Subject: Letters to the Editor: Jim Foster
Date: Published: 11/23/90 (39 lines)
Source: Wall Street Journal. Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc.

    Letters to the Editor:
    Bush Veto Becomes
    Memorial for a Fighter

    On Oct. 18, you printed an editorial-page piece by Jim
 Foster, San Francisco health commissioner and gay-rights
 activist, concerning the then-pending amendments to the
 Orphan Drug Act.  Jim died of complications related to AIDS on
 Oct. 31.
    Jim Foster, throughout his career, staked out positions
 that he thought were right and acted on them while the rest
 of the world caught up.  We saw that happen with gay rights,
 and with gay participation in mainstream politics.  We are
 beginning to see the same phenomenon now with respect to
 Jim's fervent belief that the interests of AIDS patients are
 best served if activists work with, rather than against, the
 drug companies that may help find a cure for AIDS and its
 related diseases.
    In his Journal article, Jim asked President Bush to veto
 the amendments to the Orphan Drug Act, because he thought
 they ultimately would discourage the development of AIDS
 drugs.  Early this month, Mr. Bush did pocket-veto the
 amendments that Jim had fought with such passion.  No doubt
 there were many reasons for the president's decision, but
 many of us like to think of his action as the "Jim Foster
 memorial pocket veto."  Jim would have been pleased to have
 such a memorial.
    James Driscoll
    A member of ACT-UP, Golden Gate
    San Francisco

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