren issued guidelines for the drug on Tuesday. Lungren noted that it is still unclear how federal officials will treat doctors or others who could be prosecuted because the state law conflicts with federal law. "Criticism of Marijuana Initiatives Mean, Late" USA Today (12/04/96) P. 14A; Barrie, Jeff T.; Harris, Scott White House drug chief Barry McCaffrey's criticism of the supporters of medical marijuana campaigns was too late and mean, contends Jeff T. Barrie in a letter to the editor of USA Today. He says that the opposition should have been presented during the campaign, and suggests that McCaffrey expected the media to offer enough negative publicity to defeat the measure. In a second letter, Scott Harris says the Senate hearings on the topic were misleading and featured exaggerated examples of marijuana use. "S. Florida Events to Benefit AIDS Victims" Miami Herald (12/03/96) P. 2B; Chey, Elizabeth Two AIDS benefits in Miami on Wednesday will help to raise money for local AIDS patients. The Food for Life Network, which supports Meals-on-Wheels, a food bank, nutritional counseling, and special holiday dinners, will hold a progressive dinner, "Walk on the Avenue," in Miami Beach. In addition, the United Foundation for AIDS will hold a furniture auction the includes pieces from several South Florida celebrities. The goal of the auction is to raise $100,000 for the Community AIDS Project, which provides testing, treatment, and residential services for people with HIV and AIDS. "Money Crisis Sinks Betak Home for AIDS Patients" Philadelphia Inquirer (12/04/96) P. B2; Collins, Huntly Betak, the only nursing home in Philadelphia for AIDS patients, will be closed after the remaining 20 patients are moved, city officials and Mercy Health announced Tuesday. Financial problems have repeatedly burdened the facility since it opened four years ago, and Mercy said that the lack of state funding for the home would almost certainly require that it be closed. Philadelphia Health Commissioner Estelle Richman said the city is now searching for other ways to provide care for AIDS patients. "HIV Positive Not Linked to Suicides" United Press International (12/03/96) People who test positive for HIV are not significantly more likely to commit suicide upon hearing the news, researchers reported Tuesday. While previous studies have found that the onset of AIDS sharply increases suicide risk, testing positive for HIV does not have the same impact. The study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was conducted among men who were rejected from military service because of medical conditions. The Johns Hopkins University researchers note the finding may "offer reassurance about suicide risk as a potential adverse effect of the over-the-counter HIV home test." "AIDS Experts Stress Basic Research" United Press International (12/03/96) Basic scientific research is needed in the fight against AIDS and should continue to receive federal funding, AIDS experts told President Clinton Tuesday. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Canter for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he told Clinton that basic research played a major role in two of the biggest recent breakthroughs--the discovery of the receptor that provides HIV protection to some people, and the development of the protease inhibitor drugs. Clinton pledged to maintain the administration's commitment to AIDS research. "I'm determined to keep pressing until we have a vaccine and ultimately a cure," he said. "Maternal Viral Load, Zidovudine Treatment, and the Risk of Transmission of Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 From Mother to Infant" New England Journal of Medicine (11/28/96) Vol. 335, No. 22, P. 1621; Sperling, Rhoda S.; Shapiro, David E.; Coombs, Robert W.; Sperling, Rhoda S. While study results have demonstrated that zidovudine therapy significantly reduces the risk of HIV-1 transmission from mother to child, the mechanism of this treatment is not known. Researchers for the AIDS Clinical Trials Group Protocol 076 Study Group, led by Dr. Rhoda Sperling of Mount Sinai medical school, analyzed data from a previous clinical trial to determine the link between maternal viral load, transmission, and the efficacy of zidovudine therapy. The researchers report that, out of 402 mother-infant pairs, the rate of HIV-1 transmission with zidovudine was 7.6 percent, compared to 22.6 percent among women who took a placebo. In both groups, transmission was not linked to maternal viral load. Zidovudine was found to be effective across varying viral RNA levels and CD4 counts. The reduction in viral load from base line to delivery in the zidovudine group was not significantly linked to the risk of HIV-1 transmission. The authors conclude that a high maternal viral load is a risk factor for the transmission of HIV-1 from an untreated mother to her infant, and they suggest that maternal treatment with zidovudine be initiated in all HIV-positive pregnant women, regardless of viral load. "Bad Blood?" New York (11/25/96) Vol. 29, No. 46, P. 28; Finkelstein, Katherine Eban The New York Blood Center, a non-profit organization that supplies 80 percent of the blood to New York City hospitals and tests samples for other blood centers nationwide, is under investigation for failing to follow government safety guidelines. New York Magazine found evidence that, in order to compete with other blood suppliers, the center overlooks government safety regulations and its own standard procedures for testing and approving blood for distribution. Staff members at the center have also altered test results to allow blood to be shipped that should have been rejected and discarded documents that recorded these activities, the magazine reports. The Manhattan district attorney and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have each begun investigations of the center, and the FDA has found dozens of blood units that were distributed despite improper testing. "Our sense of what's happening is that there's so much pressure for production that individuals may be encouraged to cut corners," an official at the agency said. "This doesn't mean--necessarily--that the blood is bad. But its chances of being good are not as high as they should be.