It's news to me that the LGV used to be "gay bowel syndrome." I'm not sure if the Johns Hopkins' doctor is right about this, but it's interesting, to say the least, that "gay bowel syndrome" is back in the US news media.
^^^
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/11271350.htm
March 31, 2005
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Cases of an unfamiliar STD rise, especially among gay, bisexual men
By Marie McCullough
Inquirer Staff Writer
A sexually transmitted disease that few American physicians know about is becoming a problem in Europe and the United States, especially among gay and bisexual men, public health officials say.
Lymphogranuloma venereum, or LGV, is caused by a particularly invasive type of chlamydia bacteria that commercial lab tests cannot identify. While LGV can be treated with antibiotics, its early symptoms - including constipation, rectal pain and discharge - are easily misdiagnosed.
Left untreated, it can cause permanent damage to the bowels and disfigurement of the genitals.
Last November, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began trying to raise awareness and evaluate the prevalence of LGV by asking clinicians to report suspected infections to health departments and CDC, even though national reporting is not mandated. Since then, six men, most HIV positive, have been diagnosed by CDC lab analysis - three in San Francisco, one in Atlanta, and two in New York City.
"Getting the word out to health-care providers and patients is really important," epidemiologist Catherine McLean of the CDC's STD prevention division said yesterday.
The New York City cases, announced in February, prompted Philadelphia's Department of Public Health to send an advisory to AIDS prevention groups and clinics.
No cases have been found yet in Philadelphia, health department spokesman Jeff Moran said. But "with travel, nothing stays in one place very long," said Gary Bell, executive director of Philadelphia-based BEBASHI (Blacks Educating Blacks About Sexual Health Issues), who attended a health department meeting last month at which LGV was discussed.
Bell cautioned against sensationalizing or hyping the threat of LGV, but said raising awareness is prudent because it "is not on the radar screen."
Identified by pathologists almost 100 years ago, LGV blipped onto this country's public health radar screen in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when it was called "gay bowel syndrome," said Johns Hopkins University infectious disease expert Jonathan Zenilman.
[snip]
Reports, proud muckraking, photos, videos and musings from the veteran LGBT and AIDS human rights advocate Michael Petrelis. Based in San Francisco since 1995. Contact: MPetrelis_at_AOL_dot_com. Vote Petrelis for BART Board District 9 in November!
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
Subject: FW: FW: MSN Encarta must delete "gay bowel syndrome"
Date: 3/29/2005 6:45:14 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: Marian.Brown@bloomsburyusa.com
Hi Michael,
I just wanted to assure you that the wheels are in motion.
best,
Marian
-----Original Message----
From: Kathy Rooney [mailto:k.rooney@berlinverlag.de]
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 2:43 AM
To: craigb@microsoft.com; julianp@microsoft.com
Cc: Marian Brown; Sabrina Farber; anneso@worldnet.att.net; Kathy Rooney
Subject: WG: FW: MSN Encarta must delete "gay bowel syndrome"
Dear Craig and Julian
Could you look into this please? Our US office and Publicity Director Marian Brown have been approached by Michael Petrelis about the inclusion of the term 'gay bowel syndrome' in the Encarta Dictionary on MSN. See e-mail thread below.
As you both know I am now based in Berlin running Bloomsbury's German office, and so do not have access to the Encarta Dictionary database, but I will pass the query on to London. The term certainly does not appear in the UK print version which is the only edition I have here.
I would be grateful if you would reply to Mr Petrelis and keep me, Anne Soukhanov and Marian Brown copied in. Many thanks.
I hope all is well with you.
Best wishes, Kathy
-----------------------------------
Geschäftsführung
Berlin Verlag
Greifswalderstraße 207
D-10405 Berlin
+ 49 30 443 845 18
-------------
Von: Marian Brown [mailto:Marian.Brown@bloomsburyusa.com]
Gesendet: Freitag, 25. März 2005 17:19
An: 'anneso@att.net'
Cc: Sabrina Farber; Kathy Rooney
Betreff: RE: FW: MSN Encarta must delete "gay bowel syndrome"
Hi Anne, This is what I sent to Michael Petrelis. I think in order to get my name cleared from his blog, and from this mess in general, we need to get him a contact at MSN right away!
Thanks,
Marian
Dear Michael,
Thanks again for bringing this to our attention. We completely agree with you on this matter.
In answer to your concern, Bloomsbury is only responsible for the printed versions of the Encarta Dictionary. The term does not appear in the printed versions we have published. In order to address what is on the MSN website, you need to be in touch with someone there. Unfortunately because this is a licensing arrangement , we have no control over the content of their site. I'm working with our UK office to try to get a contact for you at MSN as quickly as possible in order for you to pursue further.
As soon as I get a contact name, I will forward to you.
Sincerely,
Marian
-----Original Message-----
From: anneso@att.net [mailto:anneso@att.net]
Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 10:21 AM
To: Marian Brown
Cc: kathy_rooney@bloomsbury.com; k.rooney@berlinverlag.de
Subject: RE: FW: MSN Encarta must delete "gay bowel syndrome"
Hi, Marian--I Googled this term: there are about 28,300 references to it. The first 10 indicate that:
1. It is "an obsolete, potentially offensive term. . . " see General Practice Notebook, http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/; see also http://www.indymedia.org.uk/, which has a story about how activists have succeeded in deleting the term from a UK/Canadian medical text by Jon Garbo. There are also refs to things written by this M. Petrelis, who indeed is an aggressive activist, perhaps the engine behind the movement to expunge the word from the medical/general language.
2. Some other refs indicate that it is an offensive variant for IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). This would be because by attaching "gay" to "bowel syndrome," users are limiting and restricting a syndrome affecting straights and gays alike to just gays, therefore impugning the gays' sexual practices/acts. I question this logic.
3. But--all this is reason enough to (a) have a science editor investigate the matter thoroughly (b) excise the word from our base if it is indeed obsolete and discredited in the scientific community or if that community has a neutral, non-inflammatory alternate term for it or (c) keep the word but add a strong usage note to the effect that it is obsolete and highly offensive.
4. All this should be done ASAP to avoid a blog/Internet war that could later spill over to cable TV/radio talk shows.
5. When a decision is taken, then this gentleman should be notifed right away. You can bet he will re-check the website.
I hope this follow-up is useful. Again, I hace CC'd Kathy on my findings.
I can understand exactly why he freaked you out! Hang in there.
Best--Anne
-- Original message from Marian Brown:
Thanks Anne! This guy really freaked me out because my name is all over his blog and his sending it out to other people. I will send what you wrote. Marian
-----Original Message-----
From: anneso@att.net [mailto:anneso@att.net]
Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 9:37 AM
To: Marian Brown
Cc: k.rooney@berlinverlag.de; kathy_rooney@bloomsbury.com
Subject: Re: FW: MSN Encarta must delete "gay bowel syndrome"
Hi Marian--
1. This issue should be referred to Kathy Rooney, either at the Bloomsbury London office or at her Berlin Verlag office. I am doing this right now.
2. I had nothing to do with selection of the wordlist used on the website, and so I am mystified why/how the term "gay bowel syndrome" got in, unless it is a holdover from the original electronic version of the World English Dictionary. I am sure Kathy can refer the matter to the person who was involved in setting up the list and who can make changes if needed.
3. This term is not in the Encarta World English Dictionary, the Encarta Webster's Dictionary, or the MS Encarta College Dictionary (US Editions). I cannot find it in the UK edition of the Encarta World English Dictionary either.
4. I would get back to the writer as follows:
"Thank you for letting us know about your concerns regarding the term gay bowel syndrome. Your letter is reason enough for us to investigate the matter further, and take appropriate action once that investigation has been concluded. We certainly do appreciate your beinging this matter to our attention, because input from our users often helps us to improve our products. Sincerely, etc. "
5. Caution: The above reply is intentionally vague--we need the facts before committing ourselves to changing something at the behest of a person who probably represents a pressure group. The idea is to satisfy him that we're looking into the matter promptly, so that he will not start a letter-writing campaign--or worse. In addition, the term may in fact be spurious--and I suspect it is.
6. Meanwhile, I will myself try to check into the legitimacy of this term via the Internet, although it is in fact the responsibility of a science editor to decide if it stays or goes.
Best--Anne
-- Original message from Marian Brown:
This guy wants us to take Gay Bowel Syndrome off of the Encarta website!
Date: 3/29/2005 6:45:14 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: Marian.Brown@bloomsburyusa.com
Hi Michael,
I just wanted to assure you that the wheels are in motion.
best,
Marian
-----Original Message----
From: Kathy Rooney [mailto:k.rooney@berlinverlag.de]
Sent: Tuesday, March 29, 2005 2:43 AM
To: craigb@microsoft.com; julianp@microsoft.com
Cc: Marian Brown; Sabrina Farber; anneso@worldnet.att.net; Kathy Rooney
Subject: WG: FW: MSN Encarta must delete "gay bowel syndrome"
Dear Craig and Julian
Could you look into this please? Our US office and Publicity Director Marian Brown have been approached by Michael Petrelis about the inclusion of the term 'gay bowel syndrome' in the Encarta Dictionary on MSN. See e-mail thread below.
As you both know I am now based in Berlin running Bloomsbury's German office, and so do not have access to the Encarta Dictionary database, but I will pass the query on to London. The term certainly does not appear in the UK print version which is the only edition I have here.
I would be grateful if you would reply to Mr Petrelis and keep me, Anne Soukhanov and Marian Brown copied in. Many thanks.
I hope all is well with you.
Best wishes, Kathy
-----------------------------------
Geschäftsführung
Berlin Verlag
Greifswalderstraße 207
D-10405 Berlin
+ 49 30 443 845 18
-------------
Von: Marian Brown [mailto:Marian.Brown@bloomsburyusa.com]
Gesendet: Freitag, 25. März 2005 17:19
An: 'anneso@att.net'
Cc: Sabrina Farber; Kathy Rooney
Betreff: RE: FW: MSN Encarta must delete "gay bowel syndrome"
Hi Anne, This is what I sent to Michael Petrelis. I think in order to get my name cleared from his blog, and from this mess in general, we need to get him a contact at MSN right away!
Thanks,
Marian
Dear Michael,
Thanks again for bringing this to our attention. We completely agree with you on this matter.
In answer to your concern, Bloomsbury is only responsible for the printed versions of the Encarta Dictionary. The term does not appear in the printed versions we have published. In order to address what is on the MSN website, you need to be in touch with someone there. Unfortunately because this is a licensing arrangement , we have no control over the content of their site. I'm working with our UK office to try to get a contact for you at MSN as quickly as possible in order for you to pursue further.
