1998

Driver's HIV Message Finally OKd for Plate: San Francisco Chronicle - Saturday, December 12, 1998; Henry K. Lee, Chronicle Staff Writer; An East Bay man with AIDS received his personalized license plate reading HIV POS from the state Department of Motor Vehicles yesterday, capping a two-year federal court battle. But even as Kevin Dimmick, 42, of Kensington hung his plate on his motorcycle outside the DMV office in El Cerrito, a new lawsuit he has filed
Davis Will Be Lobbied Over HIV Reporting: CDC tracking should be only by code, activists say: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, December 11, 1998; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer; A new federal push for states to begin tracking HIV infections will create an early test of the rapport between Governor-elect Gray Davis and the state s vocal and politically astute gay constituency. At issue will be whether Davis will support a bill, similar to one vetoed last fall by Governor Wilson, that would esta
U.S. Asks States to Report People Who Take HIV Tests: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, December 10, 1998; Jonathan Curiel, Chronicle Staff Writer; In guidelines to be announced today, federal health officials are asking states to begin tracking individuals who have taken HIV tests as a way of monitoring the spread of the infection. The proposal, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, would let states set up their own system of tracking people g
Vaccine a Top Priority, Research Chief Says; But cunning virus has foiled scientists: San Francisco Chronicle, Wednesday, December 2, 1998; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer; President Clinton s chief of AIDS research came to San Francisco on World AIDS Day yesterday, stressing the desperate need for a vaccine to stem an out of control global epidemic. Dr. Neal Nathanson, a viral epidemiologist named last May as director of the National Institutes of Health s Office of AIDS Research, acknow
Health Study Reports 10% Increase in AIDS Infections Worldwide: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, November 24, 1998; Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Science Writer; Grim new figures on the global AIDS epidemic show the disease tightening its grip throughout the developing world. In a somber update issued in advance of World AIDS Day next week, health authorities at the United Nations and World Health Organization estimated 33.4 million people worldwide will be living with HIV, the
Alameda County May Declare AIDS Crisis Over Blacks: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, November 3, 1998; Laura Hamburg, Chronicle Staff Writer; AIDS among African Americans in Alameda County has reached epidemic proportions, according to health care officials who have called for a county-wide public health state of emergency -- the first of its kind in the country. Mirroring a national trend, African Americans are five times more likely to be diagnosed with AI
EDITORIAL: When Medical Syringes Carry Death and Disease: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, October 30, 1998; NO DOCTOR should have to make the choice that faced Dr. Warura Mogo in Kenya in 1994: immunize 20 children with the 20 disposable needles available or immunize all 120 who wanted vaccinations but risk fatal blood-borne diseases such as HIV and hepatitis because of possibly inadequately sterilized needles. The appal
Minority Communities Focus of AIDS Initiative: Clinton happy with $156 million program: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, October 29, 1998; Louis Freedberg, Chronicle Washington Bureau; Describing it as one of his greatest victories in his recent budget agreement with Congress, President Clinton yesterday announced a $156 million program designed to fight the spread of AIDS among blacks and other minorities. The purpose of the program is to give minorities access to the same level of treatment availab
DEADLY NEEDLES: Epidemic's Devastating Toll: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, October 29, 1998; Reynolds Holding, William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writers; By the early 1990s, miscalculations and missed opportunities by health officials, needle manufacturers and relief agencies had exacted a terrible price. Unsafe injections were destroying millions of lives and costing hundreds of millions of dollars every year. (Last Of Three Parts) THIKA DISTRICT HOSPITAL: THIKA, KENYA
HIV Tests Taken Sooner If Anonymous, Study Finds: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, October 28, 1998; Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Science Writer; People get tested for the AIDS virus sooner if anonymous testing is available, researchers say. In the first major comparison of anonymous testing versus programs that take names along with blood samples, experts found strong evidence in favor of the no-names option. From the public-health standpoint, it s a slam-dunk,
DEADLY NEEDLES: Lost Chance to Avert Crisis: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, October 28, 1998; Reynolds Holding, William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writers; Ten years ago, a new generation of syringes promised to end a global epidemic of unsterile injections. It was a golden opportunity, but health officials, needle makers and relief agencies let it slip away. (Second Of Three Parts) PATH OFFICES: SEATTLE For Michael Free, the four years of humbling trial and error finally
