Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National AIDS Program Office - August 1, 1991
Larry Gostin, Executive Director, American Society of Law & Medicine, Professor of Health Law, Harvard School of Public Health, and Lane Porter, Chair, International Health Law Committee, American Bar Association

Introduction

The AIDS Litigation Project I (ALP I) identified and summarized 445 cases involving HIV or AIDS as of June 1, 1989. The ALP I was supported by the National AIDS Program Office (NAPO) in the Public Health Service (PHS), and published by the U.S. Government Printing Office. It was also published as a two part series in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The AIDS Litigation Project II identifies, updates and summarizes a further 361 cases as of January 1, 1991. Three tables provide a breakdown of cases by system (federal, state, municipal, military), by status (decided, settled, pending) and by subject matter. See Tables 1-3. A number of these cases are updated from ALP I. If a case was previously reported in ALP I, then the progress made since ALP I is reported under the sub-heading "update."

The ALP includes decided, settled, pending, and filed cases at the federal, state and local levels. It includes not only court cases but also complaints filed with state and local human rights commissions and related administrative agencies.

The cases are classified by subject matter under a comprehensive system developed for the ALP (see Subject Matter Outline).

METHODOLOGY: Case Collection Methods

Case materials for this survey were collected from a variety of organizations and individuals. Some sources were directly involved in the litigation such as attorneys who represented parties. Other sources were parties to litigation. There were some central repositories of litigation materials collected from many other sources throughout the country. There were many individuals who simply referred us to cases.

We used five collection methods: (1) a survey letter; (2) on- site research of case files and personal interviews; (3) reference to annual reports and other summary documents; (4) review of commercial reporting publications, newspapers, and other periodicals; (5) computerized legal research.

The case materials actually received include copies of decided cases (e.g., opinions, summary judgements, orders), administrative agency decisions (e.g., human rights commissions), case illustrations, and case commentaries.

Collection of case materials began in July 1989 and ended in December 1990.

Case Selection Criteria

Cases were selected if they dealt with HIV issues in more than a minimal way. For instance, in a number of cases, AIDS or HIV was mentioned in a footnote and the remainder of the case was about another type of problem. These cases were rejected. Similarly, if the litigation dealt with AIDS or HIV but the court's ruling or the litigation dealt only with technical legal procedure, such as a motion to transfer a case from the Federal court to the State court, such cases were also rejected. Where, however, procedural issues had a direct effect on the outcome of the litigation, such as the determination of the time from which the statute of limitations would run, such cases were included.

Cases were read, evaluated, summarized, and then classified according to subject matter. Often cases raised several important issues and a subjective choice was made as to where it would be classified in the subject matter outline. However, where relevant, the case summaries provide a cross reference to other subject matter headings that are relevant here. Case Reference Number System

Cases are organized by case reference number, not by page number. Cases are categorized in accordance with the subject matter outline.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Several organizations were especially helpful in circulating and responding to our request for information. They include: National Organizations Responding to AIDS (NORA); the American Public Health Association (APHA); the AIDS Legal Referral Panel of San Francisco; the National Prison Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU); Whitman Walker Clinic of Washington; AIDS Civil Rights Project of the National Gay Rights Advocates (NGRA); the San Francisco and Los Angeles Offices of the American Civil Liberties Union; and the Office of the City Attorney in Los Angeles.

Valuable data were received from the New York City-based organizations that, most generously, gave us access to their case files and/or other personal assistance. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Nan Hunter and William Rubenstein at the Lesbian and Gay Rights Project of the ACLU; to Mitchell Karp (Counsel) of the New York City Human Rights Commission; and to Tom Stoddard (Director) and David Barr (Counsel) of LAMBDA.

We also owe a debt of gratitude to Andrews Publications (Edgemont, PA), publishers of the AIDS Litigation Reporter, for their kind permission to use the data in the ALR.

A project of this vast scope cannot be completed without the dedication and expertise of research associates. The following individuals made valuable contributions to this report: Renee Solomon, Ann Gamertsfelder, Theo Kennedy, Mel Crawford, Marc Lofman, and San Juanita Rangel.

We especially acknowledge the staff at the National AIDS Program Office (NAPO) and other offices of the Public Health Service (PHS) in the Department of Health and Human Services: Jim Allen, Director, NAPO; Ron St. John, Deputy Director, NAPO; Iris Gelberg, External Relations Officer and Project Officer, NAPO; Richard J. Riseberg, Chief Counsel, PHS; John Wells, NAPO; John Fanning, Senior Health Policy Adviser, Health Planning and Evaluation, PHS; Chris Pascal, ADAMHA Branch Chief, Office of the General Counsel; and Patricia MacKey, Office of Civil Rights. These individuals provided critically important advice at every stage of the project.

L.G. L.P. August 1, 1991 <PRE> TABLE 1. Case Breakdown by System Level: Federal State Municipal Military Totals ------------------------------------------------------------ Court..... 117 210 - 6 333 Agency.... 0 24 4 - 39 Totals.. 127 235 4 6 361

TABLE 2. Court Cases by Status Court: Federal State Military Totals ------------------------------------------------------- Status DECIDED....... 82 125 5 212 SETTLED....... 5 20 - 25 PENDING....... 30 65 1 96 Totals...... 117 210 6 333

TABLE 3. Case Type by Subject Matter Court Cases Decided Settled Pending Agency Totals ------------------------------------------------------------------- I. AIDS EDUCATION..... 4 0 0 0 4 II. BLOOD SUPPLY....... 28 3 14 0 45 III. EPID. SURVEY....... 2 1 0 0 3 IV. CRIMINAL LAW....... 42 1 12 1 56 V. PUBLIC PLACES...... 4 0 4 0 8 VI. PRODUCTS, FRAUD.... 2 1 3 0 6 VII. TORTS.............. 21 3 21 2 47 VIII. COURT SYSTEM....... 3 0 2 0 5 IX. FAMILY LAW......... 6 0 0 0 6 X. CONFIDENTIALITY.... 9 1 7 0 17 XI. DISCRIMINATION..... 50 14 19 24 107 A. Education......... 4 1 0 0 5 B. Employment........ 14 6 3 13 36 C. Housing........... 8 0 3 0 11 D. Commercial........ 1 0 2 2 5 E. Health Care....... 12 5 7 7 31 F. Insurance......... 11 2 4 2 19 XII. FEAR OF EXPOSURE... 5 1 1 0 7 XIII. PRISONS............ 25 0 8 0 33 XIV. MILITARY........... 9 0 3 1 13 XV. HOMELESS PERSONS... 1 0 1 0 2 XVI. RESEARCH........... 1 0 1 0 2 </PRE>

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