Subject: CDC AIDS Daily Summary Date: Thu, 26 Oct 1995 16:32:44 PDT (172 lines of text) From: National AIDS Info Clearinghouse Copyright 1995, Information, Inc., Bethesda, MD AIDS Daily Summary October 26, 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 ************************************************************ "California Trucker Denies Charges in Firing of HIV-Infected Driver" "Suit Alleges AIDS Bias by a Moving Company" "Drug Makers Urged to Study New Side Effect" "HIV's Sneak Attack on Immunity" "Pamela Ann Shaw, AIDS Lecturer, 31" "The High Court's Fear of AIDS" "Physician Clifford Booker Dies; Specialized in Pediatric AIDS" "Baytown Woman Honored" "Trial to Test Branched DNA Assay" "Los Angeles, New York, Stanford University: HBY 097, New Drug May Weaken HIV" ************************************************************ "California Trucker Denies Charges in Firing of HIV-Infected Driver" Journal of Commerce (10/26/95) P. 3B; Johnson, Gregory S. DEF Express Inc., a California truckload hauler, is rejecting allegations that it dismissed a driver because he was infected with the virus that causes AIDS. Earlier this week, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed suit against the company, charging that it had violated the Americans with Disabilities Act in firing the driver. DEF claims that the suit is based in politics and denies any wrongdoing, noting that it offered driver James Marion his job back in February but that his route was changed because of the loss of an account. Marion, a longtime over-the-road trucker who joined DEF nearly five years ago, says that he discovered he was HIV-infected while undergoing a spleenectomy in late 1993. He says he was asked to return to work after recuperating, but that when he revealed he had HIV, all job offers disappeared. Marion eventually did return to work; however, he quit just a few months later, saying he was harassed because of his medical condition. This case has been compared to the movie "Philadelphia," in which an attorney claimed his law firm fired him because of his HIV status. "Suit Alleges AIDS Bias by a Moving Company" Philadelphia Inquirer (10/26/95) P. B1; Slobodzian, Joseph A. Bekins Van Lines Co. and its Philadelphia agent, Schloer Enterprises Inc., were sued by the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act when a moving team would not move an area man because of AIDS. The suit claims that Bekins refused not because the man had AIDS, but because a neighbor who was helping him pack had the disease. Court documents filed in earlier proceedings show that the two firms rejected the allegations of discrimination against the disabled and said they only learned of the alleged violation when the Justice Department informed them of it. "Drug Makers Urged to Study New Side Effect" Wall Street Journal (10/26/95) P. B8; Langreth, Robert Scientists have urged pharmaceutical makers to start testing their nucleoside analogues for a previously unknown and possibly fatal side effect. This new class of antiviral drugs is being developed for the treatment of AIDS, hepatitis, and other viral diseases. In the current issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers report that the experimental hepatitis drug fialuridine damaged mitochondria. When the mitochondrial damage became greater than a specific "critical mass," the liver and pancreas started to fail--an effect not seen in initial short-term tests. An accompanying editorial from Morton Swartz of Massachusetts General Hospital asks that firms developing nucleoside analogues conduct additional studies to identify potential delayed side effects. "HIV's Sneak Attack on Immunity" USA Today (10/26/95) P. 3D; Levy, Doug Researchers report in the journal Nature that the immune system's capacity to trap HIV in the lymph nodes appears to help it infect the body's disease-fighting T cells. Gregory Burton of Virginia Commonwealth University says that it therefore may be necessary to do more than just block viral replication, the object of current drugs, to fight HIV. Also, the cells that trap HIV may assist the virus in attacking the immune system by exposing more of the T cells to it, according to Dr. Lewis Schrager of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "Pamela Ann Shaw, AIDS Lecturer, 31" New York Times (10/26/95) P. B8 Pamela Ann Shaw, a woman who used her AIDS-related illness to warn youths about the dangers of unprotected sex, died on Tuesday from AIDS-related lymphoma at the age of 31. Ms. Shaw spoke to teenagers around the country in her position as a board member of Love Heals, the Alison Gertz Foundation for AIDS Education. In May of last year, she was given an "Extraordinary Voices" award by Mothers' Voices, a national AIDS awareness and advocacy group. In addition, Ms. Shaw represented Mothers' Voices in meeting with members of Congress and President Clinton. Survivors include Ms. Shaw's parents and her two sisters. "The High Court's Fear of AIDS" New York Times (10/26/95) P. A25; Closen, Michael L. Although tens of thousands of Americans die from AIDS each year, the Supreme Court does not appear to have noticed, refusing to hear the six cases with which it has been presented, writes law professor Michael L. Closen in the New York Times. Each of the cases have involved key issues of the AIDS epidemic, including the constitutionality of mandatory HIV testing of employees at a residential mental health prison and whether testing inmates is a violation of their civil rights. The Court did review one AIDS-related case, which was filed against the American Red Cross by someone who claimed to have been infected from a blood transfusion; however, the case moved on procedural grounds, and the Court did not deal with any key HIV-related issues, Closen argues. It is true, Closen notes, that the Court's jurisdiction is primarily discretionary and that it is not required to hear AIDS cases, but the Court's rules provide for circumstances in which "an important question of federal law" should be handled. The Supreme Court has ruled on such federal statutes as the bankruptcy code and the tax code, and it is now time for the Justices to face the AIDS epidemic, Closen concludes. "Physician Clifford Booker Dies; Specialized in Pediatric AIDS" Washington Post (10/26/95) P. B6 Clifford R. Booker, one of the early physicians to specialize in pediatric AIDS, died of complications after surgery for lung cancer last week. A lifelong resident of Washington, D.C., Dr. Booker was instrumental in creating a citywide treatment program for children with AIDS. He also served as the HIV-AIDS coordinator for the Youth Services Administration in the D.C. Department of Human Services. He is survived by his three children, his two sisters, two brothers, and three grandchildren. "Baytown Woman Honored" Houston Chronicle (10/25/95) P. 22A A Texas woman has been given the Family AIDS Network's 1995 Outstanding Caregiver Award for her volunteer work in Baytown and Houston. Dianne Martinez is one of eight people nationwide to receive this award, the organization said. The network will give a $15,000 grant to the Houston-based Foundation for InterFaith Research and Ministry, which nominated Martinez. Martinez, who was praised for her work as a hospice volunteer in Houston and as a leader of the AIDS Care team at Baytown's Trinity Episcopal Church, started working as a caregiver after her son was diagnosed with the disease. "Trial to Test Branched DNA Assay" Lancet (10/21/95) Vol. 346, No. 8982, P. 1094 In a trial known as CPCRA 036, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases will test the clinical benefits of a branched DNA signal amplification test for HIV-infected persons. The new test, made by Chiron Corporation, is built upon the chemiluminescence of RNA in serum HIV. "Los Angeles, New York, Stanford University: HBY 097, New Drug May Weaken HIV" AIDS Treatment News (10/06/95) No. 232, P. 4 A new HIV drug, HBY 097, has entered an early human trial at sites in Los Angeles, New York, and Stanford University near San Francisco. The drug, which weakened the HIV virus in laboratory tests, will be part of a three-month study that will randomly assign volunteers to either the new drug, to AZT, or to a combination of the two. Three different doses of HBY 097, which was developed by Hoechst-Roussel/Bayer, will be administered, beginning with small doses and becoming increasingly larger if they are found to be safe. The study will also use new technology to measure all mutations of the HIV reverse transcriptase enzyme, which is the target of this drug.