AIDS activist and Broadway playwright Larry Kramer had spent the evening firing off questions to a website dedicated to AIDS information. After several hours, enlightened with the statistics he needed, he typed a final question. By the way, who are you? She was Sister Mary Elizabeth Clark of San Juan Capistrano, who in
Famine, AIDS and war take a heavy toll. This nation of 70 million has more than 5 million orphans and cannot afford to care for them. ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Four-month-old Thomas Bekele lies in a crib in the Kidane Meheret Children s Home awaiting an HIV test, the result of which will determine his chances of being ad
A developer who funded a measure allowing police agencies to take samples from certain people says a national database is needed. Having bankrolled the successful initiative drive empowering California law enforcement authorities to take DNA samples from all convicted felons and some arrestees, Newport Beach real estat
-- Peacekeeping missions may be restructured after more than 150 reported cases of abuse. BUKAVU, Congo - One evening four months ago, a soft-spoken 18-year-old named Aziza was selling bananas in the market here when some U.N. peacekeepers summoned her to their car. Aziza went over thinking they wanted to buy fruit, bu
Faye Fiore and Richard Rainey, Times Staff Writers
Jenna Bush s latest media stir comes as she applies for a job to teach disadvantaged children at a public school in Washington. WASHINGTON - For a while there, it appeared Jenna Bush might be mimicking her father s youthful taste for the partying lifestyle. She was caught with a phony ID in a Mexican restaurant and pho
The man who led the Prop. 71 campaign receives three of the four nominations to be chairman of the state s new research institute. Bob Klein, a Palo Alto real estate developer who has no scientific background but who ran the multimillion-dollar Proposition 71 campaign, appeared Monday to have a near-lock on the powerfu
-- The speed with which the idea took hold should please us. And scare us. Some time during the late 1980s, some guy (I don t remember who) from some conservative think tank (Cato? Hoover?) asked me at some Washington reception whether the New Republic, where I worked as the editor, would be interested in publishing an
--For this artist, dolls have a lot to say Dolls are no mere playthings for assemblage artist Beverly Heath. Over the years, Heath has transformed the Altadena home she shares with her husband, jazz great Albert Tootie Heath, into a doll s house on a human scale. The fireplace is adorned with hundreds of colorful butto
* The makeup of the executive team reflects the president s desire for firmer control of his activist agenda in the second term. WASHINGTON - With his second-term Cabinet all but selected, President Bush clearly intends to exert an even firmer control of his activist agenda than he did during his first four years, rele
LONDON - Governments are failing the children of the world, with more than 1 billion living in a state of severe threat from hunger, disease, exploitation or lack of security, the United Nations children s agency said Thursday. In a distressing indictment, UNICEF said that in spite of some pockets of progress in 2004,
Human trials are now beginning on a compound that promises to be the first new tuberculosis drug in four decades, one that has been shown in animal experiments to clear TB infections twice as fast as existing medications. At least 8 million people contract TB each year and a quarter of them die, so there is a powerful
* Fearful of provoking black protests, they shied away from imposing tough remedies on inept administrators. We have failed the community, one board veteran acknowledges. On the sultry evening of Aug. 11, 1965, a 21-year-old black man named Marquette Frye was pulled over by the California Highway Patrol at 116th Street
Mary-Jane Waglé, Mary-Jane Waglé is CEO of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles
*The Bush-backed sex education programs are filled with errors. Imagine a driver s education course in which teachers show students grisly photos of traffic accidents but never tell them to stop at red lights or buckle their seat belts, and you ve a pretty good idea of what abstinence-only sex education is like. Abstin
Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, Times Staff Writers
* A culture of mismangement pervades nursing, orthopedic surgery, residents training and the pharmacy. Individual shortcomings often make matters worse. Brenda Nelson hurried though the doors of Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center in October, toting a container of gumbo soup for her son, Mario. She expected him
Tracy Weber and Charles Ornstein, Times Staff Writers
-- Alarmed colleagues reported pathologist Dennis Hooper to King/Drew officials, but he stayed on the job. Records detail sloppy work and faulty diagnoses even before he was hired Five pathologists slipped into the microscope lab at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center, steeling themselves to act after months of
Charles Ornstein, Tracy Weber and Steve Hymon, Times Staff Writers
* For a public hospital, King/Drew is flush. But it spends millions on employees odd injury claims, lavish doctor pay and workers who don t show up. For years it has been a heartfelt cry: This hospital desperately needs more money! Whenever Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center is criticized, as it often is, the r
* 27th annual Kennedy Center awards celebrate performers for their diverse contributions. WASHINGTON - When actor Ossie Davis gave the eulogy at the funeral of civil rights activist Malcolm X in 1965, he never imagined that nearly 40 years later he would end up at the State Department to receive the nation s highest ho
The church across the street from Paulette Hogan s apartment has long been her rock and so have the friends she s made there. It was her friends from ACTS Full Gospel Church of God in Christ who prayed with her when her mother passed away. They visited her in the hospital after she had a heart attack in 1997. When Hoga
Bjorn Lomborg, Bjorn Lomborg, a professor at the University of Aarhus, is the organizer of the Copenhagen Consensus and editor of "Global Crises, Global Solutions."
-- *Triage for global misery COPENHAGEN - If President Bush and his new team plan to recalibrate foreign aid, they might imagine themselves as ER doctors at a large and chronically overburdened urban hospital. What if they refused to distinguish between patients with stab wounds and those with stubbed toes? If they fas
Deadly errors and politics betray a hospital's promise
*A Times investigation finds King/Drew far more dangerous than the public knows. Community pride, timid county leadership stand in the way of a remedy. On a warm July afternoon, an impish second-grader named Dunia Tasejo was running home after buying ice cream on her South Los Angeles street when a car sideswiped her.
Facing an AIDS pandemic in their community, black social activists, religious leaders, social workers and health officials gathered Saturday at USC to call on their peers to eliminate the stigma associated with the disease. The speakers urged greater sexual responsibility to contain the growing HIV-infected population.
* Many stations reject public service spot aimed at gay men as inappropriate. A public service ad paid for by the Los Angeles County public health agency to raise awareness about the dangers of syphilis has been rejected by local television stations that consider the content inappropriate. County health officials had s
* Nobelist Nadine Gordimer unveils a short-story anthology by 21 writers to raise funds to help those infected with HIV. UNITED NATIONS - South African novelist Nadine Gordimer said she thought that if musicians singing to feed the world could raise funds to fight hunger, perhaps writers could put together a read the w
The number of newly diagnosed HIV and AIDS cases among gay and bisexual men grew 11% in the four-year period ending in 2003, raising fears of a new outbreak of the disease in a group experts said had become increasingly casual about taking protective measures. The increase was offset by a decline in new cases among int
Nick Schulz, Nick Schulz is editor of Tech CentralStation.com.
