AIDS Daily Summary August 1, 1994 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 1994, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD "$2.7 Million Awarded in AIDS Treatment Fraud" Los Angeles Times--Washington Edition (08/01/94) P. B2; Colker, David A Los Angeles Superior Court jury has ordered North Hollywood Medical Center to pay total damages of $2.7 million for its role in the administering of the controversial drug Viroxan to five AIDS patients. The jury found the hospital, as well as two physicians, liable for negligence, conspiracy, fraud, as well as violation of state medical codes. The hospital was ordered to pay a $1.8 million punitive award to be shared between two of the five patients; four of the five patients are to share in a $925,000 award for their physical injuries, as well as for their pain and suffering. Ray Henke, attorney for the patients, said, "The jury made it abundantly clear that the doctors were guilty of AIDS fraud and that the hospital conspired with them." "Trying to Hit a Home Run Against AIDS" New York Times (08/01/94) P. C7; Fainaru, Mark Major League Baseball's San Francisco Giants became the first big-league professional sports club to sponsor an AIDS-benefit program on Sunday, when it held "Until There's a Cure Day" prior to the team's game with the Colorado Rockies at Candlestick Park. The pre-game ceremony featured a speech by Mary Fisher, the HIV-infected woman who gave a similar presentation at the 1992 Republican National Convention. "On behalf of more than one million Americans infected with AIDS, I am here to salute the San Francisco Giants," Fisher said. "Today, the San Francisco Giants demonstrate that AIDS is as all-American as Abner Doubleday's sport." Each member of the Giants wore a red ribbon symbolizing AIDS awareness stitched to his uniform, and the team donated $1 from each ticket sold for the game to various AIDS organizations in the San Francisco area. Team officials said they hope to sponsor a league-wide AIDS benefit next season. Giants manager Dusty Baker said, "I'm very proud of this organization. This is the first organization not to be afraid to come forward and say something positive" on behalf of AIDS patients. Related Story: Washington Post (08/01/94) P. C7 Related Story: Washington Post (08/01) P. C7 "Program Places Those With AIDS in Family Settings to Receive Care" Baltimore Sun (08/01/94) P. 1B; Selby, Holly Baltimore's C.A.R.E./Project Home program places AIDS patients who otherwise would be homeless or forced to stay in nursing homes in private residences or helps them live in their own homes. The state-funded program, perhaps the only one of its kind in the country, recently was named a finalist for the Ford Foundation/Harvard University Innovations in State and Local Government Award. Ten of the finalists for this award will receive a $100,000 grant. To be accepted into the C.A.R.E./Project Home program, participants must exhibit two or more disabling symptoms of AIDS. Project Hope, now serving about 1,100 people, less than 500 with AIDS, originally began as a program for the retarded, and was expanded in 1986 to include people with AIDS. The non-profit organization Housing Unlimited Group, or HUG, is also working to provide housing to patients with AIDS and the virus that causes AIDS. Half of all Americans with fatal illnesses are homeless, the National Commission on AIDS says. "AIDS Conference to Confront Emerging Asian Plight" Reuters (08/01/94); Moffett, Sebastian While sub-Saharan Africa is the home of two-thirds of today's AIDS cases, Asia may one day have more AIDS cases than any other region in the world. Until 1988, Asia was, for the most part, untouched by the deadly disease. However, the World Health Organization calculates that Asia's 2.5 million AIDS cases will quadruple to more than 10 million by the end of the century. This year's Tenth International Conference on AIDS will be held in Yokohama, Japan, marking the first time the annual meeting will be held in an Asian nation. The event comes at a time when the numbers of HIV victims and potential victims are rapidly increasing, and hopes for a cure are dim. "Who Owns AIDS" Washington Post (07/30/94) P. A17; Hentoff, Nat The defeat of Democratic New York State assemblywoman Nettie Mayersohn's bill, which would require the state to tell mothers if their newborns are HIV-infected, raises the question of when the right to privacy should no longer be first priority. Mayersohn's bill was prevented from coming to the assembly and Senate floors because it is an election year, and many considered it unwise to offend female activist and other groups. A recurrent argument by Mayersohn's opponents against making New York give mothers the medical facts has in part to do with the mothers' reactions. If a woman is told she and her infant must be tested, she may completely avoid the health care system, Mayersohn's opponents argue. Others disagree. One woman who discovered her son was HIV-infected nine months after his birth wishes she had known sooner. "I gotta know, so I can take care of him and myself," she says. In defense of her bill, Mayersohn spoke at this year's New York Legislative session. " ... Our failure to pass a mandatory HIV testing bill makes us accomplices ... in the abuse and neglect of the most neglected children in our state." Legislators will meet in Albany next January to redress the issue. "Situation Angry, But Not Hopeless" Men's Fitness (08/94) Vol. 10, No. 8, P. 108 A study of 53 New York City men who had been diagnosed with AIDS for at least three years sought to determine if AIDS patients are largely suicidal. Only six percent experienced persistent depression, and both of the two men who attempted suicide had tried to do so before being diagnosed. In general, the researchers found that the level of psychological health among the subjects was positive. The most discerning characteristic, they noted, was not hopelessness, but anger. "AIDS Co-Culprit Wreaks Havoc" Men's Fitness (08/94) Vol. 10, No. 8, P. 108 AIDS researchers are beginning to focus on some of the viruses that take advantage and cause severe illness when HIV weakens the immune system, especially HHV-6. While generally harmless in healthy individuals, the virus can cause widespread organ damage among people who have AIDS. In one study, scientists looked at 34 tissue samples extracted from lungs, lymph nodes, spleens, kidneys, and livers of nine patients who had died from AIDS. All of the samples indicated widespread, active HHV-6 infection.