As soon as I get a contact name, I will forward to you.
Sincerely,
Marian
-----Original Message-----
From: anneso@att.net [mailto:anneso@att.net]
Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 10:21 AM
To: Marian Brown
Cc: kathy_rooney@bloomsbury.com; k.rooney@berlinverlag.de
Subject: RE: FW: MSN Encarta must delete "gay bowel syndrome"
Hi, Marian--I Googled this term: there are about 28,300 references to it. The first 10 indicate that:
1. It is "an obsolete, potentially offensive term. . . " see General Practice Notebook, http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/; see also http://www.indymedia.org.uk/, which has a story about how activists have succeeded in deleting the term from a UK/Canadian medical text by Jon Garbo. There are also refs to things written by this M. Petrelis, who indeed is an aggressive activist, perhaps the engine behind the movement to expunge the word from the medical/general language.
2. Some other refs indicate that it is an offensive variant for IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). This would be because by attaching "gay" to "bowel syndrome," users are limiting and restricting a syndrome affecting straights and gays alike to just gays, therefore impugning the gays' sexual practices/acts. I question this logic.
3. But--all this is reason enough to (a) have a science editor investigate the matter thoroughly (b) excise the word from our base if it is indeed obsolete and discredited in the scientific community or if that community has a neutral, non-inflammatory alternate term for it or (c) keep the word but add a strong usage note to the effect that it is obsolete and highly offensive.
4. All this should be done ASAP to avoid a blog/Internet war that could later spill over to cable TV/radio talk shows.
5. When a decision is taken, then this gentleman should be notifed right away. You can bet he will re-check the website.
I hope this follow-up is useful. Again, I hace CC'd Kathy on my findings.
I can understand exactly why he freaked you out! Hang in there.
Best--Anne
-- Original message from Marian Brown
Thanks Anne! This guy really freaked me out because my name is all over his blog and his sending it out to other people. I will send what you wrote. Marian
-----Original Message-----
From: anneso@att.net [mailto:anneso@att.net]
Sent: Friday, March 25, 2005 9:37 AM
To: Marian Brown
Cc: k.rooney@berlinverlag.de; kathy_rooney@bloomsbury.com
Subject: Re: FW: MSN Encarta must delete "gay bowel syndrome"
Hi Marian--
1. This issue should be referred to Kathy Rooney, either at the Bloomsbury London office or at her Berlin Verlag office. I am doing this right now.
2. I had nothing to do with selection of the wordlist used on the website, and so I am mystified why/how the term "gay bowel syndrome" got in, unless it is a holdover from the original electronic version of the World English Dictionary. I am sure Kathy can refer the matter to the person who was involved in setting up the list and who can make changes if needed.
3. This term is not in the Encarta World English Dictionary, the Encarta Webster's Dictionary, or the MS Encarta College Dictionary (US Editions). I cannot find it in the UK edition of the Encarta World English Dictionary either.
4. I would get back to the writer as follows:
"Thank you for letting us know about your concerns regarding the term gay bowel syndrome. Your letter is reason enough for us to investigate the matter further, and take appropriate action once that investigation has been concluded. We certainly do appreciate your beinging this matter to our attention, because input from our users often helps us to improve our products. Sincerely, etc. "
5. Caution: The above reply is intentionally vague--we need the facts before committing ourselves to changing something at the behest of a person who probably represents a pressure group. The idea is to satisfy him that we're looking into the matter promptly, so that he will not start a letter-writing campaign--or worse. In addition, the term may in fact be spurious--and I suspect it is.
6. Meanwhile, I will myself try to check into the legitimacy of this term via the Internet, although it is in fact the responsibility of a science editor to decide if it stays or goes.
Best--Anne
-- Original message from Marian Brown
This guy wants us to take Gay Bowel Syndrome off of the Encarta website!
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
March 30, 2005
Jack Shafer
pressbox@hotmail.com
Slate
Hey Jack:
You're always going after the New York Times for its reliance on anonymous sources in its international and national coverage, for which I applaud you.
I want to call you attention to an article in the New York Region section about the New York City Department of Health issuing more information on the investigation into the drug resistant HIV mutant strain. It was written by Marc Santora and it should win some awards in how to allow a health department to use the Times to get out a release and masquerade it as news.
Let's start with the number of times the paper cites unnamed "health officials" or "officials:" 8.
Quotes from NYC health honcho Dr. Tom Frieden: 5.
Number of instances the department's release is used: 3.
Unnamed person briefed on the investigation or investigator mentioned: 2.
Number of department critics, from either the AIDS research or activist communities, quoted: 0.
I'm so used to reading AIDS stories in the Times, which can be summed up in two words, "Officials Said," that today's piece by Santora doesn't surprise me in the least.
Maybe you can find out from the Times why there were eight instances in this one story when the officials were not named and no reason for not naming them was given. Did they fear for their jobs if quoted by name? What possible reason could the Times have for not naming NYC health officials on these matters?
Considering the sucking up the NYC health department does to the Times it doesn't take a p.r. specialist to read things like the following in such blatant rewrites of department announcement, allowed to appear in the Times as news:
"Given the heated reaction and the complexity of the scientific questions involved, it is not surprising that the department has been cautious in releasing details about the inquiry."
Um, to whom exactly does the Times think it is not surprising that information had been withheld until now? The unnamed health officials surely, but to an activist like me, it is shocking and unacceptable the department has chosen to practice public health through press conference and "reporting" in the Times.
What say you? Are eight instances of not naming officials in one Times story good or bad journalism?
Hope to hear from you.
Best,
Petrelis
^^^
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/nyregion/30aids.html?
March 30, 2005
The New York Times
Tests pending in Cases Ties to Fierce HIV
By Marc Santora
Investigators looking into the possible spread of a virulent strain of H.I.V. detected in a New York City man have identified several patients who may have a related strain of the virus, but the investigators have cautioned that they cannot yet say if the cases are connected, health officials said yesterday.
Because of the complexity of the lab testing involved in matching strains of the virus, it could be months before health officials will be able to determine if others have indeed been infected with the dangerous strain, the officials said.
[snip]
Jack Shafer
pressbox@hotmail.com
Slate
Hey Jack:
You're always going after the New York Times for its reliance on anonymous sources in its international and national coverage, for which I applaud you.
I want to call you attention to an article in the New York Region section about the New York City Department of Health issuing more information on the investigation into the drug resistant HIV mutant strain. It was written by Marc Santora and it should win some awards in how to allow a health department to use the Times to get out a release and masquerade it as news.
Let's start with the number of times the paper cites unnamed "health officials" or "officials:" 8.
Quotes from NYC health honcho Dr. Tom Frieden: 5.
Number of instances the department's release is used: 3.
Unnamed person briefed on the investigation or investigator mentioned: 2.
Number of department critics, from either the AIDS research or activist communities, quoted: 0.
I'm so used to reading AIDS stories in the Times, which can be summed up in two words, "Officials Said," that today's piece by Santora doesn't surprise me in the least.
Maybe you can find out from the Times why there were eight instances in this one story when the officials were not named and no reason for not naming them was given. Did they fear for their jobs if quoted by name? What possible reason could the Times have for not naming NYC health officials on these matters?
Considering the sucking up the NYC health department does to the Times it doesn't take a p.r. specialist to read things like the following in such blatant rewrites of department announcement, allowed to appear in the Times as news:
"Given the heated reaction and the complexity of the scientific questions involved, it is not surprising that the department has been cautious in releasing details about the inquiry."
Um, to whom exactly does the Times think it is not surprising that information had been withheld until now? The unnamed health officials surely, but to an activist like me, it is shocking and unacceptable the department has chosen to practice public health through press conference and "reporting" in the Times.
What say you? Are eight instances of not naming officials in one Times story good or bad journalism?
Hope to hear from you.
Best,
Petrelis
^^^
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/30/nyregion/30aids.html?
March 30, 2005
The New York Times
Tests pending in Cases Ties to Fierce HIV
By Marc Santora
Investigators looking into the possible spread of a virulent strain of H.I.V. detected in a New York City man have identified several patients who may have a related strain of the virus, but the investigators have cautioned that they cannot yet say if the cases are connected, health officials said yesterday.
Because of the complexity of the lab testing involved in matching strains of the virus, it could be months before health officials will be able to determine if others have indeed been infected with the dangerous strain, the officials said.
[snip]
Dear Friends:
The press office of the New York City Department of Health just confirmed for me over the telephone that they are release more information about the drug resistant HIV mutant strain.
Unfortunately, the man I spoke with would not give me any specific information, other than to say check their web site in one hour for an announcement.
Here is the link to where the announcement will be posted:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/public/press05/press05.html .
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
The press office of the New York City Department of Health just confirmed for me over the telephone that they are release more information about the drug resistant HIV mutant strain.
Unfortunately, the man I spoke with would not give me any specific information, other than to say check their web site in one hour for an announcement.
Here is the link to where the announcement will be posted:
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/public/press05/press05.html .
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
March 29, 2005
Joshua Brustein
Gotham Gazette
Dear Mr. Brustein:
Thank you for agreeing to run a correction about your erroneous reporting on HIV stats in New York City.
In your March 29 story, AIDS in New York City, the following incorrect claim was reported:
> In 2003, there were more new HIV diagnoses in New York City than the year before, a reversal of the drastic decline in AIDS infections that began in the mid 1990s. < (Source: http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/issueoftheweek/20050328/200/1361 )
In an email from you yesterday, you explained where you got the data to make the claim that you did. You said,
"The HIV Epidemiology Program published by the NYC Department of Health in January 2005 states that 4,205 New Yorkers were diagnosed with HIV in 2003.
"The same report from one year earlier reported that 4,170 New Yorkers were diagnosed with the disease in 2002.
"While this rise is slight, the turnaround in the decline of new infections was something
that the activists I spoke with cited as a concern."
I was grateful you provided me with the links to your sources: January 2005,
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2005-report-qtr1.pdf and January 2004,
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2004-report-qtr1.pdf .
This was my reply to you.
In 2002 there were a total of 5552 HIV/AIDS diagnoses. For HIV diagnoses the city recorded 4170. And for HIV diagnoses with AIDS the number was 1382.
The 2003 figure for HIV/AIDS diagnoses was 4205. There were 3155 HIV diagnoses without AIDS reported. The number of HIV diagnoses with AIDS was 1050.