*Western medical advances could lead us to ignore the Third World epidemic. There comes a point when there is enough critical distance from a tragedy for people to make jokes about it ( Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the show? ). It will ruffle feathers to say this, but in the United States we are reaching
Two Orange County shelters will open Wednesday for four months, providing relief from chilly nights for about 300 of Orange County s roughly 35,000 homeless people. We re just trying to provide somewhere for people to come in and sleep with some comfort, said Scott Mather, coordinator of the county s cold-weather shelt
* Male and female infection is now nearly equal. Asia and Eastern Europe see the biggest increases, and the U.S. is following the trend. Women are being infected with HIV at increasing rates in all regions of the world, and their numbers are now nearly equal to those for men, says the United Nations and
Annan vows to punish any found guilty in the incidents, which allegedly involve civilian staff as well as troops serving as peacekeepers. KINSHASA, Congo - When Kofi Annan sent investigators in the spring to look into rumors that U.N. officials and peacekeepers were sexually abusing girls in this war-riven nation, he g
WASHINGTON - In the 1990s, after decades of taking a slow, skeptical approach to approving new medicines, the Food and Drug Administration responded to pressures from patient advocacy groups, private industry and Congress by streamlining the way it did its job. Instead of acting as a suspicious cop, the
The National Endowment for the Arts is a perfect target in the culture wars. After discovering that 59 million Americans voted to reelect a demonstrably failed president largely because he related to their culture and values, Democrats spent about a week desperately casting about for some social issue to chuck overboar
John M. Watson is accused of intimidating his renters and refusing to make repairs. Three former tenants on Tuesday sued an Orange County judge who was their landlord, alleging that he refused to make repairs to the property and used his judicial clout to intimidate them. In their legal complaint, Leticia Banuelos and
At 18, Rainbow Alvarez is just about the same age as many of the young women she counsels in her job as a peer health educator. We re not their teachers; we re not their mothers, said Alvarez, one of five part-time workers for REACH LA, an organization trying to improve the lives of urban teenagers. We re not there to
-- The nation s 12th presidential center opens Thursday, but has already triggered a wave of development in this city on the rise. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - More than 30,000 people are expected Thursday when former President Clinton opens his $165-million presidential library, and civic leaders say the campus is already func
HOW IS IT THAT PEOPLE PERSIST IN OBSESSIONS THAT WILL KILL THEM? PEDRO ALMODOVAR TURNS HIS ATTENTION TO SUCH QUESTIONS IN BAD EDUCATION. Spanish film director Pedro Almodovar strides through a Los Angeles Catholic church, one that happens to be Bob Hope s former house of worship, built in a Mission Revival style embold
* The Rev. John J. Hunter is praised as a strategic thinker and forceful civil rights advocate with a personable and conciliatory nature. The Rev. John J. Hunter, who led protests against alleged police brutality and racism as head of a socially active congregation in Seattle, was named Monday to succeed the Rev. Cecil
In exuberant services that drew political titans and the poor, thousands of worshippers turned out Sunday to bid farewell to the Rev. Cecil L. Chip Murray, senior pastor of First AME Church, after 27 years in the pulpit of one of the most important black churches in Los Angeles. An estimated 11,000 people crammed into
The impressive pau d arco tree of the Central and South American rain forests grows to well over 100 feet tall, with a trunk that can reach 6 feet wide. Known by the scientific names Tabebuia avellanedae and Tabebuia impetiginosa, it was named pau d arco, or bow stick, by Portuguese colonists centuries ago in
As he prepares to open his $165-million facility in Little Rock, historians and lawyers show an intense interest in its voluminous archives. LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - In the waning days of World War II, U.S. troops opened the doors of a Nazi boxcar to find the spoils of war: crystal, artwork, gold and more that had been seiz
Since 1996, a tiny cadre of California physicians has been recommending marijuana for medicinal use. They ve done so at their professional peril. SANTA BARBARA - After nearly four decades in medicine, Dr. David Bearman seems the incarnation of a trusted old-school physician. His resume is long, his record unblemished.
Bobby Shriver, brother-in-law of California s governor and a member of the Kennedy clan, extended the family political pedigree Tuesday with his election to the Santa Monica City Council. In his first campaign for office - prompted by a dispute with City Hall over hedge heights - Shriver was the top vote-getter by far
Caltech professor Richard Andersen is pursuing a futuristic way to help people with paralyzed limbs. He is trying to develop high-tech artificial body parts that would enable a patient to move, say, a mechanical arm simply by thinking about doing it. That daunting goal, however, has required expertise beyond Andersen s
The mother of a patient who died Oct. 7 alleges his nurse did not check on him and falsified medical records. The mother of a 28-year-old man who died at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center has filed a claim against Los Angeles County, alleging that a nurse at the public hospital failed to watch over him and fal
As many as 1% of workers here from Mexico are infected, studies show. Scientists fear the rate could grow exponentially. HIV infections are rising at a significant rate among migrant Mexican workers after decades of being a minor problem along the border, according to two new studies by the University of California s A
L-carnitine, an amino acid made in the liver and kidneys, plays an important role in helping cells convert fatty acids into energy. It s also found in meat, poultry and dairy products and in small amounts in most plants. Babies, unable to synthesize L-carnitine, get it from breast milk. * Uses: Intravenous L-carnitine
At a recent fundraiser for AIDS research in Santa Monica, designer Tommy Hilfiger showed off some of his latest fashions while actress Sharon Stone served as a guest auctioneer. Meanwhile, the more than 1,000 guests at the Macy s and American Express Passport party dined on such exotic dishes and hors d oeuvres as mola
Gilead Sciences Inc., a company focused on drugs for AIDS, reported a 63% increase in third-quarter sales Thursday and raised its revenue forecast for the year. The Foster City, Calif.-based company said net income rose 55% in the quarter, driven by strong sales of its mainstay AIDS pill
They walked with aching feet, some with tears in their eyes, others wearing T-shirts bearing the names of loved ones who had died from AIDS. Thousands of people participated in the 20th annual AIDS Walk Los Angeles on Sunday, trekking more than six miles through West Los Angeles to raise more than $3 million for HIV an
As a child, Daryl Roach loved all the drama and commotion when his family headed south to his father s rural birthplace. Before they left New York for Dismal Swamp in North Carolina, they d jam the Lincoln Continental full of food and push all the bags into the trunk, which was already half filled by a big red canister
They celebrate their faith yet have trouble finding congregations that won t judge them. So African American gay Christians are joining together and speaking up. Herndon L. DAVIS grew up Baptist. The son of a minister, he did not stray like so many who abandoned their Sunday morning churchgoing ritual as young adults.
Cynthia Davis, one of L.A. s best-known AIDS activists, wrote to the leaders of 300 black churches inviting them to a summit last weekend on the worsening problem of HIV and AIDS in minority communities. She heard back from five. Then, a few days before the summit, Davis watched the vice presidential debate and was tak
After more than two decades of research, scientists said Thursday that they had found the first effective vaccine against malaria. Trials in Africa showed that the vaccine blocked almost half of new infections in young children and reduced serious disease by nearly 60%. Experts termed the results a major breakthrough i
Those living near a bauxite refinery say emissions are damaging their health. The government and business reject the claim. DOWNS, Jamaica - The old women and young mothers herding sick children gather after sunrise on the brown wooden benches just outside the clinic. At 9 a.m., still more than an hour before the docto
Charles Ornstein and Tracy Weber, Times Staff Writers
A nurse had lowered the volume on a monitor and failed to notice the man s heart failure. A 28-year-old patient died at Martin Luther King Jr./Drew Medical Center on Thursday after a nurse turned down the audio alarm on his vital-signs monitor in the intensive-care unit, then failed to notice the man s heart was barely
The Nobel panel honors Wangari Maathai for her push to fight poverty by protecting forests. JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The joyful music of ululating African women rang through the offices of Kenya s Green Belt Movement on Friday after its founder, Wangari Muta Maathai, became the first African woman to win the Nobel
Frustrated by the porn industry s continuing unsafe sex practices, Los Angeles County health officials have sent 400 letters to producers and directors urging condom use during sex scenes. The letters, which began arriving this week, also advise the industry to vaccinate performers for
A new issue crept into the campaign Tuesday night - what to do about AIDS in America - and neither of the well-prepped candidates in the vice presidential debate had much to say. Apparently citing federal figures, the moderator said that in the U.S., black women between the ages of 25 and 44 are 13 times more likely to
He finds amendment s wording too broad. Conservatives see only a minor legal setback. HOUSTON - A judge Tuesday threw out an amendment to the Louisiana Constitution banning gay marriage, a ruling applauded by civil rights advocates but dismissed by social conservatives as a temporary hitch in their campaign to limit th
Text of the debate is provided by the White House MODERATOR: Good evening from Case Western Reserve University s Veale Center, here in Cleveland, Ohio. I m Gwen Ifill of the NewsHour and Washington Week on PBS. And I welcome you to the first and the only vice presidential debate between Vice President Dick Cheney, the
Program designed to save money is costing millions, as teachers struggle to spend weekly half-hour sessions with inmates. SACRAMENTO - Almost 20,000 California prison inmates are enrolled in a new education program mired in staffing shortages, labor disputes and the logistics of giving convicts one-on-one instruction.
