Washington Blade - June 28, 2002

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Nearly a third of gay men surveyed at sexually transmitted disease clinics said they were using the anti-impotence drug Viagra, often in combination with illegal drugs that tend to encourage risky behavior. Health experts say Viagra alone seems to pose no real danger to men who use it recreationally even though they don't need it to get erections. But Dr. Jeffrey Klausner's research found that people who use it to offset the impotence effect of "party drugs" such as Ecstasy and crystal methamphetamine also acknowledged having unprotected sex with more partners, which can breed disease, said Klausner, head of the city health department's sexually transmitted disease unit. And Viagra can be deadly if used with amyl nitrite, commonly called "poppers," which some gay men take to facilitate sex. Klausner's study was published June 10 in the London-based journal AIDS. Public health experts say other cities have similar subcultures where both gay and straight men combine Viagra with other drugs. "This is actually pretty common," said Patricia Case, who directs the Program on Urban Health at Harvard University and is studying "club drug" users in Boston and New York City.

Better preventive efforts could cure rising HIV costs

ATLANTA -- A greatly expanded HIV-prevention program could pay for itself by averting unnecessary medical expenses, according to a new study in the July issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. If the U.S. government intends to achieve its announced national goal of reducing the annual number of new HIV infections by 50 percent by 2005, additional resources will be required, according to lead author David R. Holtgrave, a researcher at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. "While much appropriate attention has recently been given to resource needs for HIV/AIDS programs in developing countries, little attention has been previously given to unmet domestic HIV-prevention needs," the researchers noted. Holtgrave and his colleagues said access to sterile syringes for drug users, and tests and intensive preventive services to help people with HIV are needed to reduce behavioral risks.

Grant funds first-ever study of gay youth health

SAN FRANCISCO -- Researchers at San Francisco State University have received a three-year, $876,965 grant to conduct the first-ever study of physical and mental health outcomes of gay youth who disclose their sexual orientation to family members during adolescence, the university announced. Funded by the California Endowment, the state's largest health foundation, the study is also the first to explore in-depth sexual orientation in Latino families. Caitlin Ryan, director of policy studies at the SFSU Institute on Sexuality, Inequality & Health; and Rafael D az, SFSU professor of human sexuality studies and ethnic studies, plan to work with community agencies to study white and Latino teens. "Lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are coming out in high school and middle school while they're still dependent on their parents and families, yet we have little information to help enhance family support or to understand why some teens thrive while others struggle," Ryan said. Earlier studies of gay youth have shown higher rates of suicide, substance use, risky sexual behaviors, victimization, depression, chronic stress and pregnancy than their heterosexual peers.

Maine panel sides with HIV-positive patient

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) -- The Maine Human Rights Commission has ruled in favor of a Portland man who claimed that a surgeon refused to operate on him because he has the virus that causes AIDS. By a 3-1 vote, the panel found reasonable grounds to believe that Steven DesRochers, 39, was unlawfully discriminated against by Dr. Paul Kamins, an orthopedic surgeon in Belfast. Courts have ruled that health-care providers cannot deny critical services to patients with HIV on the basis of their disability. The landmark case, which went to the U.S. Supreme Court, involved a Bangor dentist who refused to treat in his office a woman who was HIV-positive. "My big thing is, hopefully, this will not happen to someone else,'' DesRochers said after the June 17 ruling. Kamins' attorney, Joseph Hahn, did not return a phone call seeking comment.

Rural Ala. counties plan HIV outreach

FLORENCE, Ala. (AP) -- A dozen new HIV or AIDS cases were reported to health officials in a six-county region, say north Alabama health officials planning a large-scale prevention effort. There were 280 cases of HIV and AIDS reported since 1982 in six counties stretching from Lauderdale to Walker, officials said. To get people tested, county health officials are developing an outreach project, including health fairs. "There are estimates that for every one case of AIDS, there are five more out there,'' said Rhonda Austin, a disease intervention supervisor with the Colbert County Public Health Department in Tuscumbia. Area health departments offer free testing for HIV every week. But the health fairs are an effort to find people in the early stages of the disease, Austin said.

From staff and wire reports

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