DEADLY NEEDLES: Fast Track to Global Disaster: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, October 27, 1998; Reynolds Holding, William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writers; For decades, researchers warned that contaminated syringes could transmit deadly viruses with cruel efficiency. But efforts to defuse the crisis were failed, and today, it has become an insidious global epidemic, destroying millions of lives every year. (First Of Three Parts) CONFERENCE ROOM A: WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATIO
DEADLY NEEDLES: Health Workers Contract Deadly Diseases; Needle sticks with unsterile syringes a common occurrence in developing countries: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, October 27, 1998; William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writer; Every day, thousands of health care workers in developing nations are accidentally stuck by needles -- in some countries at rates 10 times greater than their colleagues in the United States . Nurses prick themselves recapping needles in Thailand . Immunization workers get stuck while sterilizing syringes in
Call for Safe Needles Tucked Into Spending Plan; Boxer added language to Congress' bill: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, October 23, 1998; Reynolds Holding, Chronicle Legal Affairs Writer; Congress has called for a dramatic reduction in accidental needle injuries, urging federal health-care and worker-safety agencies to require safer needles and more accurate reporting at the nation s medical facilities. It is the first time that Congress has publicly acknowledged a nationwide health crisis in which hund
Health Agency Links HIV Drugs to Premature Birth: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, October 23, 1998; Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Science Writer; Pregnant women taking drugs against the AIDS virus may bear an increased risk of premature delivery, government health authorities warned yesterday. A few small studies have shown higher than expected rates of premature births in some HIV-infected women on combination drug therapy, the Centers for Disease Control and P
Blunt AIDS Ads Tackle Unsafe Sex; S.F. ad campaign promotes post-exposure treatment: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, October 14, 1998; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer; With a pair of ads guaranteed not to play in Peoria, San Francisco has launched a publicity campaign to encourage gay men to take emergency anti-viral pills if they experience an incident of unsafe sex. In bars, dance clubs and sex clubs that cater to gay men, a poster depicts a broken condom and the words Oh S--! in
HIV Is Rampant in Black Community; African American leaders ask Alameda County to declare a public health emergency: San Francisco Chronicle - Wednesday, October 14, 1998; Barbara Lee, Doretha Williams-Flornoy, Gloria Lockett, lvan Quamina; ALAMEDA COUNTY, after Los Angeles County, is home to the largest number of African Americans in the state. The 229,316 African Americans in Alameda County are more likely than other ethnic groups to develop critical and chronic health problems, and less likely to receive care. So it s no surprise that African Americans
AIDS Patient's Benefits Claim Rejected Again: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, October 13, 1998; An AIDS patient who returned to the United States to seek disability benefits said yesterday he has been rebuffed again by immigration authorities. Christopher Arnesen said the Immigration and Naturalization Service advised him last week that its staff had concluded that he abandoned his U.S. residence by living in his
EDITORIAL: Research Pays Off In Fight Against Aids: SanFrancisco Chronicle - Monday, October 12, 1998; THE EXTRAORDINARY drop in the number of AIDS deaths is an inspiring testament to the value of investing in medical research. Considering that only a few years ago AIDS was almost a certain death sentence, the 44 percent reduction between 1996 and 1997 is a remarkable accomplishment. And it is largely due to such new fo
DEADLY NEEDLES: New Technology Not Likely to Reach Addicts: San Francisco Chronicle - Tuesday, October 27, 1998; Reynolds Holding, Chronicle Legal Affairs Writer; They arrived an average of one a week in late 1933, 17 bodies carted into the New York City medical examiner s office, all former heroin addicts, all dead of malaria. It would take Dr. Milton Helpern, assistant medical examiner, until March 1934, but with help from two narcotics detectives he made the connection: The d
AIDS Deaths Cut in Half -- Disease Off Top 10 List: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, October 8, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; The death rate from AIDS in America, already declining steadily in recent years, plummeted by nearly 50 percent last year to its lowest in a decade, federal health officials reported yesterday. As a result, the disease no longer ranks among the nation s top 10 causes of death, and is now 14th, compared with 8th in 1996