New ads market Goodwill as fashion treasure trove for the wise. There s something so cleansing about unloading a pile of worn jeans, shrunken T-shirts and beat-up leather jackets at a Goodwill store. Once relieved of those closet-cloggers, you might feel unburdened enough to browse, and with any luck you ll find some b
In an agency s crosshairs for procuring medicines from other countries is a feisty entrepreneur Orange County may use. TEMPLE, Texas - One of the key figures in the debate over importing prescription drugs from Canada is hungry - and he s got his eyes on a platter of pork ribs. Gimme some of that hawg, he drawls
Officials worry that security issues may eclipse anti-poverty efforts. Wealthy nations differ on debt relief to poor countries. WASHINGTON - World finance leaders wrapped up their annual meetings Sunday with renewed pledges to promote global prosperity, amid warnings that the battle against poverty had taken a back sea
Vetoes The 273 bills vetoed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger included legislation on the following topics: BAD MEAT: A bill that would have allowed state health officials to tell local health officers and the public which stores or restaurants may have received shipments of tainted meat. A secrecy agreement between Califo
Sites give others a voice to help Americans understand how U.S. actions are perceived. NEW YORK - Since the U.S. presidential election will affect people around the world, shouldn t everyone have a vote? A handful of Web-based groups are trying to at least give citizens of other countries a voice. The World Speaks is
Warren Vieth and Emma Schwartz, Times Staff Writers
WASHINGTON - U.S. officials said Thursday that they were considering proposals to write off as much as 100% of the debt of the world s poorest countries, and that they would press other wealthy nations to embrace the idea. Grants and debt relief must be significantly increased, Treasury Secretary John W. Snow said in a
NEW YORK - Since the U.S. presidential election will affect people around the world, shouldn t everyone have a vote? A handful of Web-based groups are trying to at least give citizens of other countries a voice. The World Speaks is a loosely linked constellation of five international websites that discovered they had c
The man died after having a tooth pulled. Legislators hold a hearing on prison healthcare and criticize the system s quality. SACRAMENTO - The family of a California inmate who died after he had a tooth pulled said Wednesday that they were suing the state over his death, as two legislators held a Capitol hearing to inv
The nephew of two senators and a president brings star power to the Santa Monica City Council race. His uncles have been a U.S. president and senators, his father ran for vice president, and his movie star brother-in-law was elected governor of California. Now the political wasp has stung Bobby Shriver. At 50, the neph
He signs a bill sought by AIDS activists that lets pharmacists sell needles without a prescription. SACRAMENTO - Swerving to the left of his Democratic predecessor on a highly contested public health fight, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday signed legislation allowing pharmacists to sell up to 10 clean syringes with
HBO shows bring home the statues. And Fox s Arrested Development gets wins if not viewers. The 56th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards shrugged off complaints that the same winners troop onstage at the Shrine Auditorium year after year and shook up tradition Sunday night. And HBO s Angels in America, an AIDS-themed epic, won
This week, the president is scheduled to address the U.N. and meet with Karzai and Allawi. KENNEBUNKPORT, Me. - President Bush said Saturday that he would reaffirm in a speech to the United Nations this week America s commitment to see free elections held in Afghanistan and
Cal/OSHA fines the Van Nuys firms for allegedly allowing unprotected sex by actors. Cal/OSHA said Thursday it had fined two Los Angeles-area adult film companies $30,560 each for allegedly allowing actors to perform unprotected sex, the first time the state agency has taken regulatory action against the porn industry.
L.A. County supervisors tentatively approve an ordinance to require health permits. Alarmed by high HIV rates among patrons of gay bathhouses and sex clubs, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors tentatively approved a law Tuesday that would require such businesses to obtain a health permit to operate. The permit
Ugandan berates the American church and says it s departed from historic teachings. When three conservative Southern California parishes fled the Episcopal Church in the culture wars over homosexuality and biblical interpretation, they sought the equivalent of political asylum from the Anglican Church of Uganda. The
LONDON - Organizations concerned with reproductive health and sexual education sharply criticized the Bush administration Thursday, saying that its policies are contributing to the AIDS pandemic and the deaths of women during childbirth and from unsafe abortions. The criticism came on the final day of the three-day Cou
High levels of certain respiratory and throat cancers are found in parts of southeast L.A. County. The study offers no reason. A review of reported cancer cases in Los Angeles County has revealed areas in the county s southeastern region with unexpectedly high levels of throat cancer and a type of lung and bronchial ca
Charity begins in these backyards. Take a stroll, take some notes. What s good for the world can be good for you. Charity s an expensive business. The Rockefellers gave balls, the Kennedys auctioned their gowns, Bob Geldof made albums. Photographer Erica Lennard had never owned a mansion in Newport or made a 10 best dr
Activists infiltrate the convention floor. Police are accused of poorly kept detention sites. NEW YORK - After Tuesday s protests and confrontations, the third day of the Republican National Convention was relatively calm as police and demonstrators seemed to pause Wednesday to catch their breath. Protest groups held n
NEW YORK - After Tuesday s raucous protests and confrontations, the third day of the Republican National Convention was relatively calm as both police and demonstrators seemed to pause Wednesday to catch their breath. Protest groups held noisy but nonviolent rallies throughout Manhattan, promoting labor and women s rig
NEW YORK-Phyllis Schlafly is a longtime opponent of the gay rights movement. Over the years, she has warned that the Equal Rights Amendment would lead to a recognition of gay rights. She has said people may demand restrictions on homosexuals for public health reasons because of AIDS. She has complained that children s
He says no to letting dentists perform cosmetic surgery but has yet to weigh in on driver s license and Canadian-drug bills. SACRAMENTO - After lawmakers last week approved more than a dozen measures he opposed, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger returned the favor Monday by vetoing 10 of their bills, including a highly contes
Men without diagnosed problems are now turning to anti-impotence drugs. Hawkers in popular bars now sell anti-impotence drugs, whispering that they have blues available for 5 bucks a pop, less than the pharmacy price. Friends pass their pills along to others, often drug users who use them to counter the effects of drug
Authorities, facing a growing pornography problem, crack down on X-rated material. BEIJING - The pregnant woman slices through the crowd on a busy sidewalk. Yellow movie, she whispers to two passing men - the Chinese slang for pornography. Holding her belly, she guides them to a grassy area and lifts a clump of sod to
After a bill has been sent to the governor, he has 30 days to sign or veto it, or it automatically becomes law. On most bills, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not yet taken a position. EDUCATION School Spending AB 825 by Assemblyman Marco Firebaugh (D-Los Angeles) would give school districts more flexibility in how they
SACRAMENTO - Despite a large-scale lobbying effort by pharmaceutical companies and opposition from the Schwarzenegger administration, the Legislature on Friday gave final approval to a package of bills allowing cheaper drug imports from Canada . The legislation puts California at the center of a national debate over th
Six research monkeys die from severe dehydration due to a heater malfunction in their holding room, campus officials say. A UC Davis medical research building was shut down Monday after six research monkeys were found dead from severe dehydration due to a heater malfunction in their holding room over the weekend, campu
CAPE TOWN, South Africa - The doctor beckons the young couple into his examining room, giving them just enough time to settle into their chairs but not enough to fuel their apprehension. It s a gray winter day at Red Cross Children s Hospital. Rain pelts the windows in a staccato assault. The sign in the corridor outsi
In boost to Megan s Law, a state registry would have data and photos on many such ex-convicts. SACRAMENTO - In the most significant expansion of California s version of Megan s Law since it was enacted in 1996, the state Senate voted Thursday to post photographs and other information about released sex offenders on the
