                     AIDS Daily Summary 
                      August 18, 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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"Drugs Chief Urges Reform of U.S. Approval Process"
"Blood Bank Testing Finds Rare AIDS Virus"
"Driver Pulls Over, Saves Life: AIDS Victim Gets to Go Home 
Again"
"District to Delay Paying Vendors, Health Providers"
"Testing Begins on Experimental AIDS Drug"
"AIDS Victims Battle More than Disease, Conferees Assert"
"Gilead Sciences Completes Public Offering of Common Stock"
"Boston: Important Trial of Treatment Vaccine, CD4 Greater than 
500"
"Seizure Associated with Zidovudine"
"Palliative Care for People with AIDS"
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"Drugs Chief Urges Reform of U.S. Approval Process"
Financial Times (08/18/95) P. 5
     Unless drug approval procedures in the United States are amended,
foreigners could have the first opportunities to use new drugs, 
said Pat Zenner, president of the Swiss-owned pharmaceutical 
company Hoffmann-LaRoche.  According to Zenner, Congress will 
probably begin deliberating reform of the U.S. Food and Drug 
Administration (FDA) approval process in September.  Sixty 
percent of all FDA-approved drugs between 1992 and 1994 were 
first approved in another nation, he added.  Although the agency 
has adopted streamlined approval programs for such treatment 
categories as AIDS or transplants, Zenner said that most drugs 
waited an average 15 years from laboratory identification to 
final market release.
      
"Blood Bank Testing Finds Rare AIDS Virus"
Washington Times (08/18/95) P. A6
     The government announced on Thursday that HIV-2 was found in two 
blood donations last year and kept out of the nation's blood 
supply.  In 1992, blood banks began testing for both HIV-1 and 
HIV-2, which is primarily found in West Africa and rarely found 
in the United States.  Dr. John Ward, head of the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention's AIDS surveillance division, said
that the U.S. blood supply continues to be safe.  There have been
no instances of HIV-2 infection through a blood transfusion in 
the United States, he said.
      
"Driver Pulls Over, Saves Life: AIDS Victim Gets to Go Home 
Again"
Washington Times (08/18/95) P. C8;  Mizejewski, Gerald
     When driving home from his health club last month, John Taylor--a
government volunteer who drives the streets of Fairfax County, 
Va., looking for mistreated pets--noticed an active dog sitting 
next to a homeless man at the side of the road.  Taylor stopped 
to check on the dog's health and ended up rescuing an AIDS 
patient and fulfilling his dream of returning to Rhode Island 
before he dies.  "I've had AIDS for 13 1/2 years and I've never 
met anyone that nice before," said Toby Swenson, who had been 
hitchhiking to Rhode Island before he became to weak to continue.
Taylor tried repeatedly to get Swenson to enter a hospital, but 
he refused because he did not want to leave his dog--which is 
also the reason he was denied entry at several homeless shelters.
Taylor then contacted a social worker with the Fairfax County 
Department of Human Development, who ran a check on Swenson and 
found an old friend who offered to pay for his immediate flight 
home.  Swenson is now staying at the Pawtucket, R.I., home of his
sister.
      
"District to Delay Paying Vendors, Health Providers"
Washington Post (08/18/95) P. B1;  Schneider, Howard
     In order to avoid running short of cash, the District of Columbia
government will delay paying approximately $100 million to 
vendors and health care providers in the next six weeks.  City 
Administrator Michael C. Rogers criticized the plan but said "it 
is the only practical way" for the city to survive a cash 
shortage until Oct. 1, and noted that former Mayor Sharon Pratt 
Kelly did the same thing toward the end of her term.  The city 
will delay about $40 million in Medicaid funds due to hospitals, 
nursing homes, and other creditors, and about $60 million to 
other vendors, Rogers added.  "This is nuts," said Jim Graham, 
executive director of the Whitman-Walker Clinic, the area's 
largest provider of services for AIDS patients.  According to 
Graham, D.C. owes the clinic nearly $340,000.
      
"Testing Begins on Experimental AIDS Drug"
Business Wire (08/17/95)
     Scientists at Stanford University and four other locations 
nationwide are initiating tests of HBY 097, an experimental 
compound that may fight HIV and keep it from mutating into 
drug-resistant strains.  Preliminary tests suggest that HBY 097 
is more durable than nevirapine, which also belongs to the class 
of drugs called non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors 
(NNRTIs).  Nevirapine initially showed success against HIV, but 
later failed due to it apparently increased the virus' tendency 
to mutate.  Under the developmental project of Hoechst AG, Bayer 
AG, and their U.S. divisions, HBY 097 will be tested at various 
doses and in combination with AZT.  Stanford professor Dr. Thomas
C. Merigan and his colleagues will track the virus using a new 
computer-driven system that analyzes nucleic acids using small 
glass chips covered with short pieces of DNA.
      
