                     AIDS Daily Summary
                      January 25, 1995

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National AIDS
Clearinghouse makes available the following information as a public
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Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD


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"SEC Investigates Florida Firm that Buys Policies from Terminally
Ill"
"Children's Drug Labels Reconsidered"
"BioChem Shows Healthy Form"
"Thousands of Bangladeshi Children Exposed to AIDS"
"U.S. Bioscience Receives Additional European Clearances for 
Ethyol and NeuTrexin"
"Pilot AIDS Study to Be Conducted in South Florida..."
"ONCONASE Enters Phase III for Pancreatic Cancer"
"Global Epidemiology of Tuberculosis"
"AIDS in India"
"Caregivers Have Hand in Intentional Overdoses"
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"SEC Investigates Florida Firm that Buys Policies from Terminally
Ill"
Knight-Ridder/Tribune Business News (01/25/95)
     The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has gone to court to
force United Benefits Group, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to turn over 
records of its investors, employees, financial results, tax 
returns, and other information.  United Benefits Group, a 
viatical settlement broker which arranges the sale of AIDS 
patients' life insurance policies to investors, is refusing to 
tell regulators how it sells the policies and what becomes of the
money.  The company's attorney claims that because the company is
not selling securities, it does not have to obey the SEC.  The 
SEC needs to review the documents to determine whether there have
been violations of securities law, argues SEC regional director 
Chuck Senatore.
      
"Children's Drug Labels Reconsidered"
New York Times (01/25/95) P. C11;  Stone, Elizabeth
     Last month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued 
labeling regulations for prescription drugs for children.  Eighty
percent of the more than 2,000 prescription drugs currently on 
the market with FDA approval have never been tested for safety or
efficacy in children.  The new regulations allow companies to 
publish information about dosages for children without doing 
full-scale testing if the disease runs the same course in adults 
and children, as does strep throat.  The regulations give the FDA
the power to deny approval or recall a drug, but the agency 
cannot require a company to include children in its studies if 
the company states that the drug is not for use by children.  
Last year, the American Academy of Pediatrics' Committee on Drugs
submitted a list of six drugs--three anesthetics plus Flagyl, 
Tagamet, and albuterol--it most wanted approved for children.  
While dosage information exists for Flagyl, Tagamet, and 
albuterol, none is available for the three anesthetics.  Flagyl, 
which is approved for children with amoebic dysentery, is more 
frequently used to treat anaerobic infections in HIV-positive 
children.  The new regulations would not include the pediatric 
labeling of these medications.
      
"BioChem Shows Healthy Form"
Toronto Globe and Mail (01/24/95) P. B11;  Bell, Andrew
     Although Glaxo PLC's takeover bid for Wellcome PLC could be 
construed as the reason for BioChem Pharma Inc.'s 50-cent per 
share increase on Tuesday, analysts cite other factors.  The 
proposed merger could make it easier for BioChem to sell its AIDS
and hepatitis B drug, 3TC, which is licensed to Glaxo.  Wellcome 
is already familiar with marketing AIDS drugs as the manufacturer
of AZT.  However, analysts point instead to a Jan. 20-Feb. 3 
medical conference--at which trial results for AIDS patients and 
prospects for 3TC use against hepatitis B will be announced.
      
"Thousands of Bangladeshi Children Exposed to AIDS"
Reuters (01/24/95);  Shahid, Shahriar
     Due to social discrimination and poverty, thousands of 
Bangladeshi girls are becoming prostitutes in major cities and, 
thus, are making themselves vulnerable to diseases--including 
AIDS.  The girls and young women, mostly between the ages of 12 
and 18, know little about healthcare and frequently carry 
infectious diseases they caught from their clients.  "Though 
Bangladesh is one of the lucky countries not to have an AIDS 
epidemic, the situation is vulnerable here too as uncared-for 
prostitutes can spread the diseases," according to AIDS 
researcher Dr. Julia Ahmed.  In Bangladesh, with a population of 
110 million people, only 33 cases of HIV have been identified.  
Of those 33, three developed AIDS and died, and the others are 
under medical care.  Although street prostitution is illegal in 
Bangladesh, the girls and women usually pay bribes to the police.
A recent study found that most of the girls suffer from scabies, 
syphilis, abdominal pains, and jaundice.  Most of the prostitutes
know about contraceptives, but rarely use them.
      
"U.S. Bioscience Receives Additional European Clearances for 
Ethyol and NeuTrexin"
Business Wire (01/24/95)
     U.S. Bioscience announced on Tuesday that Ethyol (amifostine) and
NeuTrexin (trimetrexate glucuronate for injection) were granted 
product licenses for marketing in additional European countries. 
Ethyol is used for the reduction of neutrophenia-related 
infection resulting from the use of the combination regimen of 
cyclophosphamide and cisplatin--two anti-cancer agents--in 
patients with advanced ovarian carcinoma.  In addition to its 
previous approval in the United Kingdom, ethyol received 
marketing approval in Germany, Spain, and Luxembourg.  NeuTrexin 
was cleared for marketing in the United Kingdom, Spain, the 
Netherlands, and Luxembourg.  NeuTrexin is recommended with 
concurrent leucovorin administration as an alternative treatment 
of moderate-to-severe Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia in AIDS 
patients who are intolerant of or for whom standard therapy is 
contraindicated.  It received marketing clearance for the United 
States and Canada in December 1993.
      