Gonorrhea Cases Rise Among Gays; S.F. report says chlamydia widespread among teens: San Francisco Chronicle, Friday, October 2, 1998; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer; San Francisco health clinics are detecting a steady increase in gonorrhea cases among gay men, a troubling signal of unsafe sex that may augur a similar rise of AIDS cases in the future. The findings are contained in a report released to city health commissioners this week that suggests the city may be undergoing a rev
Drug Firm Plan Would Pay HMO To Favor 5 of Its Medications Proposal for `rebate' of $1 million per month: San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, September 25, 1998; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer; In a deal that critics say swaps cold cash for medical judgment, California s third-largest HMO is proposing to use only Bristol-Myers Squibb drugs for certain illnesses in exchange for multimillion-dollar payments from the New York drug giant. Foundation Health Systems Inc., whose Health Net HMO serves 2.1 million Cal
EDITORIAL: A Sensible Way To Track HIV: San Francisco Chronicle; Thursday, September 17, 1998; FOR FAR too long, state proposals to track people with the human immunodeficiency virus have been stymied by an insurmountable conflict. Health officials have insisted that the names of HIV positive people should disclosed, as are the identities of people with other government-tracked diseases. AIDS activists, however,
Why AIDS Erupts After Long Infection; Researchers find molecular trigger: San Francisco Chronicle - Thursday, September 10, 1998; Carl T. Hall, Chronicle Science Writer; Scientists said yesterday that they may have discovered the deadly molecular trigger that can bring on full-blown AIDS after years of benign infection with HIV. The findings suggest a possible solution to one of the longest-running mysteries of modern medicine -- what makes some people harboring the AIDS virus suddenly
New Zealander Seeks U.S. Health Benefits; Ban on HIV-positive foreigners challenged: San Francisco Chronicle; Wednesday, August 5, 1998; Elaine Herscher, Chronicle Staff Writer; Defying U.S. immigration policy, a New Zealander with AIDS stepped off a plane at San Francisco International Airport yesterday to fight for disability benefits he says he earned over nearly 30 years as a resident of the United States . A weary Christopher Arnesen greeted a passel of lawyers and reporters at the U.S. C
New AIDS Campaign Focuses on Latinos; County designing program in Spanish: San Francisco Chronicle; Thursday, July 30, 1998; Tanya Schevitz, Chronicle Staff Writer; The slogan for the Contra Costa County Health Department s English-language AIDS education campaign is You have the power to stop AIDS. But yesterday, a Latino student suggested something very different to reach Spanish speakers. Con una sandia es buena la vida, suggested 17-year-old Mayra Flores of Concord. Si tienes
Gays Hear Of Viagra Dangers; Panel wary of interaction with AIDS-fighting drugs: San Francisco Chronicle; Wednesday, July 29, 1998; Manny Fernandez, Chronicle Staff Writer; Although Viagra has become a national punch line around the office water cooler these days, there was little to snicker about at a town hall meeting on the little blue pill last night in San Francisco s Castro district. About 80 members of the gay community met at the Metropolitan Community Church to separate fact from
A Quest to Fight AIDS in Third World; Delegates leave Geneva conference full of resolve: San Francisco Chronicle; Saturday, July 4, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; Heartened by news of improvements in AIDS drug therapy and experiments with possible vaccines, the 12th World AIDS Conference ended yesterday with a new determination to focus the energy of scientists and activists on the worst AIDS crisis of all -- the epidemic s unchecked toll throughout the Third World. If one thing
Asian Economic Crisis Creates New AIDS Crisis; Third World says no money means no care for its victims: San Francisco Chronicle; Friday, July 3, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; Adding to the desperate poverty and political disruption that are helping spread the AIDS virus across southern Africa, the new economic crisis gripping the nations of Southeast Asia has begun to intensify the epidemic there, delegates from Third World countries say bitterly. The widely proclaimed theme of the 12th Wor
Hopes for Restoring AIDS-Ravaged Immune Systems; Possible fix for fatal bacterial infections: San Francisco Chronicle; Thursday, July 2, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; The human immune system, ravaged by the attack of the AIDS virus, may be restored to activity if long-term drug therapy can hold the virus in check at virtually invisible levels in the body, researchers reported yesterday. If early trials in patients prove it can be done, the achievement would free many AIDS patients f
AIDS Discovery Worries Scientists; S.F. man infected with drug-resistant strain of HIV: San Francisco Chronicle; Wednesday, July 1, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; The first known case of a patient being infected with a strain of HIV resistant to the most powerful new anti-viral drugs was reported yesterday by San Francisco AIDS specialists. Scientists at the 12th World AIDS Conference in Geneva said the case could mark an ominous new turn in the global epidemic that has already