"AIDS Victims Battle More than Disease, Conferees Assert"
Boston Globe (08/17/95) P. 10
     At an international conference of social workers on Thursday, 
participants said that people with AIDS have to fight ignorance 
and discrimination in addition to their disease.  "In a way we 
are the modern lepers, the ones many don't want to get close to,"
said Patrick Levy, chairman of Israel's AIDS Task Force, at the 
first International Conference on HIV-AIDS and Social Work.  The 
delegates, who came from 51 nations, said they are trying to find
ways to change attitudes and make life easier for AIDS patients. 
They said that although attitudes had improved in some areas, 
HIV-infected individuals in other regions of the world were being
rejected by their families, imprisoned, or fired from their jobs.
In Pakistan, for example, some people with AIDS have been burned 
alive, said Shouket Ali of the Pakistan AIDS Prevention Society. 
The conference organizers said that about 60 countries have 
HIV-related immigration laws, some of which bar AIDS patients 
from entering the country.
      
"Gilead Sciences Completes Public Offering of Common Stock"
Business Wire (08/17/95)
     On Thursday, Gilead Sciences, Inc. reported that it had completed
a public offering of more than 3,500,000 shares of common stock 
at $23.25 per share for total gross proceeds of nearly $82 
million.  The company is a leader in the discovery and the 
development of a new class of nucleotide-based human 
therapeutics, and its product candidates for clinical studies 
include treatments for HIV, human papillomavirus-associated 
genital warts, and hepatitis B infection.  VISTIDE (cidofovir), 
Gilead's most advanced drug candidate, is being studied for the 
potential treatment of cytomegalovirus retinitis.
      
"Boston: Important Trial of Treatment Vaccine, CD4 Greater than 
500"
AIDS Treatment News (08/04/95) No. 228, P. 4
     Boston's Beth Israel Hospital needs 18 volunteers for a trial of 
a new peptide vaccine which is being developed by United 
Biomedicals, Inc., of New York.  The conditions for participation
include having more than 500 CD4 cells, not having used any 
antiretrovirals in the past six months, being asymptomatic, and 
being in generally good health.  In tests of a few HIV-negative 
individuals, the vaccine--which is made completely by chemistry, 
not from live HIV--appeared to be safe.  It also caused the body 
to produce HIV-specific CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocytes, which may 
kill some HIV-infected cells.
      
"Seizure Associated with Zidovudine"
Lancet (08/12/95) Vol. 346, No. 8972, P. 452;  D'Silva, Marisa;  
Leibowitz, David;  Flaherty, John P.
     In a letter to the editor published in the Lancet, D'Silva et al.
report the incidence of a generalized seizure related to the 
prophylactic use of zidovudine.  After receiving a large-caliber 
contaminated needlestick injury from an HIV- and hepatitis 
C-infected individual, a man was given intramuscular 
immunoglobulin and tetanus toxoid, and oral zidovudine.  The 
zidovudine therapy was continued three to four times daily.  
During the next few days, the patient complained of nausea, 
anorexia, and emesis--which were treated with ondansetron--as 
well as exercise intolerance, dull occipital headaches, and 
insomnia.  Six days after the needlestick, he experienced a 
generalized seizure.  The patient had never suffered seizures or 
adverse drug reactions before, but he had had several concussions
from childhood accidents.  The zidovudine was abandoned, and no 
other seizures took place.  More than one year later, the patient
remains negative for both HIV and hepatitis C.  Although it is 
still not clear whether zidovudine caused the seizure, the 
potential for severe toxicity should be considered when 
recommending unproven treatment, the authors note.
      
"Palliative Care for People with AIDS"
Focus (07/95) Vol. 10, No. 8, P. 8
     D.R. Kuhl's "Ethical Issues Near the End of Life: A Physician's 
Perspective on Caring for Persons with AIDS" identifies a number 
of emotional issues that face people with advanced HIV and 
details ethical dilemmas for doctors dealing with pain and 
symptom management.  For example, many AIDS patients--who often 
feel powerless in the face of the multiple decisions surrounding 
their unpredictable disease--must deal with complicated 
relationships toward the end of life.  Palliative care should 
help patients gain control of their lives and relationships.  
When doing this, it is important that practitioners respect a 
client's "personhood"--the ability to undertake active roles, 
maintain routines, and plan for the future.  Providers should be 
prepared to confront such issues as lack of control and loss of 
dignity as a means of helping their patients resolve them.
      
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