These numbers come from page 3 of the reports from the links you sent.
It seems you may have taken the HIV without AIDS number for 2002, which was 4170, and compared it with the number of both HIV/AIDS diagnoses for 2003, which was 4205.
I am pleased you wrote back saying, "I will be fixing it today, and we will issue a correction in our daily email edition tomorrow, as well as posting one on our corrections page."
Rare is the reporter who looks at New York City quarterly HIV surveillance reports and writes about them, and you are the first journalist to do so, for which I congratulate you. Okay, so you made a mistake in interpreting some HIV stats. The important thing about that is you've quickly and graciously moved to correct the error. Just reporting on the most current HIV stats is something no other reporter has done.
I look forward to reading your correction tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
Joshua Brustein
Gotham Gazette
Dear Mr. Brustein:
Thank you for agreeing to run a correction about your erroneous reporting on HIV stats in New York City.
In your March 29 story, AIDS in New York City, the following incorrect claim was reported:
> In 2003, there were more new HIV diagnoses in New York City than the year before, a reversal of the drastic decline in AIDS infections that began in the mid 1990s. < (Source: http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/issueoftheweek/20050328/200/1361 )
In an email from you yesterday, you explained where you got the data to make the claim that you did. You said,
"The HIV Epidemiology Program published by the NYC Department of Health in January 2005 states that 4,205 New Yorkers were diagnosed with HIV in 2003.
"The same report from one year earlier reported that 4,170 New Yorkers were diagnosed with the disease in 2002.
"While this rise is slight, the turnaround in the decline of new infections was something
that the activists I spoke with cited as a concern."
I was grateful you provided me with the links to your sources: January 2005,
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2005-report-qtr1.pdf and January 2004,
http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2004-report-qtr1.pdf .
This was my reply to you.
In 2002 there were a total of 5552 HIV/AIDS diagnoses. For HIV diagnoses the city recorded 4170. And for HIV diagnoses with AIDS the number was 1382.
The 2003 figure for HIV/AIDS diagnoses was 4205. There were 3155 HIV diagnoses without AIDS reported. The number of HIV diagnoses with AIDS was 1050.
These numbers come from page 3 of the reports from the links you sent.
It seems you may have taken the HIV without AIDS number for 2002, which was 4170, and compared it with the number of both HIV/AIDS diagnoses for 2003, which was 4205.
I am pleased you wrote back saying, "I will be fixing it today, and we will issue a correction in our daily email edition tomorrow, as well as posting one on our corrections page."
Rare is the reporter who looks at New York City quarterly HIV surveillance reports and writes about them, and you are the first journalist to do so, for which I congratulate you. Okay, so you made a mistake in interpreting some HIV stats. The important thing about that is you've quickly and graciously moved to correct the error. Just reporting on the most current HIV stats is something no other reporter has done.
I look forward to reading your correction tomorrow.
Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
March 29, 2005
Susan Edgerly
suedge@nytimes.com
Metro Editor
The New York Times
Dear Ms. Edgerly:
On March 25 I informed David Corcoran at the Times' science desk about the current quarterly HIV surveillance reports for New York City, and the apparent decline of HIV infections.
Mr. Corcoran wrote back saying he had passed the information along to the Metro health editor, who I hope understands the importance of the HIV stats for New York City and why they should be reported in the Times.
I spoke yesterday with Times reporter Andrew Jacobs both about his February 15 article in which he erroneously claimed "a growing number of gay men become infected [with HIV] despite warnings about unsafe sex," and the fact that the Department of Health in New York City is actually showing declines, not growth, in overall HIV infections and those among gay men.
So far, neither a correction to the incorrect reporting on February 15 nor a full story about the HIV stats in New York City has appeared in the Times.
My question for you is, When will the Times see fit to print the truth about the falling HIV infection rate in New York City?
A prompt reply is requested.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
Susan Edgerly
suedge@nytimes.com
Metro Editor
The New York Times
Dear Ms. Edgerly:
On March 25 I informed David Corcoran at the Times' science desk about the current quarterly HIV surveillance reports for New York City, and the apparent decline of HIV infections.
Mr. Corcoran wrote back saying he had passed the information along to the Metro health editor, who I hope understands the importance of the HIV stats for New York City and why they should be reported in the Times.
I spoke yesterday with Times reporter Andrew Jacobs both about his February 15 article in which he erroneously claimed "a growing number of gay men become infected [with HIV] despite warnings about unsafe sex," and the fact that the Department of Health in New York City is actually showing declines, not growth, in overall HIV infections and those among gay men.
So far, neither a correction to the incorrect reporting on February 15 nor a full story about the HIV stats in New York City has appeared in the Times.
My question for you is, When will the Times see fit to print the truth about the falling HIV infection rate in New York City?
A prompt reply is requested.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
Monday, March 28, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 28, 2005
Contacts:
Sister Mary Elizabeth
Founder, Publisher - AEGIS.org
949-248-5843
Mary@aegis.org
Michael Petrelis
Advocate - mpetrelis.blogspot.com
415-621-6267
MPetrelis@aol.com
NY TIMES AGREES TO SHARE 24-YEAR AIDS NEWS ARCHIVE
WITH AEGIS.ORG, WORLD'S LARGEST FREE ACCESS AIDS INFORMATION SITE
ACTIVIST WILL SPEAK AT ANNUAL TIMES' SHAREHOLDERS MEETING TO DEMAND IMPROVING AIDS COVERAGE
(San Juan Capistrano, CA) - After twelve years of requests from AIDS activists, The New York Times on March 24 reached agreement to make available its entire 24-years of AIDS news coverage to AEGIS.org, the world's largest free-access AIDS information website. (AEGIS is an acronym for the AIDS Education Global Information System).
From the July 3, 1981, story about a rare cancer manifesting in homosexuals to articles in the past two months about a mutant drug-resistant HIV strain detected in New York City, dozens of Times stories are available now at http://www.aegis.org/news/nyt/, and additional articles will be loaded to the AEGIS.org archive over the next couple of months.
"I'm grateful to the Times's executives for their humanitarian gesture," said Sister Mary Elizabeth, founder and publisher of the nonprofit site. "Visitors to AEGIS.org will be able to search twenty-four years of AIDS stories, analyses and editorials for free. The Times joins other mainstream newspapers and wire services that have contributed their archives to us, such as Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press, Reuters, the United Press International, the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal."
Since 1990, AEGIS.org has provided a comprehensive history of the AIDS pandemic, and has been nominated to UNESCO's "Memory of the World".
This donation from The New York Times comes after 12 years of requests from Sister Mary Elizabeth, which the newspaper continually refused. Then, last year, longtime activist and person with AIDS Michael Petrelis bought a single share in The Times, so he could attend the annual shareholders meeting. There, he echoed Sister Mary Elizabeth's plea to publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., and the board of directors. While Petrelis was also refused, Sister Mary Elizabeth's father also purchased shares in the company and continued to press The Times to provide AEGIS.org with free access to their AIDS/HIV stories. Finally in early March 2005, The Times changed its mind and agreed to provide its AIDS/HIV archive free of charge to AEGIS.ORG.
Activist Petrelis applauds the development. "The Times is doing the AIDS community a great favor with its decision to share their archive. By having free access to Times stories, scientists, journalists, activists and people with AIDS/HIV will have crucial information at their fingertips."
Petrelis plans to attend The Times' annual shareholders meeting on April 26 at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York to thank publisher Sulzberger for sharing his paper's AIDS archive. Petrelis will also press for improvement in AIDS coverage especially related to research and epidemiology.
March 28, 2005
Contacts:
Sister Mary Elizabeth
Founder, Publisher - AEGIS.org
949-248-5843
Mary@aegis.org
Michael Petrelis
Advocate - mpetrelis.blogspot.com
415-621-6267
MPetrelis@aol.com
NY TIMES AGREES TO SHARE 24-YEAR AIDS NEWS ARCHIVE
WITH AEGIS.ORG, WORLD'S LARGEST FREE ACCESS AIDS INFORMATION SITE
ACTIVIST WILL SPEAK AT ANNUAL TIMES' SHAREHOLDERS MEETING TO DEMAND IMPROVING AIDS COVERAGE
(San Juan Capistrano, CA) - After twelve years of requests from AIDS activists, The New York Times on March 24 reached agreement to make available its entire 24-years of AIDS news coverage to AEGIS.org, the world's largest free-access AIDS information website. (AEGIS is an acronym for the AIDS Education Global Information System).
From the July 3, 1981, story about a rare cancer manifesting in homosexuals to articles in the past two months about a mutant drug-resistant HIV strain detected in New York City, dozens of Times stories are available now at http://www.aegis.org/news/nyt/, and additional articles will be loaded to the AEGIS.org archive over the next couple of months.
"I'm grateful to the Times's executives for their humanitarian gesture," said Sister Mary Elizabeth, founder and publisher of the nonprofit site. "Visitors to AEGIS.org will be able to search twenty-four years of AIDS stories, analyses and editorials for free. The Times joins other mainstream newspapers and wire services that have contributed their archives to us, such as Agence France-Presse, the Associated Press, Reuters, the United Press International, the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal."
Since 1990, AEGIS.org has provided a comprehensive history of the AIDS pandemic, and has been nominated to UNESCO's "Memory of the World".
This donation from The New York Times comes after 12 years of requests from Sister Mary Elizabeth, which the newspaper continually refused. Then, last year, longtime activist and person with AIDS Michael Petrelis bought a single share in The Times, so he could attend the annual shareholders meeting. There, he echoed Sister Mary Elizabeth's plea to publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., and the board of directors. While Petrelis was also refused, Sister Mary Elizabeth's father also purchased shares in the company and continued to press The Times to provide AEGIS.org with free access to their AIDS/HIV stories. Finally in early March 2005, The Times changed its mind and agreed to provide its AIDS/HIV archive free of charge to AEGIS.ORG.
Activist Petrelis applauds the development. "The Times is doing the AIDS community a great favor with its decision to share their archive. By having free access to Times stories, scientists, journalists, activists and people with AIDS/HIV will have crucial information at their fingertips."
Petrelis plans to attend The Times' annual shareholders meeting on April 26 at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York to thank publisher Sulzberger for sharing his paper's AIDS archive. Petrelis will also press for improvement in AIDS coverage especially related to research and epidemiology.
Sunday, March 27, 2005
Michael Getler
Ombudsman
The Washington Post
Dear Mr. Getler:
In Richard Cohen's alarmist February 17 column, A Warning From Gays to Gays, in which he delved into reasons for the "apparent upsurge in HIV infections among gay males," at least two vital facts are missing.