Risky Sex Increases Among Young Gays; But HIV rate steady, S.F. study finds: San Francisco Chronicle; Wednesday, July 1, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; High-risk sexual activity among young gay men has increased alarmingly in San Francisco, but there is no sign yet that rates of HIV infection in this group have risen, researchers reported yesterday. For the past five years, a group of scientists from the University of California s Center for AIDS Prevention Studies in
U.N. Acts To Prevent AIDS Babies; Drugs for infected Third World mothers: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, June 30, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; Leaders of the major U.N. health agencies began the most powerful assault ever yesterday on one of the global AIDS epidemic s most devastating problems -- the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands of infants born each year to mothers infected with HIV. The initiative was among the highlights yesterday during the 12t
Starting AIDS `Cocktail' All at Once; Study finds better result than when drugs are begun sequentially: San Francisco Chronicle; Monday, June 29, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; Most AIDS patients who start multiple-drug therapy by taking all their prescribed anti-viral medicines simultaneously do far better than those who begin therapy by taking the drugs one at a time over several months, a two-year study by researchers at five American universities shows. The study was led by Dr. Roy M. Gul
Warnings Amid Optimism At World AIDS Meeting: San Francisco Chronicle; Monday, June 29, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; With costly AIDS drugs now available to prolong life for the fortunate few who can afford them, and new ones emerging from advanced research laboratories, the 12th International AIDS Conference opened yesterday amid restrained optimism coupled with a profound awareness that millions of people face a fate worse than the
HIV Ruled A Disability, Discriminition Barred: San Francisco Chronicle; Friday, June 26, 1998; Louis Freedberg, Chronicle Washington Bureau; In a decision that could benefit millions of Americans with a range of medical problems, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday that people who test positive for the AIDS virus are covered by federal laws that protect the disabled against discrimination even if they display no symptoms of the disease. The narrowly divided c
Poor Nations Losing Battle Against AIDS; Many can't afford new treatments: San Francisco Chronicle; Wednesday, June 24, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; With AIDS infections and deaths surging more swiftly than ever around the globe, the gap between success and failure is widening ominously between rich and poor countries battling the epidemic, U.N. officials reported yesterday. In the first country-by-country report on the global AIDS epidemic, the U.N. health experts
Cal OSHA May Tighten Safety Laws On Needles; Caregivers injured by dangerous devices: San Francisco Chronicle; Monday, June 8, 1998; William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writer; The state agency that oversees worker safety is considering new measures to force California health care employers to supply their workers with safe needle devices to prevent the spread of HIV and other diseases from accidental needle sticks. At a meeting in San Francisco last week, officials with the California Occupa
Quarter of AIDS Patients Not Getting Best Therapy: San Francisco Chronicle; Thursday, June 4, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; Despite the availability of new AIDS drug combinations that are saving thousands of lives, at least one-quarter of HIV-infected patients are not being given the most effective therapy by their doctors, a national survey shows. And it is women and minorities who are faring the worst -- a fact that may well contribute to
Stanford AIDS Study Called Discouraging; It shows the need for new treatments: San Francisco Chronicle; Monday, June 1, 1998; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer; The discouraging new Stanford study of patients resistant to combinations of AIDS drugs has put in bold relief the urgency of developing new treatments, say those familiar with the study. There are 11 major AIDS drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and combinations of these drugs are credited with a dram
Study of How Pot Affects AIDS Patients; $1 million 2-year trial being conducted in S.F.: San Francisco Chronicle; Saturday, May 23, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; The first federally funded effort to study the effects of marijuana on AIDS patients has begun in San Francisco with a two-year $1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health. Physicians at San Francisco General Hospital are recruiting 63 patients for the clinical trial examining how marijuana smoking may infl
S.F. Mayor Brown Honors Testers of AIDS Drugs 33 from city are in nationwide trial: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, May 19, 1998; Jason B. Johnson, Chronicle Staff Writer; San Franciscans who put their bodies on the line by taking part in clinical research for an AIDS vaccine were honored yesterday by Mayor Willie Brown. In the year since President Clinton called for the development of a vaccine against the disease, Bay Area volunteers and companies have rushed to take up the challenge.
