The New York Times - October 12, 1984
Marvine Howe

Leaders of homosexual groups say that the test may be used to discriminate against them, and are urging homosexuals not to take it without greater assurances of confidentiality.

But government officials say that they are committed to assuring confidentiality to all those who take the test.

The controversy has put some homosexual groups in the position of supporting research into the illness, Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, but opposing the procedure that is a key aspect of that research.

"The test is extremely dangerous and clinically useless because we cannot interpret it," said Dr. Stephen S. Caiazza, president of the New York Physicians for Human Rights, an organization of physicians who treat homosexuals.

The blood test indicates antibodies to the Human T-cell lymphotropic virus. That virus, called HTLV-III, is now considered the probable cause of AIDS. But the presence of the antibodies does not necessarily indicate that an individual will contract AIDS, according to Dr. Caiazza. 2,705 Have Died Since '80

AIDS is a disorder in which the body's immune system breaks down, leaving it vulnerable to disease. Male homosexuals and intravenous drug users are believed most at risk. According to the latest statistics released by the Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, the nationwide total of AIDS cases reported since 1980 is 5,963, and 2,705, or 45 percent of them, have died.

Concerns about the blood test first arose over what homosexual groups have said was a proposal to create an interstate registry of those whose tests were positive. But a spokesman for the Center for Disease Control said that a memo to public health officials by Dr. James Curran, who heads the center's department investigating AIDS, was misinterpreted and suggested only an interstate exchange of information, not a registry.

Some homosexual leaders are particularly worried about confidentiality in a major new AIDS study, the broadest of its kind, involving 200,000 volunteer blood donors in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Miami. They are afraid that if positive test results appeared in medical files, homosexuals could lose employment opportunities and insurance coverage.

The New York Native, a biweekly that publishes matters of interest to homosexuals, made a front-page appeal to its readers not to take the test.

'Absence of Safeguards'

"We strongly advise against taking the test without the proper safeguards of confidentiality," said Mark Chataway, a spokesman for the Gay Men's Health Crisis. "Vital scientific research into AIDS is just beginning and will necessarily involve tests of people in affected communities. The absence of safeguards is likely to jeopardize that research because in good conscience we cannot recommend that anyone take part in research programs until they are assured the results won't be used against them. "

An agreement has recently been reached with the Public Health Service on a model consent form that informs volunteers of the risks of taking part in AIDS research programs.

The form includes the promise of prior notification before identifying information is given to a third party and a warning that in the future, employers or insurance companies may inquire about test results. It was worked out by the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, the National Gay Task Force and the American Association of Physicians for Human Rights.

Dr. Edward N. Brandt Jr., the Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, addressed a memorandum to Public Health Service Agency heads and AIDS Executive Task Force members earlier this month saying: "We must urge all of our grantees and contract recipients to recognize the needs for confidentiality of participants in AIDS clinical studies and to assure volunteers of our awareness of such needs and our intent to honor that."

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