"Pilot AIDS Study to Be Conducted in South Florida..."
Business Wire (01/24/95)
     Advanced Viral Research Corp. announced on Tuesday that its 
product Reticulose will be used in a pilot study conducted by a 
physician in a South Florida hospital and AIDS research center.  
One part of the study will measure the effects of Reticulose on 
the viral load within the cells of HIV patients during treatment.
Reticulose, a non-toxic anti-viral peptide nucleic acid solution,
is believed to be safe and effective against a variety of viral 
diseases.
      
"ONCONASE Enters Phase III for Pancreatic Cancer"
Business Wire (01/24/95)
     Alfacell Corp. announced on Tuesday that it will commence Phase 
III clinical trials for ONCONASE, which is being tested in 
combination with tamoxifen to treat pancreatic cancer.  The FDA 
approved the company's Phase III protocol design--which calls for
a randomized, multi-center trial--on Jan. 23.  ONCONASE has been 
established as a novel enzyme in both structure and function, and
is now recognized as the smallest known member of the superfamily
of pancreatic ribonucleases.  Alfacell is also working with the 
National Institutes of Health to study promising anti-viral 
activity exhibited by ONCONASE in in vitro tests against HIV-1.  
A study recently published in the Proceedings of the National 
Academy of Sciences found that ONCONASE inhibited HIV in vitro by
99 percent.
      
"Global Epidemiology of Tuberculosis"
Journal of the American Medical Association (01/18/95) Vol. 273, 
No. 3, P. 220;  Raviglione, Mario C.;  Snider, Dixie E.;  Kochi, 
Arata
     Nearly 3.8 million cases of tuberculosis (TB) were reported in 
the world in 1990, 49 percent of which were in Southeast Asia.  
The highest prevalence of TB infection and estimated yearly risk 
of infection are found in that region and in sub-Saharan Africa. 
Notification rates increased in all World Health Organization 
regions, except the American and European regions, from 1984-1986
to 1989-1991.  Throughout the world, there were an estimated 7.5 
million cases of TB and 2.5 million deaths in 1990.  HIV is a 
partial reason for the increase in TB cases, especially in 
Africa.  Increases are also expected in Southeast Asia.  The 
disease has not declined in many industrialized countries, and 
cases and deaths are increasing in eastern Europe and the former 
Soviet Union.  Unless worldwide control of TB improves, 90 
million new cases and 30 million deaths are expected during the 
1990s.
      
"AIDS in India"
Village Voice (01/17/95) Vol. 40, No. 3, P. 31;  Mehta, Suketu
     India, with a population of 850 million, has approximately 1.62 
million cases of HIV and 20,000 cases of full-blown AIDS, 
according to the World Health Organization.  A widespread 
perception in India, however, is that AIDS is a "foreigners' 
disease," or one that only affects the socially unacceptable.  At
least one top government official has urged banning sex with 
foreigners.  The National AIDS Control Organization has no 
shortage of resources to fight the disease, but a lack of 
political backing has hampered the agency's attempts to implement
its action plans.  The publicity about AIDS has scared people 
away from donating blood; as a result, the available blood supply
has dropped by as much as 50 percent.  Thus, the government must 
rely on people like Jagdish Bhardwaje, who sells his blood for a 
living.  He might become infected through a contaminated needle 
if he continues to donate blood, he says, but will definitely die
of hunger if he does not. Groups such as hemophiliacs, 
prostitutes, and truck drivers have high rates of HIV-infection. 
It is estimated that 50 percent of the prostitutes in Bombay and 
10 percent of the approximately 5 million truck drivers in the 
country are HIV-infected.
      
"Caregivers Have Hand in Intentional Overdoses"
AIDS Alert (01/95) Vol. 10, No. 1, P. 14
     A University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) study found that
more than one out of nine AIDS caregivers reported that drugs 
were given to their ill partners to accelerate death, and that 
the caregivers often initiated the discussion of assisted 
suicide.  Researchers followed 136 couples in the San Francisco 
area for five years, focusing on caregiver behavior before and 
after the death of a partner.  In each couple, one partner was 
well--either HIV-positive or HIV-negative--and the other had 
AIDS.  The caregivers of 66 of the 136 patients who died during 
the study reported that their patients received an increase in 
medication prior to death.  In 17 cases, the intent was to hasten
death.  The researchers also found that assisted suicide was a 
stressful issue for many of the caregivers.  In 80 percent of the
cases where assisted suicide was discussed with a physician, a 
member of the couple initiated the discussion--not the doctor, 
said Molly Cook, associate professor of clinical medicine and 
director of clinical medicine at UCSF.  The researchers concluded
that physicians should discuss the issue with their patients and 
that the patients' caregivers should be involved in the 
discussions.
      