Safe-Needle Measure Introduced in Senate; House considering similar measure: San Francisco Chronicle; Thursday, May 14, 1998; April Lynch, Chronicle Staff Writer; Nevada Senator Harry Reid has joined a Bay Area Congressional representative s push for safer hypodermic needles in most public hospitals across the country. Reid, a Democrat, introduced a bill in the Senate on Friday that would require hospitals serving veterans and Medicare patients to use needles that better protect
AIDS Vaccine at Least 10 Years Away, Experts Say Several good leads, but none ready for large human trials: San Francisco Chronicle; Wednesday, May 13, 1998, page A6.; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; Early human trials of new AIDS vaccines are showing promise, and even newer concepts are being tested in animals, but truly safe, effective and long-lasting vaccines cheap enough to protect millions around the world against the epidemic are still at least 10 years away, experts said yesterday. In a discussion organized
DEBRA J. SAUNDERS -- Needles, Pinheads And Politicians: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, April 28, 1998; Debra J. Saunders; SAN FRANCISCO S needle exchange program has been an unqualified success: The city has not reported a single case of pediatric AIDS in three years. And there s not exactly a shortage of junkie moms in San Francisco either. HIV infection among women is low. Nationally, 14.9 percent of adults with HIV are women. In San Fr
AIDS Experts Map Out Battle Plans; Specialists gather in S.F., outline prevention needs: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, April 21, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; AIDS specialists from 38 countries joined yesterday to set their highest priorities for prevention strategies to save entire generations from a disease now ravaging the developing world more powerfully than ever before. In virtually every country outside the industrialized West, the experts agreed, the most desperate n
PAGE ONE (WASHINGTON) -- White House Needle Swap Surprise A refusal to lift ban on program funding: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, April 21, 1998; Louis Freedberg, Chronicle Washington Bureau; Ending weeks of speculation, the Clinton administration yesterday refused to lift a 10-year ban on using federal funds for needle exchange programs, despite concluding for the first time that such exchanges prevent the spread of HIV and do not encourage drug use. Leaders in the fight against AIDS condemned the unexpect
S.F. Cannabis Club Officially Shut Down, Grand Reopening Today: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, April 21, 1998; Glen Martin, Chronicle Staff Writer; It could have been a scene out of Evita -- throngs of people standing on the street, shaking their fists in the air and bellowing: PER-ON! PER-ON! But they weren t screaming for Juan Peron, the charismatic Argentine dictator of the 1940s and 50s. They were screaming for Dennis Peron, the elfin, white-haired, pot-huffin
EDITORIAL -- Needle Exchange Cowardice: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, April 21, 1998; IN A DISPLAY of political timidity the Clinton administration yesterday refused federal funding for needle exchange programs, while conceding exchanges reduce AIDS transmission and don t encourage illegal drug use. A meticulous scientific review has now proven that needle exchange programs can reduce the transmission o
True-Blue AIDS Volunteers Flourish Without Red Tape Contra Costa group survives funding cutoff: San Francisco Chronicle; Saturday, April 18, 1998; Michael Hytha, Chronicle Staff Writer; Abandoned a year ago by the nonprofit agency that sponsored them, volunteers helping people with AIDS in Contra Costa are ready to take charge with their own organization. The 150 volunteers have stuck by their clients, helping with chores, shuttling them to medical appointments and offering a friendly ear. Now the fle
GOP Balks at Idea Of Lifting Ban on Needle Funding Conservatives threaten bills to prevent White House action: San Francisco Chronicle; Saturday, April 18, 1998; Louis Freedberg, Chronicle Washington Bureau; Conservatives reacted angrily yesterday to reports that the Clinton administration is on the verge of lifting a 10-year-old ban on using federal funds for needle exchange programs to prevent the spread of AIDS. As one Republican lawmaker said he would introduce legislation on Monday to reimpose a moratorium on the use