Assemblyman Paul Koretz tells the makers of adult movies to require the use of condoms or he will push for a state law. Prompted by a recent HIV outbreak among porn actors, a state legislator is calling on the industry to voluntarily adopt safe-sex practices - or face the possibility of a state law that would compel pe
Each year, about 1,000 Californians become infected with HIV and 3,000 with hepatitis C after sharing dirty syringes. Untold numbers more are subsequently infected by these drug abusers, at an incalculable cost in lives and healthcare funds. The situation is not hopeless. This week, the state Assembly has a chance to p
Rest of $547 million can be issued only if other donors meet their commitments. The United States will be forced to withhold $120 million from this year s donation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria unless other contributors can come up with twice that amount by the end of September, U.S. AIDS c
An Orange County woman has complained to the state Commission on Judicial Performance that Orange County Judge John M. Watson manages his home-rental business out of his courtroom, using court personnel and resources in the process. Leticia Banuelos and other tenants say Watson used his judicial clout to bully them, co
Project Angel Food had been known for feeding those with HIV or AIDS. Now it also offers food to people who have other serious ailments. A daily diet of junk food became yet another health hazard seven years ago for James Fraley when his kidneys failed after bladder cancer surgery. The retired Azusa city worker, who li
Barbara Cleaver Tilsner, who co-founded Mothers of AIDS Patients Los Angeles after her son died of the disease 20 years ago and who campaigned widely to increase AIDS research funding, has died. She was 66. Tilsner died Aug. 2 at Little Company of Mary Hospital in San Pedro of lung cancer. A nonsmoker, she had been dia
San Francisco - Incompetent doctors, including some with a history of substance abuse or mental health problems, have been hired by California s prison system and have contributed to serious deficiencies in healthcare for inmates, according to a federal court report released Tuesday. At one facility, half of the eight
You d think an industry accused of gouging the sick and dying while raking in billions in profit would start developing a better public relations strategy. Alas, pharmaceutical companies remain adept at ruining their own good names. In December, Illinois-based Abbott Laboratories bumped up the price of the usual dos
Nicole Smithy wasn t looking for trouble. But as if being a teenager weren t tough enough, Smithy came out as a lesbian in her sophomore year in the Central Valley town of Clovis. It was pretty bad, says the 18-year-old. I d walk down the hall and people would shout faggot or dyke every day, everywhere I went. I got sp
-- Childrens Hospital Los Angeles is offering free massage therapy to young patients to help reduce their anxiety and severe pain. Massage therapist Shay Beider s clients are usually attached to gawky high-tech machines, intravenous tubes or seated in wheelchairs. Today, her 4 p.m. appointment is with David Johnson. Th
-- A Thai senator who led anti-AIDS efforts in 90s has revived his campaign to raise HIV awareness. BANGKOK, Thailand - After a three-year retirement from walking the seediest neighborhoods here, Thai Sen. Mechai Viravaidya is back, greeting passersby with a firm handshake and a packet of brilliantly colored condoms.
Using names to track new HIV cases rather than anonymous codes is likely to provoke one of the most emotional debates among the proposals to reorganize the state s vast health and welfare system. Concerns over protecting patients privacy had already created divisions among medical professionals and activists. In 200
Federal auditors are calling for USC to pay back more than $1 million in government funds because of the university s lapses in managing a program to train HIV/AIDS counselors for minority communities. USC s program was shut down by federal officials in 2001 in response to concerns about conflict of interest, improper
Gilead Sciences Inc. s second-quarter revenue jumped 34% on strong sales of drugs for hepatitis and AIDS, the company said Thursday. Net income rose 11% to $111.5 million, or 49 cents a share, from $100.4 million, or 46 cents, a year earlier. Revenue climbed to $319.7 million from $238.9 million. The Foster City
West Nile virus has set off a new battle for market share between archrivals in the gene-based blood testing business. As West Nile strikes in new parts of the country, U.S. blood banks are field-testing competing technologies that can detect the virus in donated blood, one from Swiss drug maker Roche Holdings and the
The carefully chosen words and stark photographs with which reporter Davan Maharaj and photographer Francine Orr have chronicled the unbroken cycle of suffering and death in sub-Saharan Africa left many Times readers frustrated and angry. Yet hundreds of them were moved to offer assistance because the Living on Pennies
A Beverly Hills doctor who is a former chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS has surrendered his license to practice medicine in California, effective this week. Dr. R. Scott Hitt, 45, returned his license to the Medical Board of California, which had suspended it for 60 days in February because
NAIROBI, Kenya - A bottle of Dark and Lovely hair gel in hand, Kassim Issa pushes his withered body down a dirt path through Nairobi s biggest slum, peddling a few ounces at Mama Washington s and other tumbledown salons. For Issa, Dark and Lovely is life. The 20-cent profit from one bottle can pay for an injection to
TAMPA, Fla. - President Bush vowed Friday to crack down at home and abroad on human trafficking, calling it one of the worst offenses against human dignity, and accused Cuban President Fidel Castro of encouraging the growth of sex tourism in the island nation. Speaking at a conference of law enforcement officials spons
BANGKOK, Thailand - The 15th International AIDS Conference closed here Friday with a call from Nelson Mandela for delegates to return to their countries with a renewed commitment in the battle against the disease. History will surely judge us harshly if we do not respond with all the energy and resources that we can b
He says donors must help fight the disease, the No. 1 killer of AIDS patients in Africa. No amount of money is too small, he tells summit. BANGKOK, Thailand - Nelson Mandela made an impassioned plea to the 15th International AIDS Conference on Thursday for more funds to fight tuberculos
African nations dominate the lowest ranks in an index of living conditions. UNITED NATIONS - Because of the scourge of AIDS, babies born today in seven African countries cannot expect to live past 40, indicating a dramatic reversal in the continent s development, according to a U.N. report released Thursday. For childr
America is already the biggest donor, official notes. He says nation should focus money on Bush s emergency plan. BANGKOK, Thailand - U.S. AIDS czar Randall Tobias on Wednesday rejected a plea from the United Nations that the United States increase to $1 billion its yearly contribution to the Global Fund, saying, It s
Jenna and Barbara Bush embrace public life with a stylish spread in the magazine. The twins have also started joining Dad on the campaign. WASHINGTON - For four years they have shunned the spotlight. No more. Barbara and Jenna Bush, now 22-year-old college graduates, are the stars of a Vogue magazine spread that hits n
Trade deal would hinge on drug patents, Chirac says in a statement. Protests at conference shut down booths of five major companies. BANGKOK, Thailand - Tempers flared here Tuesday as France accused the United States of trying to blackmail small countries such as Thailand into upholding patents on anti-A
BANGKOK -- Tempers flared here Tuesday as France accused the United States of trying to blackmail small countries such as Thailand into upholding patents on anti-AIDS drugs. Protesters shouted down speakers and drug company representatives as the few U.S. representatives here tried to defend President Bu
BANGKOK -- A potential trade agreement between Thailand and the United States could derail this country s production of inexpensive AIDS drugs and imperil the future of an anti-HIV program that is widely considered a model for countries throughout Asia, the group Doctors Without Borders said Monday. If the Thais s
More than 13.2 million children, most of them in sub-Saharan Africa, have lost one or both parents to AIDS. The problems they face make the orphans from a Charles Dickens novel look pampered; in addition to their inability to pay the price of government schooling, they are often treated as untouchables in countries whe
BANGKOK, Thailand - As 17,000 scientists, politicians and activists gathered here Sunday for the world s largest AIDS conference, officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention were preparing to recommend that all pregnant women entering labor receive a rapid HIV test if their viral status was unknown
What is it like to live on less than a dollar a day? Hundreds of millions in sub-Saharan Africa know. Their work is an endless cycle of bartering, hawking and scrounging to get by until tomorrow. GOMA, Congo - Every day is a fight for pennies. At sunrise, Adolphe Mulinowa is out hauling 10-gallon cans of sand at a cons
Thomas J. Coates, professor of infectious diseases, UCLA's David Geffen School of Medicine and a member of the executive committee of the UCLA AIDS Institute.
