                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                       June 29, 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


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"Fear of AIDS Got Him Fired, Ex-Collins Staffer Says"
"Contesting Termination a Long Process"
"FDA Advisory Panel Rejects New, Expensive Test to Screen Blood 
for AIDS Virus"
"Disney Unit Chairmen Form Firm to Release Controversial Movie"
"Nixon Protests Detainment"
"Republicans Take Aim at White House Funds"
"Obituaries: Jonathan S. Berg, AIDS Educator, 34"
"Across the USA: West Virginia"
"Whimsy as a Tool to Deal with AIDS"
"Medizone Announces New Zealand Joint Venture"
"Can One Type of HIV Protect Against Another Type?"
"Swedes Support UNAIDS"
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"Fear of AIDS Got Him Fired, Ex-Collins Staffer Says"
Detroit News (06/29/95) P. 1A;  Zagaroli, Lisa;  Bivins, Larry
     In a complaint filed with the Office of Fair Employment 
Practices--the House's internal personnel grievance system--a 
former employee of Rep. Barbara-Rose Collins (D-Mich.) charges 
the congresswoman with violating the Americans With Disabilities 
Act (ADA) when she fired him.  Bruce Taylor claims that Collins 
dismissed him because she thought he was infected with HIV.  The 
ADA prohibits employers from discriminating against people with 
HIV, AIDS, or "who are erroneously assumed to have HIV or AIDS." 
During recent hearings, Collins and her chief of staff, Meridith 
Cooper, testified that Taylor was dismissed as part of plans to 
restructure the office in anticipation of the Republican takeover
of Congress.  Taylor claims, however, that after having had 
surgery for colon cancer in August 1994, Collins--who knew that 
he was caring for his dying partner--asked "the real reason" for 
his absence.  He also says she asked whether he had HIV or AIDS. 
In addition, he alleges that Cooper also asked him if he was 
HIV-positive.  Later in the year, Taylor claims, Cooper told him 
he needed to be more honest about his "health status" and said 
that the Collins needed someone who would be "accessible."  
Taylor is seeking back pay, attorney's expenses, and $50,000 in 
damages.
      
"Contesting Termination a Long Process"
Detroit News (06/29/95) P. 1A;  Bivins, Larry;  Zagaroli, Lisa
     The case of congressional staffer Bruce Taylor, who claims that 
Rep. Barbara-Rose Collins (D-Mich.) dismissed him out of a fear 
that he had AIDS, focuses attention on a grievance procedure that
some say is designed to deter complaints of unfair employment 
practices.  Taylor was fired in December, before legislation was 
passed this year giving congressional employees the right to sue 
the politicians that hire them.  He was therefore forced to 
follow an internal process falling under House Rule 51.  Although
the procedure grants workers rights under the Americans With 
Disabilities Act, the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Labor Standards 
Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act., it requires 
approximately seven months to complete.  "The system is so 
stacked against you," says Taylor
      
"FDA Advisory Panel Rejects New, Expensive Test to Screen Blood 
for AIDS Virus"
Baltimore Sun (06/29/95) P. 24A
     The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering a new 
HIV test to screen donated blood, but will probably decide 
against it because it is too expensive.  According to scientists,
the test would prevent as many as 20 transfusions of HIV-tainted 
blood each year at a cost of at least $24 million.  "It's 
inconceivable in 1995 that we would consider a test that would 
cost so much," says Louis M. Katz, chairman of the FDA advisory 
panel that recommended not using the test.  Although the FDA is 
not required to adopt the panel's decisions, it usually does so. 
The panel's decision followed conflicting testimony from blood 
banks, doctors, and AIDS patients who became infected with HIV 
via contaminated blood transfusions.  The Red Cross, for example,
strongly urged approval of the test.  However, the Council of 
Community Blood Centers--which collects about 40 percent of the 
nation's blood--advised against it, arguing that the same result 
could be achieved by screening high-risk donors.  After the vote,
both scientists and representatives from the blood groups 
emphasized that the nation's blood supplies were still largely 
safe.
      
"Disney Unit Chairmen Form Firm to Release Controversial Movie"
Wall Street Journal (06/29/95) P. B2
     Miramax Films will return to its parent Walt Disney Co. the $3.5 
million it used to acquire "Kids," an explicit movie in part 
about an HIV-infected teenage boy who has sex with teenage girls.
Instead, the film will be distributed by Excalibur Films--a 
separate company to be established by Bob and Harvey Weinstein, 
the brothers who are co-chairmen of Miramax.  Many Disney 
officials were outraged when Miramax acquired "Kids," primarily 
because they thought the film would be rated NC-17, meaning that 
no one under age 17 could attend.  According to Disney corporate 
policy, Disney and its business units should not release NC-17 
movies.
      
"Nixon Protests Detainment"
Washington Post (06/29/95) P. A35
     In an interview in Havana, Donald Nixon--a nephew of former 
president Richard M. Nixon who is being detained in Cuba--said 
that he has done nothing wrong and has not been charged with 
anything.  Nixon has been told not to leave the country until his
relationship with fugitive financier Robert Vesco has been 
clarified, the Cuban Foreign Ministry said.  Vesco was arrested 
by Cuban authorities on suspicion of being a foreign agent, but 
is also wanted in the United States for allegedly conning 
investors out of more than $200 million.  Nixon, who was Vesco's 
house guest at the time of the arrest, said that he was there 
because he and Vesco are involved in a project to develop a Cuban
drug that could be used against diseases such as AIDS and cancer.
Nixon said he became interested in the drug, which is not 
licensed in the United States, after it helped his wife fight 
breast cancer.
      
