Washington Blade - May 31, 2002

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- AIDS Healthcare Foundation, one of the largest providers of specialized care for HIV patients in the U.S., said it will bar GlaxoSmithKline from marketing drugs at its outpatient sites to protest the company's pricing policies. Although the British-based company offers reduced prices for AIDS drugs sold in the developing world, the foundation claims the drug manufacturer still charges twice as much as competitors -- an allegation GlaxoSmithKline counters by noting it makes no profits on those sales. By barring GlaxoSmithKline sales representatives from its physicians' offices, the foundation hopes to block the main channel the company uses to inform doctors directly about new products. "Glaxo's actions have put it outside the bounds of corporate responsibility," said Michael Weinstein, president of the foundation that serves patients in California, New York and Florida. The company said it has reduced prices as much as 90 percent and does not make money on AIDS medications it sells to the developing world. "You have to cover your basic costs of manufacturing," spokeswoman Nancy Pekarek said. Pekarek said she regretted the foundation's move, but did not expect it will have any effect on the company's sales force.

'Prescription gap' narrows for HIV care in U.S.

NEW YORK -- More HIV-infected patients now have access to antiretroviral drugs because the "prescription gap" between privately insured and publicly insured patients is narrowing, according to a study published in the May issue of the American Journal of Public Health, journal of the American Public Health Association, according to Reuters. In a study of 959 HIV-infected patients treated at an urban HIV clinic between 1996 and 1999, Dr. Richard Moore of Johns Hopkins University and colleagues found that patients in 1996 who were on Medicaid or were uninsured were less likely to get HIV-fighting drugs than those with commercial or private insurance. "People with private insurance had the best access. [But] by the end of the four-year study period, there were no longer significant differences," said study co-author Dr. Richard Conviser, who is at the HIV/AIDS Bureau of the Health Resources & Services Administration in Washington, D.C. Most of the patients in the study became infected from IV drug use, and nearly 80 percent of the patients were African-American; 70 percent were male.

London health officials study chat room behavior

LONDON -- Health officials have asked researchers to investigate the possibility that gay Internet chat rooms might have helped increase high risk sexual activity among gay and bisexual men, the Guardian reported. Researchers, led by Jonathan Elford of the Institute of Health Sciences, have been asked by government health officials and the medical research council to establish whether the Internet is a factor in making men take greater risks than they would through gay bars and clubs. The findings of the two-year study, which will involve 2,500 gay and bisexual men in London, could have important ramifications for the transmission of HIV. "For example, we could see an increase in HIV infections in regions which currently report low HIV prevalence because of the boundless reach of the Internet as a meeting place," Elford said.

Annual prostate screening may not be needed, study says

WASHINGTON -- Findings recently released from the National Cancer Institute "do not either support or refute the value of" prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening, a controversial prostate screening test, the Washington Post reported. The new information comes from the Prostate, Lung, Colorectal & Ovarian trial, an ongoing study of almost 154,000 adults sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. Men participating in the PLCO trial are randomly assigned either to receive annual PSA testing and rectal exams or to get "usual care" from their regular doctors. To study PSA change over time, researchers analyzed results of annual PSA testing of almost 30,000 participants. The findings were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Orlando, Fla.

Gay medical group appoints board members, revises mission

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Gay & Lesbian Medical Association recently appointed new board members and revised its mission in an effort to commit to focus more on changing national health policy, GLMA officials said. Stuart Martin was appointed to GLMA's board of directors, and Suzanne Haynes and Judith Bradford were both given full board membership status. The organization also revised its mission. "We know that some believe GLMA is merely a membership organization," Christopher E. Harris, president of GLMA, said in a news release. "We've always worked behind the scenes to change the way medicine is practiced and how healthcare is delivered. Our new and more defining statement says we æexist to make the healthcare environment a place of empathy, justice, and equity.' We've done a tremendous amount of policy and advocacy work to those ends already. But there is so much more to be done."

From staff and wire reports

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