The official logo of this summer s biannual International AIDS Conference, which convenes today in Bangkok, Thailand , depicts three elephants walking forward together. They are intended to illustrate the conference s theme of Access for All, to symbolize how communities, families and HIV/AIDS workers have successfully
WASHINGTON — As the man in charge of the Bush administration s $15-billion plan to treat millions of HIV-infected people in underdeveloped nations, Randall Tobias might expect a hero s welcome at the International AIDS Conference opening today in Thailand . Instead, the U.S. global AIDS coordinator is likely to be gree
A reporter returns a decade after apartheid s fall to find blacks and whites taking different roles in a country with pride in its transition. BRITS, South Africa - Visitors to the tranquil offices of the Brits Town Council a decade ago were greeted by a friendly white receptionist. Upstairs, white secretaries catered
Three million people died of AIDS last year and almost 5 million infected with HIV — more than in any previous year, according to a United Nations report issued Tuesday. Worldwide, the number of people living with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, stands at about 38 million, despite efforts to control it, the report sai
High-dose multivitamins that cost $15 annually can be a cost-effective way to delay the progression of HIV into AIDS, and also delay the initiation of expensive antiretroviral therapy, according to researchers. A study sponsored by the National Institutes of Health of 1,078 HIV-positive pregnant women in
Los Angeles County s public health chief wants to license the county s 11 gay bathhouses and sex clubs. Bathhouse owners want the Board of Supervisors to nix the proposal, which their well-connected lobbyist calls extremely discriminatory and a violation of the civil rights of gay men. That such a debate still goes on
Moscow gets a five-year, $34.6-million grant. The nations agree to try to reduce the cost of drugs. MOSCOW - The world is still losing its fight against HIV and AIDS, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy G. Thompson said at a news conference held here Thursday to announce new American-Russian efforts against th
Sally Satel, a physician, is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. The World Health Organization is racing to get medication to millions of people infected with HIV/AIDS. The organization s 3 by 5 plan - which aims to treat 3 million people, mostly Africans, by the end of 2005 - is an ambitious one.
County proposal is in response to rising rate of HIV infection. Critics say it violates privacy. Faced with evidence that HIV infection is spreading rapidly among gay men after years of decline, top public health officials in Los Angeles County are urging the Board of Supervisors to increase regulation of gay bathhouse
It s hard to overstate the threat posed by global overpopulation. Many of the most serious problems facing the world and region can be traced to it, from global warming to famine to traffic jams on the 405. Yet one of the most effective programs for combating it is under siege by the Bush administration. In a triumph o
Vicki Kemper and Peter Wallsten, Times Staff Writers
He calls the disease a great tragedy. Critics say he hasn t done enough to fund the global prevention and treatment programs. PHILADELPHIA - President Bush sought Wednesday to portray himself as a compassionate global leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS, but critics said his strategy suffered from the go-it-alone appr
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is adding Vietnam to the list of countries eligible for U.S. funds to combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic, senior administration officials said Tuesday. President Bush plans to announce the decision, as well as the pending release of an additional $500 million in funding for AIDS preventio
DENVER - Sen. John F. Kerry pledged Monday to increase federal spending on scientific research and suggested President Bush had let conservative ideology block important advances in medicine. The presumed Democratic presidential nominee cast U.S. policy on science as a crucial matter for the nation s health and economy
The biotech firm acts amid criticism that its upfront fees stifle work on drugs for hepatitis C . Chiron Corp. today plans to announce a change in the licensing policy on its patents covering the genetic makeup of the hepatitis C virus, a move that could lead to the development of new drugs to fight the disease.
If a drug fails to measure up in a test, consumers have the right to know it. It s human nature to talk about our good deeds while keeping mum about the bad ones. This applies not only to schoolkids and presidents but to medical researchers. According to several recent investigations, scientists are far more likely to
About 20 AIDS activists picketed outside Larry Flynt s Beverly Hills office Thursday, beseeching the porn king to set a good example for the industry by making all of his actors practice safe sex during filming. Carrying signs proclaiming: Latex now, Larry and waving giant replicas of rainbow-hued condoms, the proteste
NAIROBI, Kenya - Friday nights are the best time for threadbare Kenya s police, and the worst time to run into them. It is when they are most likely to stop people for bribes. The thought of an entire weekend in a Kenyan jail is usually enough to shake loose a shower of Kenyan shillings. Kenneth Otieno, a 17-year-o
Awareness leads to action for an evangelical church in Paramount, which has adopted an African village hit hard by the disease. In the biblical parable of the good Samaritan, the priest and Levite looked the other way when they saw a man robbed, beaten and left for dead on the road to Jericho. That has too often been t
Caitlin Liu and Lisa Richardson, Times Staff Writers
In the wake of the industry s recent HIV scare, doctors and others warn that stunts are putting performers at greater risk. Now that porn companies are shooting movies again, rebounding after a hiatus during the recent HIV outbreak, health advocates and others are concerned that depictions of increasingly extreme sex a
-- Blacks, gays remember Reagan with bitterness, saying he neglected the poor and lacked leadership as the AIDS epidemic exploded. While the first adoring crowds were lining up to view the casket of former President Ronald Reagan near Simi Valley, Bill Williams was 50 miles away in South Los Angeles, getting ready for
As host of industrial nations summit, he will put a democracy initiative on the agenda. Other issues include debt relief and AIDS. SEA ISLAND, Ga. - Fresh from a long weekend in Europe to mend transatlantic ties, President Bush today launches a new effort on another daunting diplomatic challenge: cultivating peace, dem
I liked Ronald Reagan, despite the huge divide between us politically. Reagan was a charming old pro who gave me hours of his time in a series of interviews beginning in 1966 when he was running for governor, simply because he enjoyed the give and take. In fact, I often found myself defending the Gipper whenever I was
Some actors call for condoms and other health protection on movie sets, but industry leaders fear more rules could hurt business. Public health officials and porn actors packed into a Van Nuys auditorium Friday to speak out on sex-movie safety issues and clashed over whether condoms ought to be required during filming.