"Republicans Take Aim at White House Funds"
Reuters (06/28/95);  Frank, Jackie
     Republicans on the House Appropriations Committee voted on 
Wednesday to reduce President Clinton's own office funds, and to 
eliminate his Council of Economic Advisers.  The House panel also
cut nearly $600,000 from the National Security Council, which 
advises the president on defense and foreign policy issues.  Of 
that sum, $500,000 would be shifted to the State Department to 
pay for AIDS treatment for children overseas.  Subcommittee 
chairman Jim Lightfoot (R-Iowa) said there was "no money to 
spare" in the $11.4 billion appropriations bill, which also funds
the Treasury Department; the Internal Revenue Service; the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; and federal retirees.
      
"Obituaries: Jonathan S. Berg, AIDS Educator, 34"
New York Times (06/29/95) P. D21
     On Saturday, Jonathan S. Berg, a real estate broker and AIDS 
educator, died of AIDS-related complications at age 34.  Berg 
worked with the People with AIDS Coalition, speaking at high 
schools throughout the New York metropolitan area.  He also 
helped develop an AIDS education program at the Town and Village 
Synagogue in Manhattan, which became a model for many synagogues 
across the country.  In addition, Berg last year helped establish
the Project for Being and Dying with the Upaya Foundation in 
Santa Fe, N.M.  He is survived by his companion, his parents, and
his sister.
      
"Across the USA: West Virginia"
USA Today (06/29/95) P. 5A
     Rob Cervi, the AIDS activist who sued the Kaufmann's department 
store chain over his dismissal, has died at age 43.  Kaufmann 
claimed he was fired for shoplifting.  The case is pending before
the Supreme Court of West Virginia.
      
"Whimsy as a Tool to Deal with AIDS"
New York Times (06/29/95) P. C11;  Brantley, Ben
     Steven Dietz's "Lonely Planet" is a fanciful play in which two 
gay men examine death and friendship in a cosmically significant 
map store.  Maps, says store owner Jody, bring comfort in their 
"attempt to maintain order and reduce our reliance on 
hypotheses."  His friend Carl insists on storing chairs at the 
map shop, and continually describes his numerous imaginary jobs, 
which include restoring art and dusting for fingerprints.  As the
play progresses, the audience learns that both the chairs and the
jobs once belonged to people who have died.  They also, however, 
become reminders of things Jody is trying to ignore--the 
ephemeral nature of life and relationships; the horrors of 
disease; and specifically, the fact that he has not yet been 
tested for HIV.  This revival of "Lonely Planet" creates some 
deeply evocative images that become a disturbing monument to 
lives lost to time.
      
"Medizone Announces New Zealand Joint Venture"
Business Wire (06/28/95)
     Medizone International Inc. has joined Solwin Investments, Ltd. 
in New Zealand to create a joint venture subsidiary called 
Medizone New Zealand Limited.  Through this venture, Medizone 
plans to obtain regulatory approval for its proprietary 
technology and to license the technology in New Zealand, 
Southeast Asia, the South Pacific Islands, and Australia.  In 
addition, Medizone has given the development and licensing rights
for its process and equipment patents to Medizone New Zealand in 
exchange for a 50 percent interest in the subsidiary.  Medizone 
International is currently developing an ozone-based treatment 
for diseases caused by lipid enveloped viruses such as HIV, 
Hepatitis B, and Herpes.
      
"Can One Type of HIV Protect Against Another Type?"
Science (06/16/95) Vol. 268, No. 5217, P. 1566;  Cohen, Jon
     Researchers led by Phyllis Kanki of the Harvard School of Public 
Health recently concluded that, after following the HIV status 
and health of "commercial sex workers" in Senegal for nine years,
HIV-2-infected women had a lower incidence of HIV-1-infection 
than did women who were initially uninfected.  "I think it's 
protection," said Kanki.  As Kanki et al. reported last year, 
HIV-2 takes an average of at least 25 years to cripple the immune
system and cause full-blown AIDS--more than twice as long as the 
typical delay seen with HIV-1.  Kanki's hope is that 
HIV-2-infected people might live long, dying of other causes 
before AIDS develops, and might benefit from the HIV-2 infection 
if it protects them from HIV-1.  She cautions, however, that she 
does not want the possible protection "to be taken too far, so 
that people run out and go get infected with HIV-2."  Kanki does,
however, see comparisons with cowpox/smallpox and other 
"heterologous virus" systems, in which a weaker form protects 
against its aggressive relative by stimulating immune molecules 
to recognize both strains.  Despite enthusiasm about the 
findings, other researchers also expressed concern about the 
risks of attenuated AIDS vaccines.
      
"Swedes Support UNAIDS"
Lancet (06/17/95) Vol. 345, No. 8964, P. 1563;  Awuonda, Moussa
     In May, the Swedish government announced that it would donate Sek
20 million to the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS (UNAIDS)
for the two fiscal years 1995-1997.  Martina Smedberg, health 
adviser to the Minister of Development Cooperation, said that 
UNAIDS offers "the promise of what most people want--a thin layer
at the top which can take innovative steps to reach the 
grassroots."  Smedberg added that the program's objective of 
working at the country level, and its emphasis on broad social 
and economic issues related to HIV corresponds to Swedish aid 
policy, which increasingly must respond to demands put to women 
and child health in the mainstream HIV and AIDS campaigns.  The 
Swedish donation to UNAIDS' start-up funds equals about 3 percent
of UNAIDS' initial, two-year budget of $180 million .
      
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