Boxer Wants Emergency Action On Needles She says caregivers should be protected: San Francisco Chronicle; Friday, April 17, 1998; William Carlsen, Reynolds Holding, Chronicle Staff Writers; Alarmed by reports of an epidemic of needle stick infections, Senator Barbara Boxer called on the Clinton administration yesterday to issue emergency regulations compelling the nation s hospitals and medical facilities to use safety needles. The California Democrat said she was amazed when she learned from a series of
S.F. Health Care Workers Rally for Safer Needles; Chronicle series prompts calls for change: San Francisco Chronicle; Thursday, April 16, 1998; Reynolds Holding, William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writers; Hundreds of health care workers and union activists rallied at San Francisco General Hospital yesterday to demand protection against deadly needle sticks and to denounce the nation s hospitals and medical clinics for failing to provide safer needles. Responding to Chronicle reports that thousands of nurses, laboratory
Hospitals Slow to Comply With OSHA Standard for Safety Devices: San Francisco Chronicle; Wednesday, April 15, 1998; Willam Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writer; A survey of California hospitals shows hit-or-miss compliance with the 6-year-old OSHA standard that requires use of safety needles to reduce injuries. Some hospitals have made great strides in converting to safe needle devices, and others are still trying to catch up. Five years ago, Kaiser Permanente in Southern Cali
Virginia Scientist Leads Fight to Protect Health Care Workers: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, April 14, 1998; William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writer; There is a moment when Janine Jagger steps to the wall of her office at the University of Virginia and smiles as her hand glides over five embossed, mahogany-framed patents of safe needle devices she helped design in 1985. Her finger finally lands on a copy of a 1917 patent for an anti- submarine detector. My grandfath
About the Numbers: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, April 14, 1998; The statistics for this series came from a number of sources: The figure of 1 million needle sticks per year is an estimate from the International Health Care Worker Safety Center, based on data from 70 hospitals around the nation. Higher rates have been reported by the Centers for Disease Control and medical journals.
High Profits -- At What Cost?; Manufacturer markets unsafe needles in light of epidemic: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, April 14, 1998; Reynolds Holding, William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writers; THE MARRIOTT HOTEL, NEAR FRANKLIN LAKES, N.J., 1988 Russell Kuhlman felt about an inch high. Top sales managers for Becton Dickinson and Company, the world s largest needle maker, had gathered for their quarterly meeting, and listed on the agenda was a new device that could dramatically cut into a deadly epidemic of ne
Needle Epidemic -- Actions, Reactions: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, April 14, 1998; OSHA PROPOSAL: OSHA announces intention to issue regulations for protecting health care workers from accidental needle sticks. CDC GUIDELINES: The Centers for Disease Control issues Universal Precautions Guidelines advising health care workers to avoid infected blood by wearing gowns and masks and by not recapping need
Nurse's Life Changed in a Moment: San Francisco Chronicle; Sunday, April 13, 1998; Reynolds Holding, Chronicle Staff Writer; If you had to have your blood drawn at the University of California drug clinic here at 18th and Folsom streets, you wanted Ellen Dayton to do it. She was that good. Not good enough, though, to avoid an accident that strikes health care workers more than a million times each year. It happened March 20, 1996. Dayton, a
Female Victims Face Special Risks; Incompatible blood transfers could seriously threaten fetuses: San Francisco Chronicle; Sunday, April 13, 1998; William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writer; Earlier this year, a medical researcher made an ominous discovery: Female health care workers exposed to incompatible blood through needle sticks could suffer serious pregnancy complications, including miscarriages, or the mental retardation or death of their infants. The exposure risks appear to be very low, but with
Epidemic Ravages Caregivers; Thousands die from diseases contracted through needle sticks: San Francisco Chronicle; Sunday, April 13, 1998; Reynolds Holding, William Carlsen, Chronicle Staff Writers; UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN HOSPITAL, MADISON, WIS., 1978 Dr. Dennis Maki, chief of infectious diseases, was unnerved. On a winter morning a few weeks earlier, a urology technician was inserting an intravenous needle into a patient s arm when the device slipped, piercing the 55-year-old medical worker s finger. Not long a
