Washington Blade - October 14, 2005
Andrew Keegan

PHOENIX - Lambda Legal, a national gay legal group, filed a formal appeal last week to fight a decision by Arizona Medicaid officials to refuse to cover a liver transplant for an HIV-positive woman, the organization said in a news release. The refusal may cost the Phoenix woman her life, according to Lambda Legal, and the group asked state officials to reverse the denial in light of scientific data and the woman's personal health history. "To deny our client the care she needs, Medicaid is ignoring published reports on organ transplants for HIV and not looking at its patient's individual health status," said Jen Sinton, HIV staff attorney at Lambda Legal. "In the decade since the advent of better treatments for people with HIV, the medical community nationwide has learned a great deal about organ transplants. Medicaid's decision denying this woman a transplant is not based on good medicine or sound science."

Frogs may aid fight against HIV

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A small tropical frog may provide a new weapon in the battle against HIV, according to investigators at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. As reported this month in the Journal of Virology, compounds secreted by frog skin are potent blockers of HIV infection. Vanderbilt officials said that the findings may result in topical treatments for preventing HIV transmission and reinforce the value of preserving biodiversity. "We need to protect these species long enough for us to understand their medicinal cabinet," said Associate Professor Louise A. Rollins-Smith. She has studied the anti-microbial defenses of frogs for about six years. Their specialized granular glands in the skin produce and store packets of peptides, which are small protein-like molecules, she said. Frogs release the peptides in large amounts on their skin in response to injury or alarm, and the molecules combat pathogens like bacteria, fungi and viruses.

New Zealand lawyer says ruling on HIV sex disclosure sets precedent

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - A New Zealand court ruling that an HIV-positive man did not have to tell his sex partner of his infection - because he used a condom - sets an important legal precedent, the man's lawyer said last week. The Wellington District Court decision was immediately applauded by the New Zealand AIDS Foundation. Justin Dalley, 36, was acquitted Oct. 5 of two charges of criminal nuisance after having sex with a woman he met on the Internet. Under New Zealand law, people with HIV or other STDs are not legally required to disclose their condition unless it could endanger their partner. Judge Susan Thomas ruled that Dalley's legal duty was to take reasonable precautions to avoid transmitting the virus. He had done so by using a condom, she said.

Tenn. Supreme Court decision broadens definition of parent

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A woman who gave birth to triplets using donated eggs is the legal mother of the children even though she has no genetic link to them, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled last week. "In most states, the courts have not looked beyond the biological connections, marriage or adoption in determining the definition of a parent," said Susan Brooks, law professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. "People who support greater rights for nontraditional parents, like gay couples, would be encouraged by an opinion that would define parent more broadly than simply by marriage, genetics or adoption." The court said it took into consideration the fact that before the children were born, the biological parents intended the woman to be the legal mother. The court's 4-1 ruling upheld decisions by lower courts that awarded parental rights to the birth mother. Cindy Culpepper and Charles Galiwango were not married when they sought to have a child by in-vitro fertilization using two anonymously donated eggs, which were fertilized with Galiwango's sperm. After the relationship deteriorated, Galiwango challenged the parental rights of his ex-girlfriend.

Wyo. nixes move to let pharmacists reject prescriptions based on beliefs

JACKSON, Wyo. (AP) - The Wyoming State Board of Pharmacy rejected a proposed rule last week that would have allowed pharmacists to not fill prescriptions based on their personal beliefs. Board members voted 3-0 to reject the change, but said they planned to reconsider the rule with different language at their next meeting in February. Jill Veber, a pediatrician and former pharmacist, warned the rule could cause a snowball effect as pharmacists could opt to reject prescriptions for obese people or HIV-positive patients. Board members insisted they set out to protect patients by proposing the change. The rule would have required pharmacists who choose not to fill prescriptions based on their personal beliefs to refer patients to druggists who would provide the medication. But many who protested the proposed rule said it could cause hardship for patients because of the limited number of pharmacies in rural areas.

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