FREE!
October 7-20, 1986
VoL 7, No. 17
AIDS Treatment: Valuable, But Not Cure
In a breakthrough for the treatment of certain
AIDS-related diseases, a North Carolina company
will soon begin marketing the life-prolonging drug
AZT.
Federal officials announced Sept. 19 that
preliminary testing of AZT (azidothymidine)
showed that the drug curbed the effects of AIDS in
some people. The drug is manufactured by the
Burroughs Wellcome Co., based in Research
Triangle Park, N.C.
Federal and company officials say that the drug
could have serious (or fatal) undiscovered side
effects, and that it is not a cure for AIDS, according
to the Raleigh News & Observer (9/20/86). It
might have to be taken for life by people with
AIDS.
But leaders in the effort to combat AIDS hail it
as an important first step in fighting the syndrome.
“Our objective data on therdrug tell us that this is
the best thing. It prolongs life, it has low toxicity,
few side effects (and) it is effective,” said Dr.
Mathilde Krim, co-chair of the American
Foundation for AIDS Research in an interview
with Philadelphia Gay News (9/26/86). “You can
say that I am delighted, very happy, very hopeful.”
Burroughs Wellcome said it would make the
drug available as quickly as posable — perhaps as
early as January. It would be distributed, free of
charge, to people with the AIDS-related
pneumonia known as Pneumocystis carinii
pneumonia.
I Here are other requirements to receive AZT.
The recipient needs the approval of a doctor with
knowledge of AIDS. And according to The New
York Times (9/20/86), the person with AIDS
must meet other medical criteria and cannot be
enrolled in any other drug experiments.
Between 2,000 and 7,000 of the nation’s 11,000
people with AIDS may be eligible to receive the
drug.
The company is still testing the drug to
determine if it is effective against ARC, or AIDS
Related Complex. If it is effective, thousands more
people will be able to benefit. Up to 250,000
people may have ARC, according to the federal
Centers for Disease Control.
Much more testing is needed to determine if the
drug would help the million or so people who test
positive for the antibodies for the HIV virus, which
causes AIDS.
At a press conference held the day of the
announcement, Garison R. Kaufman of the N.C.
Lesbian and Gay Health Project said the news was
“welcome” but expressed some concerns.
“The confirmation.. .that.. .AZT treatment has
shown some beneficial effects in people with AIDS
and people with AIDS-Related Complex is
welcome news,” said Kaufman. “The fact that this
disease is striking with such deadly force against
America’s prime, people between the ages of 25
and 50, has given a special urgency to the call to
find a treatment and cure for AIDS.
But this added urgency is not without its
complications. While the Health Project does not
propose the withholding of AZT or any medication
from people in need of it, the general distribution of
AZT may have major implications for further
research into a treatment and cure for AIDS.
“AZT.. .is not a cure,” he continued. ‘To find a
cure, further drug trials, trials of drugs not yet
created, will be necessary. These trials will require
the cooperation of people at risk for AIDS as well
as those who already have the syndrome, the same
population as that which might benefit from AZT.
“From the outset of drug research, people with
AIDS have been involved, putting themselves at
risk of major toxic side effects and even a hastened
death. Can we anticipate that this population will
continue to place itself at the same risk when a
possible pallative is available to them?”
As a result, Kaufman said, “what will happen to
future drug trials in a major concern. However, the
potential specter of denial of AZT to ensure a so
called ‘willing’ population for further drug research
is even more frightening.”
A Charlotte securities analyst had another
warning: that the results erf the AZT test could
mislead the public into thinking there has been a
cure.
“We run the risk erf having [AIDS] pushed off
the front burner,” Craig Dickson told The
Charlotte Observer (9/20/86). Dickson, a
biotechnology analyst for Interstate Securities
Corp., is also the former assistant director of the
Illinois Cancer Council.
“If the public becomes convinced the problem is
solved, it is possible that the push for research
might be shouted out by demands for other
programs, such as drug abuse.”
According to The News & Observer, the most
recent test began in February and studied 280
patients at 12 research centers. Most had
pneumocystis or ARC. Half received ACT; the
other half received placebos (pills with no drugs in
them).
