AEGiS-LT: THE FORGOTTEN ONES

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

THE FORGOTTEN ONES

Los Angeles Times - July 15, 2007
Charles Ornstein, Staff Writer

Timeline
Key dates in the history of AIDS and the HIV-tainted blood transfusions given at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
--September 1980: Anique Kasper born at Cedars-Sinai; received tainted transfusion.
-- June 1981: First reports of disease later named AIDS in gay men.
-- April 1982: Alex Ghaffari born at Cedars-Sinai; received tainted transfusion.
-- July 1982: The disease is given the name acquired immune deficiency syndrome. Concerns raised about infection being spread by blood-clotting products among hemophiliacs.
-- December 1982: San Francisco toddler reported to have developed AIDS after blood transfusions.
-- March 1983: The federal government encourages high-risk donors not to give blood or plasma.
-- October 1983: Sam Kushnick, 3, dies of AIDS-related pneumonia at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where he had received a tainted blood transfusion after birth.
-- January 1984: Medical journal concludes AIDS could result from "exposure to as little as one unit" of blood.
-- March 1985: Test approved that can detect HIV antibodies in blood.
-- 1986-87: Cedars-Sinai seeks to have babies who received blood transfusions at the hospital before 1985 tested for HIV.
-- 1987: Ghaffari'as mother and Anique's father alerted by Cedars-Sinai that their children may have contracted HIV.
-- June 1988: Presidential Commission on the HIV Epidemic recommends notification of every patient who received a blood transfusion since 1977 of their potential exposure to HIV.
-- July 1992: Anique Kasper dies.
-- March 1993: Anique's father, Bruch Kasper, sues Cedars-Sinai. Lawsiut is later dismissed.
-- July 1995: Institute of Medicine finds that blood banks and others underestimated the threat of HIV in transfusions and blood products.
-- 2002, 2003 and 2005: Bills are filed in Congress to provide $100,000 payments to people who contracted HIV through blood transfusions. The bills died.
-- November 2004: Seeking answers, Ghaffari contacts Kasper.
-- January 2005: Kasper holds meeting of surviving HIV-infected children.
-- March 2007: Ghafarri begins taking experimental HIV medication after growing resistant to nearly all drugs on the market.

At least 33 infants were infected in the 1980s by HIV-tainted transfusions at Cedars-Sinai. Many died, some lived. All got lost in the larger AIDS crisis.

Article: Footnotes to a tragedy
Infants infected by transfusions -- 33 at Cedars-Sinai -- faded from view as AIDS exploded. A survivor and a grieving parent forged a unique bond.

Article: Learning the truth, then facing it

NOELLE SIMEON: 'Very lucky, very blessed'

SARA ROSE GORFINKEL: Twin's death shadows sister

SHEVAWN AVILA: New name tied to lost life

ROBIN AND LARRY JACOBS: 'Her world got smaller'

CANDY PRIDE: Mother and daughter were 'the sunshine girls'

FRANKIE SPALDING: Her sufferings began in middle age

KRISTEN LEE: From depression to a sense of purpose

DANIEL BARBAKOW: Dealing with the pain of loss

Stories on HIV from The Times' archives
- Anique Kasper, 11; Focus of AIDS Debate (1992)
- The Blood That Takes Away Life (1992)
- Cedars Tallied 21 Infant AIDS Cases (1987)
- Cedars Tests Tots Born in Early '80s for AIDS Virus (1987)
- The Heartbreak of AIDS: a Family Copes (1984)

Graphics reporting by Charles Ornstein

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