Date: Tue, 9 May 1995 23:41:01 -0700 From: terryk@scn.org (Terry Kennedy) Subject: FAUCI:MURDERER, LIAR & DRUG CO. PIMP I was asked to come down and help, and I am proud of being part of this Historic time of getting the Gov, Main Stream AIDS activist and Drug Co. Pimpñp. called on their hypocrisy. -Terry Kennedy --------------------------------------------------- FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACTS: Dave Pasquarelli: (415) 386-1779 DATE: 5-6-95 Todd Swindell: (415) 864-8355 "10 Years of Hope" AIDS Dinner Becomes Riot at the Hyatt Activists disrupt Project Inform fund-raiser that features guest speakers Anthony Fauci and Larry Kramer. San Francisco -- The HIV positive blood was flowing Friday night at the posh $125-dollar a plate "10 Years of Hope" fund-raiser sponsored by Project Inform. The dinner, commemorating the last decade of the AIDS crisis, featured guest speakers Anthony Fauci, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), and ACT UP founder Larry Kramer. Midway through the dinner, 30 activists from ACT UP San Francisco stormed the event, chanted, threw fliers, blew whistles and overturned dinner tables. Panicked guests, covered with their pricy dinners, fled from the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero as protestors chanted "Tony Fauci, you killed our friends! This is where the murder ends!" Others threw fliers that accused the government official of being a Murderer, Liar and Drug Company Pimp." The scene became violent when angry dinner attendees and Hyatt hotel employees attacked one of the ACT UP demonstrators. Activist Michael Bellefountaine was punched and kicked by guests and required several stitches for a lacerated hand. Bellefountaine was briefly taken into custody by police but later released without being charged. HIV positive activists assert that numerous clinical trials of AIDS drugs favor the testing and retesting of ineffective toxic agents that reap huge profits for pharmaceutical corporations but do little to stop the opportunistic infections that kill people who are infected with HIV. "The past decade of human tragedy has shown us that trying to kill the AIDS virus with high priced drugs like AZT and ddI harms the people who take them. These compounds make people sick, are not created to be taken for prolonged periods of time and are immunosuppressive. Enough is enough! This ongoing circus of death must be questioned," stated activist Michael Bellefountaine. Protestors also expressed resentment over Dr. Fauci's continued promotion of CD4 and peripheral blood viral load counts as markers in HIV care. Activists say that these markes can fluctuate from test to test for a variety of reasons and therefore reveal little about disease progression or quality of health in infected individuals. They urged the government to start taking a closer look at the role that elevated levels of CD8 cells play in preventing and controlling opportunistic infections. "Government sponsored clinical trials of drugs are obviously not meant to save our lives. These trials are meant to document the drug's effect on laboratory markers that have little, if any, correlation to the health or survival of people with HIV disease. People with HIV need to concentrate on activating their cellular immunity in order to control the opportunistic infections that threaten our lives. Fauci knows this, has admitted it and still does nothing," remarked protestor David Pasquarelli. ACT UP San Francisco members, outraged that Project Inform decided to invite Dr. Fauci to an event commemorating the past decade of AIDS, cited his presence as proof that the mainstream AIDS community is steeped in conflict of interest and has sold out the very people it professes to help. Mainstream AIDS organizations like Project Inform, San Francisco AIDS Foundation, ACT UP Golden Gate and Mobilization Against AIDS have proven that they simply can no longer be trusted with our lives. The HIV infected community must get back to its community- based, activist roots and infected people must start educating themselves about the immune system and demanding compounds that will save their lives," commented ACT UP member Michael De Hart. Activists say that the demonstration last night was the first in a series of future disruptions meant to expose mainstream AIDS organizations for what they really are; dangerous pharmaceutical industry puppets with no sense of urgency during this time of crisis. For more information and press photos on the Project Inform demonstration contact Dave Pasquarelli at (415) 386-1779 or Todd Swindell at (415) 864-8355. AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power * ACT UP/San Francisco 1388 Haight Street, #218 * San Francisco, CA --------------------------------- After reading this, pass it on to a friend or two. P.S. Anthony Fauci e-mail address is anthony_fauci@d31.niaid.pc.niaid.nih.gov