Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
San Francisco Chronicle - Friday, July 11, 2003
Edward Epstein, Chronicle Washington Bureau
The 212-210 vote narrowly blocked a move by Rep. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., to cut $641,012 that the National Institutes of Health had approved for researchers at UCSF to continue the study.
House conservatives charged that the research was a waste of taxpayer money. "Who thinks this stuff up, and who decides to fund this stuff?" Toomey asked the House.
His amendment to the $440 billion Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill called for eliminating funding for the study and for three other agency studies costing a total of $900,000 -- research into the sexual habits of older men, the lives of transgender Native Americans, and people's reactions to being sexually aroused in different moods.
One of Toomey's supporters said such research could find other sources of funding. "There's lots of money out there to fund this, from Larry Flynt or others," said Rep. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., referring to the publisher of Hustler magazine.
"This is about priorities," said Toomey, a three-term House member who represents a district around Allentown in eastern Pennsylvania. He is running for the Republican Senate nomination against four-term incumbent Sen. Arlen Spector, who he says is too liberal.
But his proposal drew fire from both Republicans and Democrats who accused him of politicizing research at the National Institutes of Health.
"I strongly urge members to resist the temptation to defund a few projects because they don't like the sound of them," said Rep. Ralph Regula, R-Ohio.
The five-year research project, now in its third year, is being conducted by Tooru Nemoto of the UCSF Center for AIDS Prevention Studies. Researchers work with the Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center in the Tenderloin, communicating directly with massage parlor owners and sex workers to test ways to cut drug abuse, sexually transmitted diseases and violence among Asian prostitutes.
That was good enough for Rep. David Obey, D-Wis. "You may not care about the women involved, but I'm concerned about the innocent partners of these sex workers," he said. ". . . The day we politicize NIH research . . . that's the day we will ruin medical research in the United States."
But Toomey said the research was just plain loopy. "This just goes to prove that no matter how crazy your idea is, Congress just might fund it," he said.
In San Francisco, backers of the research said there was nothing crazy or foolish about it. "Dr. Nemoto's work is done on the ground, and he is head and shoulders above other researchers who are stuck in their offices," said John Manzon-Santos, executive director of the Wellness Center. "It was crazy for us to hear that his research was being targeted."
Manzon-Santos said that research such as Nemoto's provides a scientific foundation for the types of health services his organization provides to these Asian women, who are very difficult for other social agencies to reach.
In addition to HIV-prevention information, the women received Pap smears and other tests for sexually transmitted diseases. "If they are targeting research, services can't be far behind," he said. "What's disturbing is that this amendment only lost by two votes."
Chronicle staff writer Sabin Russell contributed to this report. / E-mail Edward Epstein at eepstein@sfchronicle.com.
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