Piotr Jandula never was a bike rider and his first attempt to become one ended a few short months ago with a flat tire. So he would appear to be an unlikely participant in a 585-mile ride that begins Sunday in San Francisco and ends next Saturday in Dodger Stadium. Until you hear his story. Ring the bottom buzzer, Jand
SACRAMENTO - As medical bills for the state prison system approach $1 billion a year, lawmakers Tuesday called into question the use of tax dollars for procedures such as a male inmate s breast reduction surgery and skin treatments at a Beverly Hills dermatologist. Paying millions to shuttle prisoners to hospitals hund
Bishop of L.A. Episcopal Diocese is criticized by church conservatives. He says he was honoring a faithful relationship. In a move decried by conservatives in the Episcopal Church, the bishop of Los Angeles presided over the blessing of a same-sex union last month of a well-known priest and his partner. The Rt. Rev. J.
West Hollywood is a breed apart in passing laws that make it a haven for pets. In West Hollywood, what began as puppy love has bloomed into true romance. In short, West Hollywood loves its pets. Prompted by problems at a grooming shop - two dogs died after they were left too long in a dryer - the City Council is expect
The religious right has conspired to cut federal funding to AIDS conference. The Bush administration and some members of Congress appear to be playing a nasty game of political football with AIDS and global health issues. In recent days, the administration has radically reduced the number of government scientists who w
Robert Salladay and Jordan Rau, Times Staff Writers
Legislators approve a spate of measures to encourage prescription purchases from the north. The governor has yet to weigh in. SACRAMENTO - Defying pharmaceutical companies and the Bush administration, California lawmakers approved a series of bills this week encouraging drug importations from Canada .
A Muted Response to AIDS: The growing epidemic is the nation s No. 1 killer, but many of the sick are shunned and left to rely on prayer and untested remedies. TEMBISA, South Africa - Flora Mogano has given up waiting for someone to come and help treat the people with AIDS in her township. When the government is slow,
Robert Salladay and Jordan Rau, Times Staff Writers
Industry-linked groups lobby with a vengeance against bills to ease imports from the north. SACRAMENTO - The name they picked is Cures, but the drug makers, biotech millionaires and pharmacists who founded the group aren t searching for the next miracle drug. They are looking for votes from the California Legislature.
In a meeting at a Valley adult-film studio, health officers and performers share their concerns about the risk of diseases in the industry. County, state and national public health officers assured sex-film performers and producers at a meeting this week that they are trying to protect them from diseases, not put their
In the late 1980s, life expectancy in Zimbabwe was 63 years. Today it s 33. The reason is HIV, which has infected 35% of its adults and orphaned 900,000 children. As James Morris, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, told the Senate last week after a visit to the southern African country, It s not uncomm
Gilead Sciences Inc. s shares rose Monday on news that the company was in talks with rivals to develop a once-daily pill that would combine three powerful HIV drugs. Analysts said the all-in-one pill would be the first of its kind and would strengthen Gilead s hand in the HIV drug business. However, Gilead, based in
Evan Halper and Robert Salladay, Times Staff Writers
Governor s revised plan avoids deep cuts in spending and includes no new taxes. Many analysts see another deficit looming. SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger offered a $102-billion revised state budget Thursday that largely spares the state deep spending cuts that many had feared but pushes tough choices off for a
Two patients were sitting in the waiting room of a dentist s office in a Lynwood residence when 10 state and county investigators arrived. It seems the dentist had all the trimmings of a successful practice - an X-ray machine, a sterilizer, a crowded appointment book. There was just one thing missing: his license.
Medical treatment falls short, even in cities with teaching hospitals, according to a new report. Access to healthcare, it seems, doesn t ensure quality. Americans get only half the recommended medical care and screenings from their doctors, a new report says, even if they live in metropolitan areas with noted teaching
A nonprofit group that provides health services to sex-film workers announced Tuesday that an industrywide moratorium on filming is being lifted nearly a month early, effective today. Sharon Mitchell, executive director of the Adult Industry Medical Health Care Foundation, the organization that provides HIV testing and
Look at this sister, Tony Wafford says, stopping his white sedan on Figueroa at 75th Street to chat up a red-haired hooker in a skirt the size of an eye patch. You need condoms? Tony asks. She smiles and wiggles over on Tina Turner heels. Tony lugs thousands of condoms around Los Angeles in his trunk. He takes them to
As the horrors of Sudan s ethnic conflict mount, opportunities for pathogenic microbes - germs that could threaten people all over the world - rise in tandem. War and disease are often a matched set in Africa, with terrifying results: If the fighting doesn t kill you, disease very well could. And without outside help t
A fifth sex-film performer has tested positive for HIV, an industry health group said Wednesday, becoming the latest known to be infected in an outbreak that has roiled the multibillion-dollar industry and halted production on dozens of movies. The woman apparently contracted the virus while having unprotected sex duri
Trustees who clashed with the state over a discrimination law could do battle over how to include students in the prevention classes. Westminster School District trustees may be headed for another clash with state education officials over a new sex education and AIDS awareness law. At a meeting Thursday, the board will
Gina Piccalo and Shawn Hubler, Times Staff Writers
The plight of Darren James and Lara Roxx is a microcosm of the industry s dangers. MONTREAL - He s a middle-aged black porn actor who had wanted to be a policeman. Known for his conscientiousness, he d ask costars to refrain from smoking even as they were having unprotected group sex. She s a white French Canadian stri
Prosecutor blames the UCLA student s delay in reporting attack on trauma. The three defendants attorneys say sex was consensual. The UCLA student testified that after first resisting, she had been silent as she was gang-raped in her dormitory room on campus two years ago. After the attack, the freshman said, she finish
President Rolls Through Battleground States Bush addresses job losses in a tour through the country s politically split heartland. KALAMAZOO, Mich. - President Bush on Monday embraced the populist symbolism of a bus tour through the country s politically divided heartland, acknowledging that the region s economy was we
Calendula officinalis - popularly known as the marigold - appears in Egyptian hieroglyphs dating back nearly 7,000 years. The plant s Latin name dates to Roman times, when early botanists noted that it appeared to bloom anew on the first day - or calend - of each month. Today marigolds grow worldwide, and oils from the
Construction funded by Proposition 46 is underway, but advocates say the bond money is being raided. They will be the standout buildings on the block: snappy architecture, fresh paint, nice landscaping. The places where adults can get job training and kids, after-school care. The places that low-income working families
A mannequin wearing the sort of poufy pink prom dress one might find for a few bucks at a thrift store greeted guests arriving at the New Mart on a Saturday afternoon. There was not, however, any trace of fustiness, owing to the rose petals scattered on the floor for Vintage L.A. 2004, an annual fundraiser for Salvatio
Hundreds of thousands of women were raped during the massacre. Now, death stalks many who thought they had survived, and few get antiretroviral drugs. KIGALI, Rwanda - In her heart, Eugenie Muhayimana didn t become a mother at the birth of her son. Yearning only for death, she could find no shred of love for the babe b
Caitlin Liu and Lisa Richardson, Times Staff Writers
Assemblyman s proposal would forbid adult filmmakers from hiring infected actors. A state lawmaker has proposed legislation that would require adult film performers to be screened for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases before they could be hired for a pornographic movie and would bar producers from hiring anyo
Caitlin Liu and Lisa Richardson, Times Staff Writers
Another adult film performer - the third in 2 1/2 weeks - has tested positive for HIV, healthcare advocates for the pornographic movie industry said Thursday. The actress, whose identity was not released, had already been on an adult industry quarantine list of more than 50 potentially infected performers for the last
Ann M. Simmons and Solomon Moore, Times Staff Writers
Reforms lure some who settled in Southern California to return, but others are not tempted. Daniel Matemotja arrived in the United States with one goal in mind: Get a good education and return to his native South Africa - as soon as the white minority government could be dislodged and replaced by black majority rule.