First, Cohen presents no epidemiological evidence to back up his claim about a rise of HIV transmissions in the gay community. I suggest you check out Andrew Sullivan's blog for cogent analysis on what Cohen alleged about HIV rates and gay men. Cohen owes readers hard facts and statistics about current HIV transmissions, which may not be surging.
Cohen wrote that his "guru in such matters is Charles Kaiser, the author of 'The Gay Metropolis,'" which bring me to the second fact missing from his column.
Kaiser is the brother of Robert G. Kaiser, associate managing editor for the Washington Post. Cohen should have disclosed this fact to readers.
Sullivan, in a posting on his blog on Friday about quarterly HIV stats for New York City showing an apparent decline of overall HIV infections and infections among gay men, wrote that, "Cohen needs to write a correction and an apology for non-existent reporting."
I second his call for a correction and apology from Cohen, and believe your paper should consider running a note to readers, both in print and on the paper's web site, explaining the familial relationship of Charles and Robert G. Kaiser.
A prompt response is requested.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
Ombudsman
The Washington Post
Dear Mr. Getler:
In Richard Cohen's alarmist February 17 column, A Warning From Gays to Gays, in which he delved into reasons for the "apparent upsurge in HIV infections among gay males," at least two vital facts are missing.
First, Cohen presents no epidemiological evidence to back up his claim about a rise of HIV transmissions in the gay community. I suggest you check out Andrew Sullivan's blog for cogent analysis on what Cohen alleged about HIV rates and gay men. Cohen owes readers hard facts and statistics about current HIV transmissions, which may not be surging.
Cohen wrote that his "guru in such matters is Charles Kaiser, the author of 'The Gay Metropolis,'" which bring me to the second fact missing from his column.
Kaiser is the brother of Robert G. Kaiser, associate managing editor for the Washington Post. Cohen should have disclosed this fact to readers.
Sullivan, in a posting on his blog on Friday about quarterly HIV stats for New York City showing an apparent decline of overall HIV infections and infections among gay men, wrote that, "Cohen needs to write a correction and an apology for non-existent reporting."
I second his call for a correction and apology from Cohen, and believe your paper should consider running a note to readers, both in print and on the paper's web site, explaining the familial relationship of Charles and Robert G. Kaiser.
A prompt response is requested.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
Friday, March 25, 2005
Forwarded Message:
Subj: RE: Deletion of "gay bowel syndrome" from Encarta?
Date: 3/25/2005 8:13:15 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: Marian.Brown@bloomsburyusa.com
To: MPetrelis@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Dear Michael,
Thanks again for bringing this to our attention. We completely agree with you on this matter.
In answer to your concern, Bloomsbury is only responsible for the printed versions of the Encarta Dictionary. The term does not appear in the printed versions we have published. In order to address what is on the MSN website, you need to be in touch with someone there. Unfortunately because this is a licensing arrangement , we have no control over the content of their site. I'm working with our UK office to try to get a contact for you at MSN as quickly as possible in order for you to pursue further.
As soon as I get a contact name, I will forward to you.
Sincerely,
Marian
Subj: RE: Deletion of "gay bowel syndrome" from Encarta?
Date: 3/25/2005 8:13:15 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: Marian.Brown@bloomsburyusa.com
To: MPetrelis@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Dear Michael,
Thanks again for bringing this to our attention. We completely agree with you on this matter.
In answer to your concern, Bloomsbury is only responsible for the printed versions of the Encarta Dictionary. The term does not appear in the printed versions we have published. In order to address what is on the MSN website, you need to be in touch with someone there. Unfortunately because this is a licensing arrangement , we have no control over the content of their site. I'm working with our UK office to try to get a contact for you at MSN as quickly as possible in order for you to pursue further.
As soon as I get a contact name, I will forward to you.
Sincerely,
Marian
Thursday, March 24, 2005
March 25, 2005
David Corcoran
Science Desk
The New York Times
Dear Mr. Corcoran:
Today I examined all of the HIV/AIDS quarterly reports published by the New York City's Department of Health on their web site and saw how the number of HIV diagnoses in the city appear to be on the decline. I've attached below select data from the reports, to pique your interest.
As you know, New York City in 2000 began requiring all labs to report HIV positive diagnoses to the health authorities, but because of implementation and reporting delays and other factors, publishing the city's HIV epidemiology lagged in timeliness.
It seems as though recent quarterly HIV stats go back only to January 2002, but the available numbers in the quarterly surveillance reports nevertheless give a valuable, if limited, view of HIV in New York.
I believe the most significant set of stats is that for first quarter HIV surveillance, because it is for three first-quarters.
No matter the category, the department of health data reflects drops for those periods.
Although the second, third and fourth quarter reports are only for two years, they nonetheless further illustrate what may be a falling number of HIV diagnoses for the city, at least during those years.
Of course the city may have other HIV surveillance to complement the quarterly reports, and perhaps additional surveillance could show HIV rising, but if the department of health had such data, I'd expect them to share it with the public.
In any event, I'd like to suggest that the Times look at the most up-to-date HIV surveillance for New York City and consider reporting on the latest stats.
Based on all available recent quarterly reports from the city on their web site, a downward trend seems to be underway.
This should be of interest to your readers.
A prompt reply would be appreciated.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
^^^
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/dires/hivepi.html
New York City Department of Health
FIRST QUARTER STATS
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2002 - 3/31/2002
Total: 1403
Without AIDS: 1030
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 373
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2003 - 3/31/2003
Total: 1288
Without AIDS: 961
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 327
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2004 - 3/31/2004
Total: 908
Without AIDS: 654
Concurrent with AIDS diagnoses: 254
(Sources: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/qtr1-2003.pdf , http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2004-report-qtr1.pdf , http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2005-report-qtr1.pdf)
-
SECOND QUARTER STATS
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2002 - 6/30/2002
Total: 2824
Without AIDS: 2098
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 726
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2003 - 6/30/2003
Total: 2118
Without AIDS: 1568
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 550
(Sources: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/qtr2-2003.pdf , http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2004-report-qtr2.pdf )
-
THIRD QUARTER STATS
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2002 - 9/30/2002
Total : 4219
Without AIDS: 3089
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 1130
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2003 - 9/30/2003
Total: 3105
Without AIDS: 2324
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 781
(Sources: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/qtr3-2003.pdf , http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2004-report-qtr3.pdf )
-
FOURTH QUARTER STATS
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2002 - 12/31/2002
Total: 5417
Without AIDS: 3988
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 1429
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2003 - 12/31/2003
Total: 4086
Without AIDS: 3057
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 1029
(Sources: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/qtr4-2003.pdf , http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2004-report-qtr4.pdf )
David Corcoran
Science Desk
The New York Times
Dear Mr. Corcoran:
Today I examined all of the HIV/AIDS quarterly reports published by the New York City's Department of Health on their web site and saw how the number of HIV diagnoses in the city appear to be on the decline. I've attached below select data from the reports, to pique your interest.
As you know, New York City in 2000 began requiring all labs to report HIV positive diagnoses to the health authorities, but because of implementation and reporting delays and other factors, publishing the city's HIV epidemiology lagged in timeliness.
It seems as though recent quarterly HIV stats go back only to January 2002, but the available numbers in the quarterly surveillance reports nevertheless give a valuable, if limited, view of HIV in New York.
I believe the most significant set of stats is that for first quarter HIV surveillance, because it is for three first-quarters.
No matter the category, the department of health data reflects drops for those periods.
Although the second, third and fourth quarter reports are only for two years, they nonetheless further illustrate what may be a falling number of HIV diagnoses for the city, at least during those years.
Of course the city may have other HIV surveillance to complement the quarterly reports, and perhaps additional surveillance could show HIV rising, but if the department of health had such data, I'd expect them to share it with the public.
In any event, I'd like to suggest that the Times look at the most up-to-date HIV surveillance for New York City and consider reporting on the latest stats.
Based on all available recent quarterly reports from the city on their web site, a downward trend seems to be underway.
This should be of interest to your readers.
A prompt reply would be appreciated.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
^^^
http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/dires/hivepi.html
New York City Department of Health
FIRST QUARTER STATS
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2002 - 3/31/2002
Total: 1403
Without AIDS: 1030
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 373
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2003 - 3/31/2003
Total: 1288
Without AIDS: 961
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 327
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2004 - 3/31/2004
Total: 908
Without AIDS: 654
Concurrent with AIDS diagnoses: 254
(Sources: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/qtr1-2003.pdf , http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2004-report-qtr1.pdf , http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2005-report-qtr1.pdf)
-
SECOND QUARTER STATS
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2002 - 6/30/2002
Total: 2824
Without AIDS: 2098
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 726
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2003 - 6/30/2003
Total: 2118
Without AIDS: 1568
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 550
(Sources: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/qtr2-2003.pdf , http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2004-report-qtr2.pdf )
-
THIRD QUARTER STATS
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2002 - 9/30/2002
Total : 4219
Without AIDS: 3089
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 1130
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2003 - 9/30/2003
Total: 3105
Without AIDS: 2324
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 781
(Sources: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/qtr3-2003.pdf , http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2004-report-qtr3.pdf )
-
FOURTH QUARTER STATS
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2002 - 12/31/2002
Total: 5417
Without AIDS: 3988
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 1429
HIV diagnoses during 1/1/2003 - 12/31/2003
Total: 4086
Without AIDS: 3057
Concurrent with AIDS diagnosis: 1029
(Sources: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/qtr4-2003.pdf , http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/pdf/dires/dires-2004-report-qtr4.pdf )
Marian Brown
BloomsburyUSA
75 Fifth Avenue, Suite 300
New York, NY 10010
(212) 674-5151 x354
marian.brown@bloomsburyusa.com
Dear Ms. Brown:
Thanks for listening to my request to have "gay bowel syndrome" deleted from both the print and on-line versions of the Encarta dictionary.
It pleases me that you, as the press agent for the Encarta dictionary, published by BloomsburyUSA and widely available on the MSN web site, said "gay bowel syndrome" won't appear in next year's print edition and that you'll contact MSN to instruct them to remove the listing and definition in the on-line Encarta.
No other dictionary, or reputable medical textbook, lists or defines "gay bowel syndrome" as a genuine medical condition.