Ban on Funding For Needle Swap Expected to End White House decision is imminent, sources say: San Francisco Chronicle; Saturday, April 11, 1998; Louis Freedberg, Chronicle Washington Bureau; Under intense pressure from scientists, public health experts, activists and its own AIDS advisers, the Clinton administration is moving to lift a 10-year- old ban on using federal funds for needle exchange programs, according to key individuals close to the issue. Although the administration s official stand is that i
PAGE ONE -- Insanity Plea in Concord Cites AIDS Dementia: San Francisco Chronicle; Monday, April 6, 1998; Charlie Goodyear, Chronicle Staff Writer; A former Concord doctor, whose trial on charges of arson, insurance fraud and murder-for- hire starts this week, is claiming AIDS-related dementia makes him legally insane. Authorities believe it is the first California case where a defendant is using HIV status to support an insanity plea. But legal experts are skepti
Good News In the Study Of AIDS Tumors; Kaposi's sarcoma virus, relieving protein found: San Francisco Chronicle; Thursday, April 2, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; One of the most insidious plagues in the continuing AIDS epidemic is Kaposi s sarcoma, the cancerlike disorder that disfigures the skin with reddish tumors and painfully attacks the throat, the lymph glands, the body s internal organs and the linings of veins and arteries. Known in the world of AIDS as KS, the tumors o
Supreme Court Weighs HIV and Disabilities Act; First consideration of an AIDS case: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, March 31, 1998; Louis Freedberg, Chronicle Washington Bureau; For the first time, the Supreme Court took up the issue yesterday of whether someone who is infected with the AIDS virus should be regarded as disabled and whether a doctor who denies treatment to a patient with HIV is violating federal civil rights law. The justices are being asked to rule on a Maine woman s claim tha
Mixture of AIDS Drugs Slashes Death Rates 70%, Study Says: San Francisco Chronicle; Thursday, March 26, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; A national study of AIDS patients is providing the first clear evidence that the epidemic s death and disease rates can be cut dramatically by powerful new combinations of anti-viral drugs. In a detailed study of severely ill AIDS patients who have been treated at nine clinics across the country since 1994, a research
Doctor Delivers a Clear, Upbeat Briefing on the AIDS Battle: San Francisco Chronicle; Friday, March 6, 1998; David Perlman; PLACING AIDS & HIV IN REMISSION A Guide to Aggressive Medical Therapy for People With HIV Infection By David Senechek Senyczak Publications, P.O. Box 31576, San Francisco 94131; 202 pages; $39.95 Few authors writing about AIDS have been as effective as Dr. David Senechek in explaining for lay readers the nature of
State's Lab Test Agency In Peril: Politics, infighting sap health watchdog: San Francisco Chronicle; Monday, March 2, 1998; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer; Amid flush times in Sacramento, the Wilson administration is paring back a watchdog agency that ensures the accuracy of millions of medical lab tests throughout the state. Special-interest politicking and bureaucratic infighting threaten to disarm the Laboratory Field Services branch of the State Department of Health S
KEN GARCIA -- Open Mind Results in Open Hand Ruth Brinker started an S.F. `love story': San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, February 24, 1998; Ken Garcia, San Francisco Chronicle; Ruth Brinker had this funny thought years ago when all the world s doctors and scientists and researchers were running forth to do battle with an deadly killer that came to be known as AIDS. What about the food? A simple, clear idea. A tiny dot in a big picture. A generous leap for mankind. Brinker had a friend dying o
Even Short HIV Therapy Protects Kids; Risk of infection from mothers cut by 50% in study: San Francisco Chronicle; Thursday, February 19, 1998; David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor; An AIDS prevention experiment has proved so remarkably effective that it could end the threat of death for millions of infants born worldwide to mothers infected with HIV, health officials in the United States and Thailand announced yesterday. The experiment -- extremely controversial when it began -- involved giving a