Caitlin Liu and Lisa Richardson, Times Staff Writers
As health officials struggle to get producers of pornographic movies to require their actors to use condoms, AIDS activists and some producers of films aimed at gay men say the rest of the industry could learn from their experience. Starting in the late 1980s, widespread AIDS deaths among actors and outcries by healthc
Caitlin Liu and Lisa Richardson, Times Staff Writers
Adult film industry advocates assail L.A. County for taking actors HIV records. Raising privacy concerns, adult film industry advocates denounced Los Angeles County health officials Thursday for taking the files of more than 50 porn actors that contained personal identification information and their HIV test results.
Performer will get $600,000, but he declines a job offer. The circus revises its anti-bias policy and establishes AIDS education. SAN FRANCISCO - Cirque du Soleil has agreed to pay $600,000 to a gymnast who was fired by the Canadian circus because of his HIV status, under a settlement announced Thursday by the U.S. Equ
I got my baptism in modern Los Angeles politics three years ago at Tolliver s barbershop on Florence near Western. The savvy regulars worked up a sweat arguing about who ought to be mayor, and the man who usually came out on top was Jim Hahn. A lot can happen in three years. Or not happen. Stop by Tolliver s these days
SACRAMENTO - California s health program for the needy has paid hundreds of millions of dollars too much for pharmaceutical products because of fraudulent pricing practices by drug manufacturers, the state attorney general s office alleged Tuesday. As a result, the California Medical Assistance Program reimbursed pharm
Lisa Richardson and Caitlin Liu, Times Staff Writers
After almost a year of urging the adult-film industry to require actors to wear condoms during sex scenes, state and county officials say the recent HIV infection of two porn stars has given them the leverage they need to force change. State and Los Angeles County health officials said Monday they believed existing reg
Caitlin Liu, Kristina Sauerwein and Monte Morin, Times Staff Writers
Several major adult movie companies - including the industry s largest, Vivid - announced Thursday they would stop filming for 60 days after two stars tested positive for HIV. The shutdown followed an urgent plea by health advocates to halt unprotected sex in the pornographic industry, which employs more than 6,000 per
South Africa s ruling party approaches 70% of the vote despite AIDS crisis and joblessness. JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The African National Congress government was headed Thursday for a landslide victory in parliamentary elections, its best result since the end of apartheid, despite high unemployment, poverty and an
Black voters loyalty to the party that liberated them is clear in the lines at the polls. But poverty has shaken the faith of some supporters. JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The dominant African National Congress was expected to coast to victory in Wednesday s parliamentary elections despite indications of voter apathy,
Invoking a rarely used doctrine that says a defendant may commit a crime to avoid a perceived greater harm, a federal judge granted reduced sentences Tuesday to a Ventura County couple who grew marijuana for a now defunct West Hollywood cannabis club. U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz sentenced Judy Osburn, 50, to one
The ruling party is expected to win easily in elections today despite the high jobless rate and criticism of its handling of the AIDS pandemic. FREEDOM PARK, South Africa - When it rains in the Freedom Park squatters camp - which happens often this time of year - a river runs through Alfred Mokoena s two-room shack of
A woman who had to grow up after learning a secret helps other gay students. In dribs and drabs for the last decade, retired counselor Tranquil Calley has put money away in memory of her son Kalyn. But it wasn t until she heard about a UC Riverside senior who is gay and could no longer afford to pay for school that she
Heart disease, cancer and AIDS are among the illnesses an agency campaign is targeting. NEW YORK - Elizabeth Drackett, carrying a blue canvas bag filled with medical forms, reminder cards, stickers, special passports and posters of celebrities urging cancer screenings, is visiting doctors in Harlem. Printed in large le
As a high-level executive for a large computer manufacturer, Dan Bishop was a self-described workaholic who thought he was ably juggling daily demands and corporate pressures. Then he woke up one night with tightness in his chest, barely able to breathe. At first he suspected a heart attack. The tightness quickly passe
A cash flow problem returns. One analyst dismisses it as part of the normal life of a biotech company. Immune Response Corp., a Carlsbad-based biotechnology company that has for 10 years struggled to create an HIV/AIDS vaccine, said Monday that its outside auditor had questioned its ability to continue operations becau
The king of pop discusses the AIDS problem in Africa with members of Congress. WASHINGTON - The hallway in the House office building was mobbed: Was it President Bush? Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger? No, it was none other than Michael Jackson, the self-styled king of pop, who said he had come to the nation s capital to lob
South Africa is a model of democracy and capitalism in the developing world. Remember South Africa? In the 1980s and early 1990s, it was on the front page every day; today news about it is hard to find, unless it s on crime and AIDS. Yet, without much attention, South Africa is showing how democracy and capitalism -
James Ricci and Patricia Ward Biederman, Times Staff Writers
That gays are more widely accepted in American society is readily apparent in everything from television sitcoms to corporate anti-discrimination policies to recent U.S. Supreme Court opinions. Less apparent is why and how the shift in attitude occurred. Although some religious and social leaders believe the new visibi
As a high-level executive for a large computer manufacturer, Dan Bishop was a self-described workaholic who thought he was ably juggling daily demands and corporate pressures. Then he woke up one night with tightness in his chest, barely able to breathe. At first he suspected a heart attack. The tightness quickly passe
The name cat s claw refers to about 20 plant species native to the rain forests of Central and South America. The climbing, woody vines, called uña de gato in Spanish, are named for their claw-like thorns. Just two cat s claw species - Uncaria tomentosa and Uncaria guianensis - have reputed therapeutic value. Uses: Ind
Officials in Ventura County and elsewhere seek a link between last fall s blazes and increased reports of the flu-like illness. Ventura County health officials said last fall s wildfires may be to blame for a spike in cases of valley fever, a flu-like disease transmitted by an airborne fungus. More than 70 cases have b
Democrats voted against the plan to cut spending, while keeping three of the president s tax cuts. WASHINGTON - The House on Thursday passed a $2.4-trillion budget for the 2005 fiscal year that Republicans say will cut the deficit in half by 2009, extend some tax cuts and increase spending on defense and homeland secur
The policy implication of a recent federally funded study, showing 11% of men tested in gay bathhouses in Los Angeles County in 2001 and 2002 to be HIV-positive, should be clear enough: Close the bathhouses. That decisive step was crucial to San Francisco s successful containment of the nation s first major HIV epidemi
Amid growing concerns about HIV infection among gay men, public health officials in Los Angeles County are once again facing the politically charged question of how to regulate gay bathhouses and sex clubs. County health officials are considering tougher enforcement of existing laws that require bathhouse patrons to us
Since announcing his HIV infection in 1991, former Laker Earvin Magic Johnson has been the nation s most visible symbol of the increasing longevity of people with HIV infection. Now he s endorsed a nutritional supplement that the manufacturer says will boost the immune system. I feel better than I ever have, Johnson sa
Healthcare Cuts Blocked by Key Budgeting Panel: The governor s proposals to cap enrollments and create waiting lists for certain Californians are rejected. Senators want to boost AIDS funding. SACRAMENTO - In the first confrontation with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger over his proposed state budget, a pivotal Senate subcom
SACRAMENTO - Tucked away in the state public health bureaucracy is a program that for 77 years has quietly cared for and saved the lives of the sickest of children - from premature infants as tiny as kittens to youngsters fighting brain cancer and other catastrophic illnesses. Because California Children s Services ass
After 34 years together, Len Olds and Hugh Rouse have their routines: They spend mornings on their investments and volunteer work. They usually leave their Laguna Beach home, with its sweeping view of the Pacific, for lunch in town. Evening often brings a dinner party. In every way, the two gay retirees are a couple.
