The Chicago Tribune - Tuesday, April 6, 1999
LeAnn Spencer, Tribune Staff Writer

The letter, along with the man's name, was printed in an employee newsletter and distributed nationwide, according to the suit. The newsletter also was posted above the cash register and in the window of the Evanston store that filled the prescriptions, lawyers said.

At no time did the company ask the patient for permission to use the letter for promotional purposes or for permission to release his name, according to the suit.

In addition to Osco Drug Stores, the suit names the chain's parent companies, American Drug Stores Inc., and American Stores Co., which are based in Utah. "We have not seen the complaint and have not yet even been served, so there really isn't any comment," said Karen Ramos, a spokeswoman for Jewel-Osco, which is based in Melrose Park.

"One would assume that a drugstore chain would have the highest level of ethics and not be so cavalier," said the man's attorney, Paul Levy.

"Our client has understandably kept his HIV status a private matter for years and related his condition only to health-care professionals from whom he received treatment, his family and a limited number of his close personal friends," Levy said.

As a result of the publicity, lawyers said that their client was harassed by threatening telephone calls and his house was vandalized. The stress caused his health to deteriorate drastically, they said, resulting in increased dosages of costly drugs.

The newsletter was distributed in 1996, but failing health prevented the man from filing suit immediately, lawyers said.

"It took a number of months to regain his health where he felt confident that he is well enough to sustain this litigation," Levy said.

The suit, which asks a jury to set damages, was filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court because the statute of limitations in Illinois has expired. The statute of limitations in Wisconsin is longer and, because the newsletter was distributed there, the suit can be filed in that state, according to lawyers.

The plaintiff, who is identified only as John Doe in order to protect his privacy and who lives both in Evanston and Florida, needed large amounts of a prescription drug called Norvir, which is manufactured by Abbott Laboratories. Abbott is not named in the suit.

Norvir is the brand name of ritonavir, an HIV protease inhibitor used to treat people with AIDS.

When the man first started taking Norvir in 1996, the drug was difficult to get, Levy said, and "my client was in dire circumstances."

The Evanston pharmacists were instrumental in obtaining large amounts of Norvir, according to the lawyers, and the man's health dramatically improved.

In May 1996 the grateful patient wrote a letter of appreciation to the company thanking the pharmacists for their work in obtaining the drug. In November of that year, the company published the letter along with the man's name in its national employee publication, according to the lawsuit.

The man learned in April 1997 that his letter had been published after someone sent him a copy of the magazine.

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