SOUTH CAROLINA: Patients Wait for Help from Struggling Agency

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2006. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Patients Wait for Help from Struggling Agency

The State (Columbia) (12.16.06) - Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Czerne Reid

The waiting list for South Carolina's AIDS Drug Assistance Program is the longest in the nation: 342 patients as of mid- December. Prospective ADAP clients have been added to the list since June, when administrators announced a $3 million shortfall. Case workers are helping patients access drugs through charitable programs run by the pharmaceutical sector. But such programs are month-to-month - an unstable, temporary solution that discourages some patients. Four S.C. patients have died waiting for help from ADAP.

AIDS advocates are lobbying the legislature to add $8 million in the 2008 budget for ADAP. In the meantime, ADAP officials have said $3 million in emergency funds would cover all eligible patients on the waiting list.

When Kelly Jepson was diagnosed with HIV in 2004, she was celebrating getting "clean" from heroin injecting, through which she contracted the virus. She also has hepatitis C, chronic pancreatitis, peripheral neuropathy, and is starting to experience AIDS dementia.

In addition to the HIV drugs Truvada, Lexiva, and Norvir, Jepson receives pain, depression, and anxiety medications - 14 or more pills a day. She is trying to qualify for Social Security help and get assistance from Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS. She said she has considered moving to another state that offers better AIDS benefits.

"I feel strongly about this," said Frank Steele, Jepson's closest friend. "Why can't South Carolina take care of its people?"
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