I look forward to the deletion of this term from the Encarta site and print edition.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
Ph: 415-621-6267
BloomsburyUSA
75 Fifth Avenue, Suite 300
New York, NY 10010
(212) 674-5151 x354
marian.brown@bloomsburyusa.com
Dear Ms. Brown:
Thanks for listening to my request to have "gay bowel syndrome" deleted from both the print and on-line versions of the Encarta dictionary.
It pleases me that you, as the press agent for the Encarta dictionary, published by BloomsburyUSA and widely available on the MSN web site, said "gay bowel syndrome" won't appear in next year's print edition and that you'll contact MSN to instruct them to remove the listing and definition in the on-line Encarta.
No other dictionary, or reputable medical textbook, lists or defines "gay bowel syndrome" as a genuine medical condition.
I look forward to the deletion of this term from the Encarta site and print edition.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
Ph: 415-621-6267
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Dear Peter:
Thanks so much for contacting the UK doctors group about their offensive listing for "gay bowel syndrome." They really should just delete it and come into the modern medical age.
Should we launch a campaign asking friends and supporters to contact the UK group and pressure them to remove the listing?
My campaign against MSN Encarta got some support today from a gay medical group in DC. It's going to take some time to get US groups to understand why we have to eliminate the term from Microsoft's MSN dictionary.
It seems as though MSN updated its dictionary in the last two months, which is why it's now showing up on searches I perform.
By the way, what do you know about the Bloomsbury Publishing firm? They're the company responsible for providing Bill Gate's MSN Encarta with content, so they're the ones responsible, I think, for the "gay bowel syndrome" listing.
This what what appears on the MSN site: "Encarta World English Dictionary [North American Edition] © & (P)2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc."
I'd love to know where the Bloomsbury publishers got their fictional information on this nonexistent syndrome.
Best,
Michael
-
March 21, 2005
From: peter@tatchell.freeserve.co.uk
Hi Michael,
I finally got around to doing something on the GBS issue. Sorry, it has taken so long (every day I am overwhelmed with campaign commitments). Hopefully this will swing it.
Thanks for raising and pushing this issue – and getting some progress.
Solidarity! Peter
-
To: Editor GP Notebook
Dear Damian,
Thanks very much for getting in touch. I had been meaning to contact GP Notebook for some time, but always got diverted by some pressing campaign crisis.
In answer to your question: the term "gay bowel syndrome" (GBS) is regarded by gay people as offensive and homophobic. We at OutRage! have received a number of complaints about it over the years.
I think Mr Petrelis is correct. His criticisms are shared by the wider gay community, as well as by gay health-care professionals and gay rights organisations.
The infections GBS refers to are not confined to gay people and therefore should not be labelled as a gay condition. Some heterosexuals get these infections too, and some homosexuals never do.
To suggest it is a uniquely gay condition is clearly misleading and could perpetuate homophobic stereotypes; playing into the hands of those who want to smear and denigrate gay people. GBS has already been cited in homophobic political tracts that stir up hatred against, and fear of, gay men. A cause for anxiety and regret on your part, I am sure.
It is, of course, also scientifically questionable whether the range of infections involved constitute a syndrome and whether they are confined to the bowel.
The National Health Service does not appear to recognise GBS as a legitimate medical condition.
The spokesperson for the Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York makes a good point when he says that no one would tolerate sickle cell aenemia being labelled African American sickle cell disease just because in the US it primarily affects African Americans. That would be deemed racist. Well, the same goes for GBS. It seen as a loaded and prejudiced term.
I would therefore respectfully ask you to delete the word gay from the title and delete from the text any suggestion that these infections are restricted to gay men.
Although I personally doubt that the infections are confined to the bowel or that they constitute a genuine medical syndrome, I could live with a revised title like Infected Bowel Syndrome or Infected Intestinal Syndrome or Parasitic Bowel Syndrome.
I hope you will feel able to take on board these suggestions, and end the offence caused.
Thank you again for getting in touch.
Best wishes, Peter Tatchell, OutRage!, London 020 7403 1790
-
Message date : Mar 21 2005, 09:39 PM
From : "Damian Crowther"
To : peter@tatchell.freeserve.co.uk
Dear Mr Tatchell
I am part of a team that runs GPnotebook, a popular UK medical website. We have had correspondence with some US gay rights worker who objects to the term “gay bowel” :
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/12/302963.html
This refers to our page:
http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=-603586526
Bearing in mind that we have absolutely no interest in stigmatizing homosexuality or homosexuals – and also that the term “gay bowel” does exist and that medical students/doctors will want to know what it means – do you think that this content is offensive?
I would welcome your opinion as we are confused about the rather aggressive comments from the other side of the atlantic.
Best wishes,
Damian Crowther
GPnotebook
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: MPetrelis@aol.com [mailto:MPetrelis@aol.com]
Sent: 22 December 2004 20:37
To: peter@tatchell.freeserve.co.uk
Subject: UK docs admit "gay bowel syndrome" obsolete
http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/
December 22, 2004
GPnotebook.co.uk
c/o Dr Damian C. Crowther
The Cambridge Institute for Medical Research
Hills Road
Cambridge, UK, CB2 2XY
Dear Dr. Crowther:
I see your web site has again changed its listing for the nonexistent "gay bowel syndrome."
The site now refers to this "syndrome" as "obsolete, and potentially offensive."
>>This is an obsolete, and potentially offensive term, used to refer to a collection of sexually-transmitted enteric infections in HIV infected homosexuals (1, 2).
>>The infective organisms included in this "syndrome" included Shigella, Giardia, Campylobacter-like organisms, Entamoeba, Chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis. (Source: http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=-603586526)
Since you're now acknowledging it's obsolete, why not simply remove all references to "gay bowel syndrome" from the GP Notebook?
Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
Thanks so much for contacting the UK doctors group about their offensive listing for "gay bowel syndrome." They really should just delete it and come into the modern medical age.
Should we launch a campaign asking friends and supporters to contact the UK group and pressure them to remove the listing?
My campaign against MSN Encarta got some support today from a gay medical group in DC. It's going to take some time to get US groups to understand why we have to eliminate the term from Microsoft's MSN dictionary.
It seems as though MSN updated its dictionary in the last two months, which is why it's now showing up on searches I perform.
By the way, what do you know about the Bloomsbury Publishing firm? They're the company responsible for providing Bill Gate's MSN Encarta with content, so they're the ones responsible, I think, for the "gay bowel syndrome" listing.
This what what appears on the MSN site: "Encarta World English Dictionary [North American Edition] © & (P)2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc."
I'd love to know where the Bloomsbury publishers got their fictional information on this nonexistent syndrome.
Best,
Michael
-
March 21, 2005
From: peter@tatchell.freeserve.co.uk
Hi Michael,
I finally got around to doing something on the GBS issue. Sorry, it has taken so long (every day I am overwhelmed with campaign commitments). Hopefully this will swing it.
Thanks for raising and pushing this issue – and getting some progress.
Solidarity! Peter
-
To: Editor GP Notebook
Dear Damian,
Thanks very much for getting in touch. I had been meaning to contact GP Notebook for some time, but always got diverted by some pressing campaign crisis.
In answer to your question: the term "gay bowel syndrome" (GBS) is regarded by gay people as offensive and homophobic. We at OutRage! have received a number of complaints about it over the years.
I think Mr Petrelis is correct. His criticisms are shared by the wider gay community, as well as by gay health-care professionals and gay rights organisations.
The infections GBS refers to are not confined to gay people and therefore should not be labelled as a gay condition. Some heterosexuals get these infections too, and some homosexuals never do.
To suggest it is a uniquely gay condition is clearly misleading and could perpetuate homophobic stereotypes; playing into the hands of those who want to smear and denigrate gay people. GBS has already been cited in homophobic political tracts that stir up hatred against, and fear of, gay men. A cause for anxiety and regret on your part, I am sure.
It is, of course, also scientifically questionable whether the range of infections involved constitute a syndrome and whether they are confined to the bowel.
The National Health Service does not appear to recognise GBS as a legitimate medical condition.
The spokesperson for the Gay Men's Health Crisis in New York makes a good point when he says that no one would tolerate sickle cell aenemia being labelled African American sickle cell disease just because in the US it primarily affects African Americans. That would be deemed racist. Well, the same goes for GBS. It seen as a loaded and prejudiced term.
I would therefore respectfully ask you to delete the word gay from the title and delete from the text any suggestion that these infections are restricted to gay men.
Although I personally doubt that the infections are confined to the bowel or that they constitute a genuine medical syndrome, I could live with a revised title like Infected Bowel Syndrome or Infected Intestinal Syndrome or Parasitic Bowel Syndrome.
I hope you will feel able to take on board these suggestions, and end the offence caused.
Thank you again for getting in touch.
Best wishes, Peter Tatchell, OutRage!, London 020 7403 1790
-
Message date : Mar 21 2005, 09:39 PM
From : "Damian Crowther"
To : peter@tatchell.freeserve.co.uk
Dear Mr Tatchell
I am part of a team that runs GPnotebook, a popular UK medical website. We have had correspondence with some US gay rights worker who objects to the term “gay bowel” :
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2004/12/302963.html
This refers to our page:
http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=-603586526
Bearing in mind that we have absolutely no interest in stigmatizing homosexuality or homosexuals – and also that the term “gay bowel” does exist and that medical students/doctors will want to know what it means – do you think that this content is offensive?
I would welcome your opinion as we are confused about the rather aggressive comments from the other side of the atlantic.
Best wishes,
Damian Crowther
GPnotebook
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: MPetrelis@aol.com [mailto:MPetrelis@aol.com]
Sent: 22 December 2004 20:37
To: peter@tatchell.freeserve.co.uk
Subject: UK docs admit "gay bowel syndrome" obsolete
http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/
December 22, 2004
GPnotebook.co.uk
c/o Dr Damian C. Crowther
The Cambridge Institute for Medical Research
Hills Road
Cambridge, UK, CB2 2XY
Dear Dr. Crowther:
I see your web site has again changed its listing for the nonexistent "gay bowel syndrome."
The site now refers to this "syndrome" as "obsolete, and potentially offensive."
>>This is an obsolete, and potentially offensive term, used to refer to a collection of sexually-transmitted enteric infections in HIV infected homosexuals (1, 2).
>>The infective organisms included in this "syndrome" included Shigella, Giardia, Campylobacter-like organisms, Entamoeba, Chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis. (Source: http://www.gpnotebook.co.uk/simplepage.cfm?ID=-603586526)
Since you're now acknowledging it's obsolete, why not simply remove all references to "gay bowel syndrome" from the GP Notebook?
Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
Dear Friends:
It's long been debunked that "gay bowel syndrome" is a legitimate illness. The term was coined by homophobic doctors in the 1970s to describe a collection ailments, such as parasites and abdominal pain.
Since the 1980s "gay bowel syndrome" has been used mostly by either right-wing political groups or the occasionally misinformed medical guides for medical students.
Yesterday while performing a search on MSN's Encarta site, I came across this listing in the site's dictionary, which comes after "gay":
"gay bowel syndrome; noun
"intestinal disorders resulting from anal penetration: abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea in men who have incurred damage to the lower bowel and rectum as a result of anal penetration." (Source: http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561536907/gay_bowel_syndrome.html)
I've hunted on the MSN Encarta site for a list of contacts, to make those who included this offensive term and definition aware of my concerns, but no staff contacts are provided. Instead, there is a general feedback form, which I used. So far, I haven't heard back from anyone at MSN.
Which is why I am appealing to you for help in this matter.
Do you have any contacts at MSN or suggestions on how I might get the web giant to join all the other dictionaries that exclude "gay bowel syndrome" from their pages?
As far as I've been able to determine, no other on line dictionary includes this nonexistent medical term in their listings.
Please assist me in contacting and persuading MSN to delete "gay bowel syndrome" from Encarta, and bring MSN into the modern age regarding this bogus syndrome.
Suggestions welcome and appreciated.
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
Ph: 415-621-6267
It's long been debunked that "gay bowel syndrome" is a legitimate illness. The term was coined by homophobic doctors in the 1970s to describe a collection ailments, such as parasites and abdominal pain.
Since the 1980s "gay bowel syndrome" has been used mostly by either right-wing political groups or the occasionally misinformed medical guides for medical students.
Yesterday while performing a search on MSN's Encarta site, I came across this listing in the site's dictionary, which comes after "gay":
"gay bowel syndrome; noun
"intestinal disorders resulting from anal penetration: abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea in men who have incurred damage to the lower bowel and rectum as a result of anal penetration." (Source: http://encarta.msn.com/dictionary_561536907/gay_bowel_syndrome.html)
I've hunted on the MSN Encarta site for a list of contacts, to make those who included this offensive term and definition aware of my concerns, but no staff contacts are provided. Instead, there is a general feedback form, which I used. So far, I haven't heard back from anyone at MSN.
Which is why I am appealing to you for help in this matter.
Do you have any contacts at MSN or suggestions on how I might get the web giant to join all the other dictionaries that exclude "gay bowel syndrome" from their pages?
As far as I've been able to determine, no other on line dictionary includes this nonexistent medical term in their listings.
Please assist me in contacting and persuading MSN to delete "gay bowel syndrome" from Encarta, and bring MSN into the modern age regarding this bogus syndrome.
Suggestions welcome and appreciated.
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
Ph: 415-621-6267
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Until very recently I was unaware of how at least seven broadcast journalists had charitable foundations and that two of them accept money from corporations.
There may be nothing ethically wrong with this, but my main concern is the issue of whether the journalists and their employers divulge information about the foundations and who funds them.
In a March 6 profile of CNN's new president Jonathan Klein in the Los Angeles Times, he was asked if talk show host Larry King qualifies as a journalist.
"I define a journalist as someone who asks questions, finds out answers and communicates them to an audience. Larry King has proven that he's among the best in the world at doing that," Klein told the paper.
But many television journalists don't have a foundation bearing their name that take sizable grants from a pharmaceutical firm.
The day after Klein's comments appeared in print, the Larry King Cardiac Foundation issued a release announcing an upcoming gala in Washington to raise funds to assist patients with heart disease.
"In support of the Foundation's ambitious goal to 'Save a Heart a Day,' Eli Lilly and Company recently committed to a $100,000 grant as well as donation of the vital anti-thrombotic medication ReoPro (abciximab) through Lilly's patient assistant program, Lilly Cares," noted the release.
Providing surgeries to people with heart illnesses is noble cause, but I'm not persuaded a journalist should attach his name to a charity that takes money from a drug company and still expect to maintain a degree of impartiality and balance.
The foundation's tax filings show it has given $2,877,506 since 1998 to individuals and research programs since 1998.
King's bosses have no problem with their best-known personality establishing his foundation. Indeed, the bio for King on CNN's site mentions his foundation and the work it does.
However, CNN does not disclose the King charity's partnership with the Lilly Company and in the interests of media transparency, I think the cable network should reveal King's ties with the firm.
King is not alone among broadcast journalists with a foundation.
Peter Jennings of ABC News' World News Tonight has a charity bearing his valued name. The IRS 990 files for the Peter Jennings Foundation show he is the primary contributor, with additional revenue generated from the foundation's stock holdings.
From 1998 through 2003 the foundation gave out $480,000 to dozens of charities addressing social matters; literacy, homelessness, hunger and drug addiction. Practically all of the charities are in New York metropolitan area. The nonprofit receiving the most money from Jennings' foundation during that period was Teach for America. Jennings has donated $125,000 to the group.
Unlike King's biography on CNN's site, the ABC News site's information on Jennings does not provide any inkling of his private foundation.
Barbara Walters, also of ABC News, has a foundation to support institutions of her choosing.
Only three years worth of IRS 990 reports for the Barbara Walters Charitable Trust are available on the web: 2001, 2002, 2003. The reports illustrate how the trust receives all of its funding either from Walters or stocks.
Walters' trust gave out $1,288,835, and like Jennings, the recipients are in same geographic area addressing similar social problems. The biggest donation from the trust was a $1 million gift to her alma mater Sarah Lawrence College for a visual arts center.
The trust is not referenced on Walters' bio page on the ABC News site.
Two journalists at NBC News have foundations: Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw.
The Russert Family Foundations has only two directors; the NBC news man and his wife, Maureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair magazine.
Funding for the foundation comes from the couple and starting in 1998, it has doled out a total of $353,430. Most of the Russert nonprofit's largesse went to Catholic schools and charities across the country.
Although he's retired from anchoring duties, Brokaw will produce news specials and offer commentary for NBC. His Brokaw Family Foundation gets its money from Fast Track Productions, which may be Brokaw's production company. Googling Fast Track Productions turned up no hits explaining what it is or who runs it.
In any event, this foundation funded assorted charities, primarily environmental and conservation groups around the nation, to the tune of $1,717,050 from 1998 through 2002.
Two things stand out in the list of contributions made by Brokaw's foundation. First, about 20% of the donations went to organizations in his home state of South Dakota. And second, the Committee to Protect Journalists has taken in $175,000 from the foundation, which is in keeping with Brokaw's professional duties.
The web site for NBC News fails to mention both men's foundations.
Over at Fox News, correspondent Gerald Foundation has his Maravilla Foundation and according to the Harry Walker Agency, an exclusive speaker's agency that represents him, in 1990 "he founded the Maravilla Foundation; a nonprofit organization dedicated to equal opportunity education and 'adopted' a class of junior high school students. Rivera promised to subsidize their college education contingent upon completion of high school."
For the years 1998 through 2003, Rivera's charity has contributed $241,601 for the students' college costs.
And Fox's bio page for Rivera omits any reference to the Maravilla Foundation and its work.
Not to be outdone by its network and cable counterparts, the Public Broadcasting System also employs a journalist with a charity.
Talk show host Tavis Smiley has a foundation bearing his name and since 2000, his foundation has spent $3,398,820 conducting workshops and leadership forums in major cities encouraging youth in college and career endeavors, according to tax returns.
The web site for the Tavis Smiley Foundation reveals significant funding comes from several corporations, including Coca Cola, Hyundai and Microsoft.
PBS's web site highlights the foundation on the Smiley show's page.
In my opinion, as a news consumer, media transparency demands that CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox and PBS disclose as much information as possible on their sites educating readers about these foundations, their funding sources and who receives money from the charities.
(A note about my sources. Much of the information about the foundations came from their tax files posted on http://www.guidestar.org/.)
There may be nothing ethically wrong with this, but my main concern is the issue of whether the journalists and their employers divulge information about the foundations and who funds them.
In a March 6 profile of CNN's new president Jonathan Klein in the Los Angeles Times, he was asked if talk show host Larry King qualifies as a journalist.
"I define a journalist as someone who asks questions, finds out answers and communicates them to an audience. Larry King has proven that he's among the best in the world at doing that," Klein told the paper.
But many television journalists don't have a foundation bearing their name that take sizable grants from a pharmaceutical firm.
The day after Klein's comments appeared in print, the Larry King Cardiac Foundation issued a release announcing an upcoming gala in Washington to raise funds to assist patients with heart disease.
"In support of the Foundation's ambitious goal to 'Save a Heart a Day,' Eli Lilly and Company recently committed to a $100,000 grant as well as donation of the vital anti-thrombotic medication ReoPro (abciximab) through Lilly's patient assistant program, Lilly Cares," noted the release.
Providing surgeries to people with heart illnesses is noble cause, but I'm not persuaded a journalist should attach his name to a charity that takes money from a drug company and still expect to maintain a degree of impartiality and balance.
The foundation's tax filings show it has given $2,877,506 since 1998 to individuals and research programs since 1998.
King's bosses have no problem with their best-known personality establishing his foundation. Indeed, the bio for King on CNN's site mentions his foundation and the work it does.
However, CNN does not disclose the King charity's partnership with the Lilly Company and in the interests of media transparency, I think the cable network should reveal King's ties with the firm.
King is not alone among broadcast journalists with a foundation.
Peter Jennings of ABC News' World News Tonight has a charity bearing his valued name. The IRS 990 files for the Peter Jennings Foundation show he is the primary contributor, with additional revenue generated from the foundation's stock holdings.
From 1998 through 2003 the foundation gave out $480,000 to dozens of charities addressing social matters; literacy, homelessness, hunger and drug addiction. Practically all of the charities are in New York metropolitan area. The nonprofit receiving the most money from Jennings' foundation during that period was Teach for America. Jennings has donated $125,000 to the group.
Unlike King's biography on CNN's site, the ABC News site's information on Jennings does not provide any inkling of his private foundation.
Barbara Walters, also of ABC News, has a foundation to support institutions of her choosing.
Only three years worth of IRS 990 reports for the Barbara Walters Charitable Trust are available on the web: 2001, 2002, 2003. The reports illustrate how the trust receives all of its funding either from Walters or stocks.
