Washington Blade - July 25, 2003

GENEVA (AP) - The new head of the United Nations health agency took office Monday, pledging to intensify the fight against AIDS and other global killers. World Health Organization director-general Dr. Jong-wook Lee also said he wanted to improve international monitoring to help tackle outbreaks of diseases such as SARS. Lee, a South Korean tuberculosis expert, was elected in January by the executive committee of the 192-nation agency. He replaced Gro Harlem Brundtland, a former Norwegian prime minister, who announced last year that she did not want a second five-year mandate. Lee said his mandate would be defined by the fight against HIV/AIDS, particularly in poor countries. Of the 42 million people worldwide infected with HIV - the virus that causes AIDS - 29 million live in sub-Saharan Africa. AIDS has already killed more than 17 million in the region. "The international community must act now," he said.

19 accused of selling fraudulent AIDS medications

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - Some medicine bottles, authorities say, were filled with nothing more than chalk and water. Others contained diluted drugs. Nearly all were mislabeled. A Florida grand jury investigating pharmaceutical wholesalers indicted 19 people on charges of peddling bogus or watered down medications often prescribed for cancer and AIDS patients, authorities said Monday. Investigators said the defendants made tens of millions of dollars from the scheme, and that fake drugs eventually found their way into common retail chains in Florida. "It's hard to imagine a more heinous crime perpetrated upon an individual who's counting on what they believe to be a legitimate drug to save their lives," state Attorney General Charlie Crist said. Authorities said the wholesalers put lives at risk because the tainted drugs are eventually sold to hospitals and pharmacies. The indictment does not accuse the defendants of causing any deaths.

Authorities search for HIV-positive blood sellers

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Authorities continued their search last week for four people accused of knowingly selling their HIV-positive blood or plasma for $20 at two donation centers. Five people were charged with one count of transferring contaminated bodily fluids, a Class C felony punishable by up to eight years in prison. One person already was in custody last week on another charge. Authorities said the five cases were unrelated. The tainted plasma was detected in routine testing and did not get into the donation system, authorities said. The charges marked the first time anyone has been charged in Marion County under the 10-year-old law, prosecutor Carl Brizzi said. Brizzi also said he anticipated more charges would be filed. "I can't imagine this was the first time they donated blood and knew they were infected," he said. At least 15 states, including Indiana, have penalties for attempting to sell or donate HIV-positive blood.

Prodi insists EU committed to Global Fund to fight AIDS

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - The European Union is defending its contribution to the global fight against AIDS, despite admitting that it has been slower than the United States in committing funds to combat the disease. The EU has come under fire for failing to match the United States, which pledged $1 billion to the international Global Fund To Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. "I personally continue to be very keen on ... a total EU contribution of one billion (dollars) per year," the president of the European Commission, Romano Prodi, told an international AIDS conference in Paris. Prodi said his European Commission has pledged $513 million to the fund over the next few years. Of the 15 EU member nations, only Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Italy, Sweden, Luxembourg and Belgium have made separate commitments which total $338 million this year.

Stroke victim files suit alleging anti-gay discrimination by nursing homes

DALLAS - The Lambda Legal Defense & Education Fund announced Wednesday it was filing a lawsuit against six Louisiana nursing homes that it claims refused to care for a stroke victim because he was also HIV positive. The family of Cecil Little, 50, approached a nursing home close to their residence and arranged for Little to move there after he was discharged from the hospital. However, three days before he was scheduled to move in, officials at Tangi Pines, learned of Little's HIV status and backed out of the agreement, according to the lawsuit. Lambda officials said five other nearby nursing homes also revoked agreements to care for Little after learning of his HIV status. Little moved into a nursing home that is 80 miles from his family's home. "Cecil Little requires help meeting his most basic needs, and discrimination based on his HIV status should not dictate where he gets those needs met," said Brian Chase, a Dallas-based Lambda Legal attorney working on the case. "[W]e are dealing with health care professionals here. These are the people who should help dispel baseless fears about HIV, not perpetuate them."

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