Washington Blade - September 27, 2002

SACRAMENTO (AP) - AIDS activists declared a major legislative victory Sept. 18 as Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill that will provide treatment to people with HIV in the early stages of the disease. The governor also signed several other health-related bills, including three bills to further regulate tobacco sales and one to create the Asthma & Lung Disease Research Fund. The first new law, by Assemblyman Paul Koretz (D-West Hollywood) establishes a statewide pilot program to expand Medi-Cal to low-income, non-disabled people with HIV. Currently, only a diagnosis of full-blown AIDS qualify for Medi-Cal coverage. "This is the most important AIDS legislation in California in a decade," said Michael Weinstein, executive director of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the nation's largest HIV/AIDS medical care provider.

Scientist who discovered AIDS virus says vaccine could be near

BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) - After years of frustrating near-breakthroughs, a vaccine could be developed within five years that would provide complete protection against the virus, one of the world's leading AIDS researchers said. "You always have to worry about being confident with this beast," said Dr. Robert Gallo, who co-discovered the AIDS virus. "But we're excited. We have a shot." Gallo said the optimism over earlier beliefs that the spread of the virus was leveling off, along with the effectiveness of the triple-drug therapy, has led to a complacency among many that is worsening the epidemic. AIDS has become the world's worst epidemic, infecting 40 million people worldwide, Gallo said. "The focus now is on the Africa crisis, but we're going to hear about more crises soon," said Gallo, who spoke at Florida Atlantic University last week. He said the fastest rise in new cases is occurring in Russia, China and India and that he expects another epidemic in Europe and possibly the U.S.

AIDS foundation drops lawsuit against Calif. HMO over AIDS law

LOS ANGELES (AP) - AIDS Healthcare Foundation has dropped its year-old lawsuit against PacifiCare of California, saying the state is enforcing a patient's bill of rights requiring HMOs to cover care for those with AIDS. AIDS Healthcare Foundation sued in Los Angeles Superior Court in August 2001 claiming the Orange County-based HMO wasn't allowing or was restricting access to HIV/AIDS specialists. With enforcement of the state bill of rights, foundation officials said the lawsuit has become moot. "Now an enforcement mechanism is in place so we're in the position to wait but still watch PacifiCare's actions," said AHF spokesman Ged Kenslea. Kenslea said the lawsuit was dropped Sept. 16. State law requires health maintenance organizations provide doctors designated as HIV/AIDS specialists by their HMOs have a minimum amount of current, up-to-date clinical experience in treating such patients. PacifiCare had said there was no definition of what a specialist was, leaving a loophole, Kenslea said.

'Sextasy' drug combination seeing growing use in clubs WASHINGTON - An increasing number of people who use the club drug Ecstasy are mixing it with the anti-impotence drug Viagra, leading drug-abuse specialists to warn about the health risks of a combination that users say fuels all-night dancing and marathon sex, USA Today reported. The combined drugs - known in the club scene as "sextasy" - began as a fad among youths in England and Australia. About a year ago, officials of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration began hearing reports that the mixture had become popular in this country's gay party culture. Ecstasy is a stimulant with hallucinogenic properties. Users in the club and rave scenes say it gives them the energy to dance all night and enhances their senses, according to the newspaper. But ecstasy also hinders sexual function. To compensate, some young men take Viagra, a prescription drug normally used to treat men who have decreased sexual function.

Genetically-modified fruit flies change sexual orientations in study

LOS ANGELES - Researchers have genetically modified fruit flies to change sexual orientations when the temperature rises, and back again when things cool off, Agence France-Presse reported. The researchers introduced a mutant gene that is sensitive to temperature into the midst of the fruit fly's neurons. The gene plays a role in the secretions of a chemical transmitter. "The mutant gene disrupted nerve-to-nerve communications specifically in those neurons when male flies were moved to warm temperatures. The flies suddenly began courting other males," said Dr. Toshihiro Kitamoto, the lead researcher of the study and an officials with the division of Neurosciences at City of Hope National Medical Center and Beckman Research Institute in Los Angeles. The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The allele of the "shibire" gene was modified to be sensitive to temperature and to disrupt synaptic transmissions between neurons. At temperatures above 86 degrees, the modified male fruit flies lost interest in females and turned their attention to other males and responded in kind to the advances of other males, the study said.
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