Walters' trust gave out $1,288,835, and like Jennings, the recipients are in same geographic area addressing similar social problems. The biggest donation from the trust was a $1 million gift to her alma mater Sarah Lawrence College for a visual arts center.
The trust is not referenced on Walters' bio page on the ABC News site.
Two journalists at NBC News have foundations: Tim Russert and Tom Brokaw.
The Russert Family Foundations has only two directors; the NBC news man and his wife, Maureen Orth, a writer for Vanity Fair magazine.
Funding for the foundation comes from the couple and starting in 1998, it has doled out a total of $353,430. Most of the Russert nonprofit's largesse went to Catholic schools and charities across the country.
Although he's retired from anchoring duties, Brokaw will produce news specials and offer commentary for NBC. His Brokaw Family Foundation gets its money from Fast Track Productions, which may be Brokaw's production company. Googling Fast Track Productions turned up no hits explaining what it is or who runs it.
In any event, this foundation funded assorted charities, primarily environmental and conservation groups around the nation, to the tune of $1,717,050 from 1998 through 2002.
Two things stand out in the list of contributions made by Brokaw's foundation. First, about 20% of the donations went to organizations in his home state of South Dakota. And second, the Committee to Protect Journalists has taken in $175,000 from the foundation, which is in keeping with Brokaw's professional duties.
The web site for NBC News fails to mention both men's foundations.
Over at Fox News, correspondent Gerald Foundation has his Maravilla Foundation and according to the Harry Walker Agency, an exclusive speaker's agency that represents him, in 1990 "he founded the Maravilla Foundation; a nonprofit organization dedicated to equal opportunity education and 'adopted' a class of junior high school students. Rivera promised to subsidize their college education contingent upon completion of high school."
For the years 1998 through 2003, Rivera's charity has contributed $241,601 for the students' college costs.
And Fox's bio page for Rivera omits any reference to the Maravilla Foundation and its work.
Not to be outdone by its network and cable counterparts, the Public Broadcasting System also employs a journalist with a charity.
Talk show host Tavis Smiley has a foundation bearing his name and since 2000, his foundation has spent $3,398,820 conducting workshops and leadership forums in major cities encouraging youth in college and career endeavors, according to tax returns.
The web site for the Tavis Smiley Foundation reveals significant funding comes from several corporations, including Coca Cola, Hyundai and Microsoft.
PBS's web site highlights the foundation on the Smiley show's page.
In my opinion, as a news consumer, media transparency demands that CNN, ABC, NBC, Fox and PBS disclose as much information as possible on their sites educating readers about these foundations, their funding sources and who receives money from the charities.
(A note about my sources. Much of the information about the foundations came from their tax files posted on http://www.guidestar.org/.)
Friday, March 18, 2005
March 19, 2005
Editor
The Lancet
editorial@lancet.com
London, United Kingdom
Dear Editor:
Today's edition of The Lancet has an article, Infection with multidrug resistant, dual tropic HIV-1 and rapid progression to AIDS: a case report, and one of the co-authors, Mr. Christos Petropoulos, didn't fully disclose his competing interests.
Petropoulos holds two patents for ViroLogic AIDS drug resistance inventions, which were an integral component to the article.
The Lancet published this statement accompanying the article of concern to me:
"Conflict of interest statement: D D Ho has been a paid adviser to ViroLogic since its inception in 1995, and has a brother who is an employee at the company. T Wrin, N Parking, and C Petropoulos are ViroLogic employees who hold stocks or stock options in the company. No other co-author has a conflict of interest."
However your competing interest policy states:
"Examples of financial conflicts include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications, and travel grants, all within 3 years of beginning the work submitted."
The two excerpts below are from patent applications filed by Petropoulos with the United State Patent and Trade Office. You can locate the full patent information at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html.
1.
Inventors: Capon; Daniel (Hillsborough, CA); Petropoulos; Christos J. (Half Moon Bay, CA)
Assignee: ViroLogic, Inc. (S. San Francisco, CA)
Appl. No.: 790963
Filed: January 29, 1997
"Compositions and methods for determining anti-viral drug susceptibility and resistance and anti-viral drug screening"
Abstract
"This invention provides a method for determining susceptibility for an anti-viral drug comprising: (a) introducing a resistance test vector comprising a patient-derived segment and an indicator gene into a host cell; (b) culturing the host cell from (a); (c) measuring expression of the indicator gene in a target host cell; and (d) comparing the expression of the indicator gene from (c) with the expression of the indicator gene measured when steps (a)-(c) are carried out in the absence of the anti-viral drug, wherein a test concentration of the anti-viral drug is present at steps (a)-(c); at steps (b)-(c); or at step (c). This invention also provides a method for determining anti-viral drug resistance in a patient comprising: (a) determining anti-viral drug susceptibility in the patient at a first time using the susceptibility test described above, wherein the patient-derived segment is obtained from the patient at about said time; (b) determining anti-viral drug susceptibility of the same patient at a later time; and (c) comparing the anti-viral drug susceptibilities determined in step (a) and (b), wherein a decrease in anti-viral drug susceptibility at the later time compared to the first time indicates development or progression of anti-viral drug resistance in the patient. This invention also provides a method for evaluating the biological effectiveness of a candidate anti-viral drug compound. Compositions including resistance test vectors comprising a patient-derived segment and an indicator gene and host cells transformed with the resistance test vectors are provided."
2.
Inventors: Petropoulos; Christos J. (Half Moon Bay, CA); Whitcomb; Jeannette (San Mateo, CA)
Assignee: ViroLogic, Inc. (South San Francisco, CA)
Appl. No.: 339357
Filed: June 23, 1999
"Means and methods for monitoring nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor antiretroviral therapy and guiding therapeutic decisions in the treatment of HIV/AIDS"
Abstract
"This invention relates to antiviral drug susceptibility and resistance tests to be used in identifying effective drug regimens for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and further relates to the means and methods of monitoring the clinical progression of HIV infection and its response to antiretroviral therapy, particularly nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor therapy using phenotypic susceptibility assays or genotypic assays."
Furthermore, another co-author of The Lancet's article, Dr. David Ho of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, hold six AIDS-related patents on various inventions, and his research center has four such patents on file with the United States Patent and Trade Office. Information on these patents is attached.
I formally request that you consider publishing an editor's note in The Lancet calling readers' attention to the patents held by Petropoulos, Ho and the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center.
A prompt reply is requested and appreciated.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA, USA
Ph: 415-621-6267
Email: MPetrelis@aol.com
Editor
The Lancet
editorial@lancet.com
London, United Kingdom
Dear Editor:
Today's edition of The Lancet has an article, Infection with multidrug resistant, dual tropic HIV-1 and rapid progression to AIDS: a case report, and one of the co-authors, Mr. Christos Petropoulos, didn't fully disclose his competing interests.
Petropoulos holds two patents for ViroLogic AIDS drug resistance inventions, which were an integral component to the article.
The Lancet published this statement accompanying the article of concern to me:
"Conflict of interest statement: D D Ho has been a paid adviser to ViroLogic since its inception in 1995, and has a brother who is an employee at the company. T Wrin, N Parking, and C Petropoulos are ViroLogic employees who hold stocks or stock options in the company. No other co-author has a conflict of interest."
However your competing interest policy states:
"Examples of financial conflicts include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications, and travel grants, all within 3 years of beginning the work submitted."
The two excerpts below are from patent applications filed by Petropoulos with the United State Patent and Trade Office. You can locate the full patent information at http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html.
1.
Inventors: Capon; Daniel (Hillsborough, CA); Petropoulos; Christos J. (Half Moon Bay, CA)
Assignee: ViroLogic, Inc. (S. San Francisco, CA)
Appl. No.: 790963
Filed: January 29, 1997
"Compositions and methods for determining anti-viral drug susceptibility and resistance and anti-viral drug screening"
Abstract
"This invention provides a method for determining susceptibility for an anti-viral drug comprising: (a) introducing a resistance test vector comprising a patient-derived segment and an indicator gene into a host cell; (b) culturing the host cell from (a); (c) measuring expression of the indicator gene in a target host cell; and (d) comparing the expression of the indicator gene from (c) with the expression of the indicator gene measured when steps (a)-(c) are carried out in the absence of the anti-viral drug, wherein a test concentration of the anti-viral drug is present at steps (a)-(c); at steps (b)-(c); or at step (c). This invention also provides a method for determining anti-viral drug resistance in a patient comprising: (a) determining anti-viral drug susceptibility in the patient at a first time using the susceptibility test described above, wherein the patient-derived segment is obtained from the patient at about said time; (b) determining anti-viral drug susceptibility of the same patient at a later time; and (c) comparing the anti-viral drug susceptibilities determined in step (a) and (b), wherein a decrease in anti-viral drug susceptibility at the later time compared to the first time indicates development or progression of anti-viral drug resistance in the patient. This invention also provides a method for evaluating the biological effectiveness of a candidate anti-viral drug compound. Compositions including resistance test vectors comprising a patient-derived segment and an indicator gene and host cells transformed with the resistance test vectors are provided."
2.
Inventors: Petropoulos; Christos J. (Half Moon Bay, CA); Whitcomb; Jeannette (San Mateo, CA)
Assignee: ViroLogic, Inc. (South San Francisco, CA)
Appl. No.: 339357
Filed: June 23, 1999
"Means and methods for monitoring nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor antiretroviral therapy and guiding therapeutic decisions in the treatment of HIV/AIDS"
Abstract
"This invention relates to antiviral drug susceptibility and resistance tests to be used in identifying effective drug regimens for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) and further relates to the means and methods of monitoring the clinical progression of HIV infection and its response to antiretroviral therapy, particularly nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor therapy using phenotypic susceptibility assays or genotypic assays."
Furthermore, another co-author of The Lancet's article, Dr. David Ho of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, hold six AIDS-related patents on various inventions, and his research center has four such patents on file with the United States Patent and Trade Office. Information on these patents is attached.
I formally request that you consider publishing an editor's note in The Lancet calling readers' attention to the patents held by Petropoulos, Ho and the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center.
A prompt reply is requested and appreciated.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA, USA
Ph: 415-621-6267
Email: MPetrelis@aol.com
March 18, 2005
Catherine Mathis
The New York Times
Corporate Communication
Dear Ms. Mathis:
Today's Times has a story by Marc Santora about an article published in The Lancet this week about the mutant strain of HIV in New York City. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/18/nyregion.html)
Mr. Santora reports: "The study, appearing in The Lancet, a medical journal, shows the virus to be resistant to nearly all licensed drugs and particularly aggressive. Most of the study's details were disclosed earlier during an AIDS conference in Boston. The report is based on the work of a team of researchers from the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in Manhattan led by Dr. David D. Ho and Dr. Martin Markowitz."