Oakland AIDS Activist's Latest Crusade Jeff Getty fighting for interspecies grafts -- he got baboon marrow: San Francisco Chronicle; Monday, February 16, 1998; Charles Petit, Chronicle Science Writer; Two years after receiving a baboon bone marrow transplant, Oakland resident and AIDS activist Jeff Getty is seeing his health start to deteriorate again -- but not enough to stop him from pinning a new label on himself: Xeno-activist. That s xeno as in xenografts and xenotransplants, the surgical transfer of organs bet
Students Not Seeking Condoms: Richmond High giveaway has seen little demand so far: San Francisco Chronicle; Monday, February 16, 1998; Michael Hytha, Chronicle Staff Writer; The East Bay s first high school condom dispensing program is getting more attention from school officials than students so far. In the program s first 10 days, fewer than 20 of Richmond High School s 1,400 students have asked for condoms, which the school clinic gives out in three-condom packs. The lack of interest ha
EDITORIAL -- The AIDS Scandal: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, February 10, 1998; AN ALARMING study about the failure of people infected with the AIDS virus to tell their sexual partners about their status should wake up anyone who has become complacent about the potentially fatal virus. The survey, led by Brown University s Dr. Michael Stein, found that four out of every 10 people infected with HIV
HIV-Positive Bakersfield Man Sues Longs Drugs Pharmacy told family of infection, suit says: San Francisco Chronicle; Thursday, February 5, 1998; Charlie Goodyear, Chronicle Staff Writer; An HIV-positive Bakersfield man has sued Walnut Creek-based Longs Drugs for invasion of privacy because a pharmacist revealed his infection to his ex-wife and two young sons. The plaintiff s former wife is now using her knowledge of his condition to try to limit his custody rights, according to the lawsuit filed late T
CHIP JOHNSON -- Oakland's Hidden Pot Club But a discerning nose can pinpoint location: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, February 3, 1998; Chip Johnson; Under the watchful eye of a security guard, a few people gathered one day last week outside an Oakland office front that blends in with its surroundings on Broadway. The absence of signage marking the building as the home of the Oakland Cannabis Buyers Cooperative is by design. Still, to some the location is no secret.
Katz Named New S.F. Health Chief; Mayor's surprise opens AIDS Summit: San Francisco Chronicle; Wednesday, January 28, 1998; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer; With another of his trademark surprise appointments, San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown opened his AIDS Summit yesterday by naming Dr. Mitchell Katz as the city s new health director. Katz has been interim director of the Department of Public Health since July, when the highly regarded Dr. Sandra Hernandez left the post
AIDS Summit Shifts Focus As Deaths Drop; But some controversial measures on the agenda: San Francisco Chronicle; Tuesday, January 27, 1998; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer; As Mayor Willie Brown opens his first AIDS Summit in San Francisco this morning, the city is readjusting to an epidemic that has fundamentally changed. Since AIDS first surfaced in San Francisco in 1981, nearly 25,000 city residents have been diagnosed with the disease, and 17,000 have died. But the news is better thes
AIDS Hospice Set to Close: Belmont scrambles for money to keep the facility open: San Francisco Chronicle; Thursday, January 22, 1998; Marshall Wilson, Chronicle Staff Writer; Belmont officials yesterday were preparing to send out urgent requests for money that is needed to keep San Mateo County s only AIDS hospice from closing next week. About $120,000 is needed to keep the six-bed Belmont House open through June. The San Mateo County AIDS Program has committed $40,000, leaving Belmont offi
PAGE ONE -- AIDS Deaths Drop 60% In California Wide distribution of new drugs credited: San Francisco Chronicle; Friday, January 9, 1998 - Page A1; Sabin Russell, Chronicle Staff Writer; AIDS deaths in California dropped an astonishing 60 percent in the first six months of 1997 -- the strongest evidence to date that available new drugs may be saving thousands of lives. The nearly two-thirds decline in AIDS deaths surprised and delighted researchers, who said yesterday that California s aggressive attem

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