IAPAC Proposes Rationing HIV Drugs in the U.S.

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1997. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

IAPAC Proposes Rationing HIV Drugs in the U.S.

AIDS Alert (01/98) Vol. 13, No. 1, P. 9

Abstract: The International Association of Physicians in AIDS Care in Chicago has announced its support for a policy to ration HIV/AIDS drugs in the United States. The group has proposed that a team of experts--composed of bioethicists, physicians, community leaders, health care officials, and people with HIV- -work together on a plan for explicit rationing. Among the issues the panel would need to consider are how a patient's age, health, financial status, and ability to comply with drug regimens should factor into eligibility. Public health officials say that without rationing or a national mandate to increase HIV treatment funding dramatically, the cost of new therapies will remain prohibitive for a number of patients. Georgetown University law professor Lawrence Gostin notes that lotteries have been used to ration drugs in the past, citing instances when new therapies for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and Lou Gehrig's disease were first released.

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