Federal funding to provide services for low-income people with HIV and AIDS in Los Angeles County will be cut by more than 8% compared with last year, county health officials said Monday. The cut of $3.3 million comes as the number of people with HIV continues to rise, along with the costs of caring for them. The funds
-- Spat highlights the contradictions of the annual free-spirited revel in Catholic Brazil RIO DE JANEIRO - Millions of exuberant revelers poured onto the streets of Brazil on Monday as the country s biggest block party, the annual bacchanal known as Carnaval, kicked into high gear amid marching bands, men dressed as
As Kevin Sharer took the helm of Amgen Inc. in mid-2000, the former naval officer worried that the company was sailing into a crisis. The firm s top two drugs each rang up $1 billion or so in sales while improving the lives of patients with cancer and kidney disease. But when Sharer looked ahead, he saw a drought in
Known through history as consumption, the white plague and hectic fever, tuberculosis ravages the lungs and wastes the body. It has felled statesmen and soldiers, poets and prisoners, drinkers and doctors in killing sprees that go back at least 3,000 years. Today, this resilient and highly contagious bacterial infectio
SAN FRANCISCO - The strategy was methodical. For more than a dozen years, lawyers for gay and lesbian causes had carefully selected their battlefields, identifying key states for constitutional challenges aimed at broadening their rights. California was not to be one of them - at least not any time soon - and marriage
Teresa Martinez-Ponce got the news from her boss: A woman had delivered an HIV-positive baby at Ventura County Medical Center and then disappeared, leaving the boy to be put up for adoption. The name and address the woman had given were false. Martinez-Ponce, an outreach worker with the county s Public Health Departmen
The Medical Board of California has suspended the license of Dr. R. Scott Hitt, former chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on AIDS and HIV, for 60 days. In 2002, Hitt, the first openly gay person to head a presidential advisory committee, was accused by state regulators of sexually molesting two patients at
WASHINGTON - The Bush administration called on the pharmaceutical industry Wednesday to voluntarily adopt measures - such as tiny electronic tracking devices attached to labels or boxes - that would stem the growing threat of counterfeit prescription medications in the United States . We will take the necessary step
WASHINGTON - More than 60 leading scientists, including a dozen Nobel laureates, on Wednesday accused the Bush administration of frequently suppressing or distorting scientific analysis from federal agencies when it disagrees with administration policies. The research cited by the Union of Concerned Scientists covered
It was as far from a rock n roll venue as you could get - a palatial room at the posh St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort & Spa in Dana Point. Nine hundred ballroom chairs were lined up, theater style. And a stage worthy of a Las Vegas showroom was bathed in a rainbow of spots, ready for the concert by Tom Petty and the
SAN FRANCISCO - Buoyed by a recent federal court decision and changes in state law, this seaside sanctuary for the medical marijuana movement might soon try to help establish nonprofit cooperatives to grow pot for the ill. It s looking better and better, said San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano. We ve always had the i
The problem with an appreciation is that is can read like an obituary. It helps when the subject is alive, as Magic Johnson indeed is, and there are a lot of other people doing the appreciating, as there were Wednesday evening outside Staples Center. The occasion was the unveiling of a statue of Johnson, not quite a fu
Phillip Deutsch of La Ca¤ada Flintridge recently disproved a well-known scientific theory for measuring the shapes of organic molecules. Arjun Suri of Fresno constructed protein models that could be used to better engineer drugs to target HIV and AIDS. Moriah Nachbaur of Redwood City experimented with plant genes and f
A Costa Mesa man who fraudulently raised nearly $7 million under the guise of helping disabled children and researching AIDS was sentenced Monday in federal court to 15 years in prison and was fined $25,000. Through telemarketers, Timothy James Lyons, 35, and his childhood friend, Gabriel Bernardo Sanchez, 37, promised
The circus will draft an anti-bias policy after a federal panel s finding sets the stage for lawsuit. SAN FRANCISCO - Cirque du Soleil will offer to rehire an acrobat fired by the Montreal-based circus last year because he is HIV-positive. The circus also plans to draft an anti-discrimination policy with help from the
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Best to stay away from that one. That was the whispered warning about Liony Accelus when neighbors, fellow drivers on the tap-tap bus runs and even some lifelong friends concluded that the evil eye had given him AIDS. They thought it was a voodoo spell that was making me sick, the 36-year-old
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - The almost instant success that James A. Baker III has had in his international lobbying to have Iraq s debt forgiven raises an uncomfortable comparison: how little has been done to relieve the African debt that cripples some of the world s poorest countries. Since the mid-1990s, advoca
Measure allows Bush to move ahead with controversial rules that would limit overtime pay and let media giants buy more TV stations. WASHINGTON - Congress on Thursday sent to President Bush a $328.5-billion spending bill that clears the way for new rules dealing with gun-purchase records, media ownership and overtime pa
Zhou Yichao was so overwhelmed at being discriminated against that he murdered an official who refused to hire him. Some in China are taking his side. JIAXING, China - His father died when he was 12. His mother gave up the chance to remarry and sold tickets at the local cinema to put him through college. Until a f
CALCUTTA, India - On a recent visit to one of this city s 20,000 prostitutes, the doctor offered a few pointers on escaping India s raging AIDS epidemic, beginning with the boudoir s most essential equipment. For one, her bed stood six inches too high, he said. He sat against the edge of the mattress, feet flat on the
A company that runs apartments in West Hollywood acts after charges that an ill tenant was abandoned by caregivers. Responding to city-ordered review, a West Hollywood company that runs a housing complex for people with AIDS pledged Monday night to hire an additional staff member to monitor tenants needs for social ser
Gymgoer Hilary Beane was having a tough time transitioning from her previous upscale, state-of-the-art gym to Body Builders Gym, a 24-year-old independent club in Silver Lake, which is best described as funky. She wasn t sure about the weight stacks that had weathered to a bronze patina, about some of the older equipme
WEST HOLLYWOOD -- Tenants complaints about inadequate attention from management at a West Hollywood apartment complex built for people living with AIDS prompted a city-ordered review that concluded that additional staff is needed to assist the sick. The report by a New York consultant found that although a majority of
SAN FRANCISCO -- Cirque du Soleil, which redefined the circus with its high flying acrobats and artistic contortionists, is struggling to maintain its reputation after firing a gymnast in a case that critics say amounts to a stumble of national proportions. Matthew Cusick s dream of performing with the magical Cirque w
Gail Elizabeth Wyatt doesn t look the part. Hooker. With her fair complexion, silky hair and refined dress, she resembles the archetypal African American trophy wife of her generation. Indeed, her husband is an obstetrician-gynecologist, and they live in a grand home - tennis court, swimming pool - high above Beverly H
This information is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.