Newsday - August 3, 1988
Laurie Garrett

Instead, he referred proposals for antidiscrimination legislation to the attorney general for a 30-day review. Such a process would indefinitely delay federal action on what many saw as the commission's key recommendation.

Reagan ordered federal officials not to discriminate against federal employees infected with the AIDS virus as long as they are physically able to work. And he urged businesses, unions and schools to voluntarily adopt similar antidiscrimination protections. Other commission recommendations, which were submitted June 24, were not addressed in the 10-point plan, including pleas for a major federal commitment to drug-treatment programs, and calls for increased expenditures in the war on AIDS. The president referred budgetary requests for further review by the Office of Management and Budget.

The AIDS commission called for a $1-billion annual expenditure for drug-abuse treatment and education; the president, however, simply called for "bipartisan support" in his war on drugs. Reagan also called for improved blood screening, and asked the Food and Drug Administration to encourage self-donation of blood before surgery.

Most of the presidential plan goes into effect immediately, and is geared to result in additional review and recommendations to the president in the next 90 days.

In a statement issued on his behalf, Reagan said his "action plan" would "assure compassion toward those with the HIV infection, provide dignity and kindness in treatment and medical care, and require that we inform and educate our citizens to prevent further spread of the disease."

The plan drew sharp and angry responses from some members of the AIDS commission, representatives of the gay community, prominent congressional Democrats and civil libertarians.

Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) labeled the recommendation for further study by the attorney general "another delaying tactic in a long line of missed opportunities in the war on AIDS."

White House spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the president's refusal to endorse the antidiscrimination legislation was based on pragmatic, rather than philosophical concerns.

"There still are a number of legal points . . . to be ironed out," he said.

Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) denounced the call for OMB and attorney general's reviews, saying, "This administration has done its best to avoid making even a single helpful AIDS decision in the eight years of the Reagan presidency. They handpick a commission, and then don't even have the courage to accept its recommendations."

AIDS commission member Dr. Frank Lilly, of the Albert Einstein School of Medicine, said he was "frankly dissapointed" by the president's position on the AIDS antidiscrimination issue. "That point was one of the critical points in the entire set of recommendations to the president," Lilly said. "Without it, many of the other points don't make much sense."

James D. Watkins, the retired Navy admiral who headed the AIDS commission appointed by Reagan last summer, issued a statement saying he was pleased that Reagan "has taken this important first step so necessary to setting the right tone for the nation to deal with the HIV epidemic."

Both presidential candidates have called for antidiscrimination measures. Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis yesterday labeled Reagan's decision to defer the issue to the attorney general "unfortunate," adding the administration "has repeatedly failed to acknowledge the full extent of the epidemic."

Vice President George Bush avoided making remarks specifically critical of the Reagan plan. Instead, he directed his office to remind reporters of a recent statement: "Such programs will be ineffective without being coupled with strict confidentiality and antidiscrimination provisions."

In defense of the president's reluctance to support antidiscrimination legislation, Dr. Donald MacDonald, special assistant to the president for drug-abuse policy, said said yesterday that the problem seems to be working itself out at the local level. "In the three biggest AIDS cities in the country," MacDonald said, "New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, discrimination is not a problem."

Dr. Mervyn Silverman, president of the American Foundation for AIDS Research, denounced MacDonald's statement as "utter nonsense."

"Even in San Francisco," Silverman said, "which is a liberal area, I've got a list a mile long of people who have lost their jobs, been thrown out of their apartments, just because they are infected with the AIDS virus. To say it doesn't exist is pure Pollyanna."
880803
ND880802

AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All information contained on this website, including information relating to health conditions, products, and treatments, is for informational purposes only. It is often presented in summary or aggregate form. It is not meant to be a substitute for the advice provided by your own physician or other medical professionals. Always discuss treatment options with a doctor who specializes in treating HIV.

Copyright ©1980, 1988. AEGiS. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content. .