Of the 17 people who have died since February,
only one was being treated with ACT. The rest
were receiving placebos.
A panel monitoring the test for the federal
government concluded that the drug had proven
effective, and recommended that placebo-testing
be stopped.
The panel’s decision came after six months of
discussions involving government scients,
Burroughs Wellcome and others including
Mathilde Krim. Since the spring, Krim called for
“compassionate use” of the drug, and she believe
her lobbying speeded up the process.
“Making a little fuss, I think, has helped this
happen that much sooner. I have said for a long
time that this drug is effective. I think the published
reports, what the government has said, are
exaggeratedly cautious.”
The Public Health Service has set up a toll-free
phone number for information on the program.
The number — open daily until midnight — is
(800) 843-9388.
Before the announcement Sept. 19, the News &
Observer predicted that ACT “could become the
centerpiece of pending federal legislation to spend
$47 million treating every AIDS patient in the
country in one of history’s largest drug
experiments.”
The Health Project’s Garison Kaufman say’s it’s
unwise for the government to put all its efforts into
finding a cure. ‘The federal government’s
continued emphasis on funding research.. .to the
exclusion of funding education for the prevention
of AIDS will assure the United States of a
continually growing population of people with
AIDS,” he said.
Kaufman charged that the government is
reluctant “to discuss openly risk reduction
guidelines such as safer sex practices.” As a result,
he said, “thousands of people, unaware of
preventive measures, are being exposed” to the
virus that causes AIDS. •
Education Is Still The Best Idea
North Carolina State University, like the other
schools in the University ofNorth Carolina system,
has adopted a set of policies recommended by a
special university AIDS Task Force and is
undertaking an educational program on the
syndrome.
The task force, chaired by Dr. Carl J. Dolce,
dean of the NCSU School of Education, was
appointed last year by Chancellor Bruce R.
Poulton and asked to obtain the latest medical and
legal knowledge about AIDS and recommend
appropriate steps to take in the event that a case of
AIDS occurs at NCSU.
Underlying the policies is a directive from the
University of North Carolina system barring the
exclusion from enrollment or employment of
people infected with the AIDS virus, “unless
medically-based judgments in individual cases
establish that exclusion or restriction is necessary.”
The task force recommended that such
judgments be made by a “University Response
Team.”
The report notes the necessity for decisions to be
made on a case-by-case basis, which is consistent
with the approach taken in a U.S. Department of
Justice legal memorandum about AIDS and
employment issued last June. The report also said
that since there will be campus-wide efforts to
encourage people who might have AIDS to
confidentially seek medical help, maximum effort
will be made to protect the privacy of those people.
“The university will not routinely inform others
of the existence of individual cases, except as
required by law,” the task force said.
Along with names of people exposed to AIDS,
the university will also refuse to release any
information that might identify them, such as their
residence halls or offices. Otherwise, the university
will cooperate with the new media to provide
general statistical information.
The report also said that people with AIDS are
not required to inform the university. Therefore it
stressed the importance of initiating an education
program aimed at the entire university community,
urging those who think they might be infected to
conduct themselves responsibly and seek medical
assistance from the Student Health Services.
“Because of the voluntary nature of individual
reporting, we will not be able to maintain any
meaningful statistics on the incidence of AIDS at
NCSU,” said Dr. Robert G. Moseley, Student
Health Services physician and a member of the task
force.
The education program began last spring and
was expected to be fully geared up by this fall. It
will target high-risk groups, but get information out
to the entire community.
The report said such an education program can
“reduce unnecessary anxieties.”
In August, a UNC official announced that all
schools in the system would hold education
programs to allay fears and stop discrimination
against victims.
“We’re going to contribute to the national
education effort designed to curtail the spread of
the disease,” said Dick Robinson, UNC’s assistant
to the president for legal affairs. “This is all we
have. We don’t have a treatment, we don’t have a
cure. But we have facts.” (Fayetteville Observer,
8/14/86)
At a conference at Fayetteville State University,
Robinson explained that printed material will be
distributed, discussion groups will be formed and
presentations will be made at freshman
orientations. Residence hall directors and assistants
continued on page 12
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