That is all true, except the Times failed to include the following vital transparency information about the researchers, which appears at the end of The Lancet article.
"Conflict of interest statement: D D Ho has been a paid adviser to ViroLogic since its inception in 1995, and has a brother who is an employee at the company. T Wrin, N Parking, and C Petropoulos are ViroLogic employees who hold stocks or stock options in the company. No other co-author has a conflict of interest." (Source: http://thelancet.com/journal/vol365/, page 1037.)
As you'll recall, on February 21 the Times reported "Dr. Ho said that he has disclosed all of his ties to the company and that any suggestion of impropriety was false."
While this sentence is a small step toward transparency, it did not fully inform readers about Ho's _paid_ advisory role to ViroLogic, the company that owns the AIDS drug resistance test used to determine the New York City patient has a mutant strain of HIV.
I am requesting that the Times run an editor's note informing readers of what The Lancet included in its article, specifically, that Dr. David Ho has been a paid consultant to ViroLogic for a decade.
A prompt reply is requested and appreciated.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
Catherine Mathis
The New York Times
Corporate Communication
Dear Ms. Mathis:
Today's Times has a story by Marc Santora about an article published in The Lancet this week about the mutant strain of HIV in New York City. (Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/18/nyregion.html)
Mr. Santora reports: "The study, appearing in The Lancet, a medical journal, shows the virus to be resistant to nearly all licensed drugs and particularly aggressive. Most of the study's details were disclosed earlier during an AIDS conference in Boston. The report is based on the work of a team of researchers from the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center in Manhattan led by Dr. David D. Ho and Dr. Martin Markowitz."
That is all true, except the Times failed to include the following vital transparency information about the researchers, which appears at the end of The Lancet article.
"Conflict of interest statement: D D Ho has been a paid adviser to ViroLogic since its inception in 1995, and has a brother who is an employee at the company. T Wrin, N Parking, and C Petropoulos are ViroLogic employees who hold stocks or stock options in the company. No other co-author has a conflict of interest." (Source: http://thelancet.com/journal/vol365/, page 1037.)
As you'll recall, on February 21 the Times reported "Dr. Ho said that he has disclosed all of his ties to the company and that any suggestion of impropriety was false."
While this sentence is a small step toward transparency, it did not fully inform readers about Ho's _paid_ advisory role to ViroLogic, the company that owns the AIDS drug resistance test used to determine the New York City patient has a mutant strain of HIV.
I am requesting that the Times run an editor's note informing readers of what The Lancet included in its article, specifically, that Dr. David Ho has been a paid consultant to ViroLogic for a decade.
A prompt reply is requested and appreciated.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Dear Ms. Mathis:
Thanks for the rapid reply. I stand corrected and will post your email on my blog.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
In a message dated 3/14/2005 12:36:32 PM Pacific Standard Time, mathis@nytimes.com writes:
Dear Mr. Petrelis,
The initial article on David Ho's defensin discovery, in Sept. 2002,
noted that Ciphergen and Aaron Diamond would be applying for patents
on the discovery, with royalties going to Aaron Diamond. The point of
the 2004 article was that the previous conclusions about defensins
were wrong. The issue of patents was simply irrelevant, and in any
case, those patents were presumably rendered worthless.
Sincerely,
Catherine Mathis
VP, Corporate Communications
The New York Times Company
212-556-1981 (office)
917-593-7425 (cell)
mathis@nytimes.com
Thanks for the rapid reply. I stand corrected and will post your email on my blog.
Regards,
Michael Petrelis
In a message dated 3/14/2005 12:36:32 PM Pacific Standard Time, mathis@nytimes.com writes:
Dear Mr. Petrelis,
The initial article on David Ho's defensin discovery, in Sept. 2002,
noted that Ciphergen and Aaron Diamond would be applying for patents
on the discovery, with royalties going to Aaron Diamond. The point of
the 2004 article was that the previous conclusions about defensins
were wrong. The issue of patents was simply irrelevant, and in any
case, those patents were presumably rendered worthless.
Sincerely,
Catherine Mathis
VP, Corporate Communications
The New York Times Company
212-556-1981 (office)
917-593-7425 (cell)
mathis@nytimes.com
Dear Friends:
The San Francisco Superior Court judge who issued a ruling yesterday supportive of gay marriages, Richard A. Kramer, has made some rather interesting political donations over the past four years.
At the federal level, Kramer has made no donations, according to the PoliticalMoneyLine's web site tray.com.
In California races Kramer gave $500 in 2002 to openly lesbian Superior Court candidate Nancy L. Davis for her successful run.
In 2003 Kramer donated $500 to Californians for Schwarzenegger, according to the Secretary of State's database.
At the local level, during 2002 he wrote a check for $100 to openly gay Board of Supervisors candidate Bevan Dufty, who won his seat to represent the Castro district.
Kramer in 2003 also contributed $750 to Gavin Newsom's campaign for mayor of San Francisco.
He donated $500 that year to Newsom's opponent, former Supervisor Matt Gonzalez.
Kramer most recent donation, made in 2004, was a $500 donation to a former colleague, Lillian Sing, in her losing bid for a Board of Supervisors' seat.
You can find information on Kramer's donations to Judge Davis and Gov. Schwarzenegger at http://dbsearch.ss.ca.gov/ContributorSearch.aspx.
To verify Kramer's giving to San Francisco candidates, visit http://sunset.ci.sf.ca.us/olfspublish300.nsf.
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
The San Francisco Superior Court judge who issued a ruling yesterday supportive of gay marriages, Richard A. Kramer, has made some rather interesting political donations over the past four years.
At the federal level, Kramer has made no donations, according to the PoliticalMoneyLine's web site tray.com.
In California races Kramer gave $500 in 2002 to openly lesbian Superior Court candidate Nancy L. Davis for her successful run.
In 2003 Kramer donated $500 to Californians for Schwarzenegger, according to the Secretary of State's database.
At the local level, during 2002 he wrote a check for $100 to openly gay Board of Supervisors candidate Bevan Dufty, who won his seat to represent the Castro district.
Kramer in 2003 also contributed $750 to Gavin Newsom's campaign for mayor of San Francisco.
He donated $500 that year to Newsom's opponent, former Supervisor Matt Gonzalez.
Kramer most recent donation, made in 2004, was a $500 donation to a former colleague, Lillian Sing, in her losing bid for a Board of Supervisors' seat.
You can find information on Kramer's donations to Judge Davis and Gov. Schwarzenegger at http://dbsearch.ss.ca.gov/ContributorSearch.aspx.
To verify Kramer's giving to San Francisco candidates, visit http://sunset.ci.sf.ca.us/olfspublish300.nsf.
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
Monday, March 14, 2005
March 11, 2005
From: gyamey@plos.org
Dear Michael,
As promised, I am writing to let you know about our competing interests policy as it applies to David Ho’s commentary that discusses the scientific reasons why he thinks an HIV vaccine could be developed.
We discussed this issue with David Ho, and also at our editorial meeting today.
As you know, we ask authors to declare financial ties that may be relevant to the specific article that they are writing. We ask all authors to look at our competing interests policy (http://www.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-static&name=interests) and declare any competing interests. So, for example, if an author in his/her article discusses a particular treatment, it would obviously be extremely important for that author to declare any ties to the manufacturer of that treatment.
In discussing the scientific reasons why he is optimistic that an HIV vaccine could be developed, Professor Ho did not believe that his financial ties had any specific relevance to the issue of the science behind HIV vaccine development (his ties are to manufacturers of antiretroviral therapies, and these manufacturers arguably stand to lose financially if a vaccine is developed).
As I mentioned before, we are constantly revisiting our competing interests policies (we are a new journal, and or policies are still evolving). We have had two examples now where readers have written in to say they felt that an author should have declared all their sources of funding (whether or not they were connected with the piece). This has prompted us to consider whether to ask all authors simply to declare all their sources of funding (leaving it up to readers to decide what is and is not relevant). This is one question that we will put to our external advisory group on competing interests once it is up and running.
I am sure that we do not have the perfect policy, but we are trying to come up with the one that works best (i.e. that allows readers to know whether financial ties could have biased the article). As we evolve, I will be sure to keep you informed. It is valuable for us to have feedback from our readers on how we are doing. Many—perhaps even most—journals still don’t have any policy at all about asking authors to declare competing interests. We have launched our journal with a policy that we realize may need revision.
Finally, please do look at our editorial that comes out at the end of this month (written by the PLoS Medicine editors). As with all articles, it will be freely available at http://www.plosmedicine.org/. It discusses our first steps towards adopting competing interests policies that can help to protect the probity of the journal’s content.
With thanks again for your interest in PLoS Medicine,
Best wishes
Gavin Yamey MD, MRCP
Magazine Editor, PLoS Medicine
Public Library of Science
- -
March 14, 2005
Dear Gavin:
Thanks for getting back to me, explaining more details about your journal's evolving policies on competing interests and what Dr. Ho had to say about why he didn't declare any in his recent article about AIDS vaccine research.
You wrote: "In discussing the scientific reasons why he is optimistic that an HIV vaccine could be developed, Professor Ho did not believe that his financial ties had any specific relevance to the issue of the science behind HIV vaccine development (his ties are to manufacturers of antiretroviral therapies, and these manufacturers arguably stand to lose financially if a vaccine is developed)."
My response is that Dr. Ho does have financial ties to AIDS vaccines.
According to the US Patent and Trade Office, filed papers in 2002 for HIV vaccine related invention. This is excerpt from the very long patent, where Dr. Ho is listed as the lead inventor:
"Vaccination of hiv infected persons following highly active antiretrovial therapy
"Abstract
"The present invention provides a method of permitting cessation of antiviral therapy on HIV-infected subjects without virus rebound or with at least a delayed virus rebound or a decreased post rebound set-point. The method comprises the re-induction of HIV-specific immune responses using a vaccination strategy to induce both humoral and cell-mediated immunity. The present invention achieves an immunological control of persistent infectious virus after discontinuation of antiviral therapy. The vaccine strategy according to the invention is both safe and immunogenic in the subject HIV-infected patient population.
"Inventors: Ho, David; (New York, NY) ; Markowitz, Martin; (New York, NY) ; KLEIN, MICHEL; (LYON CEDEX, FR) ; HABIB, RAPHAELLE EL; (LYON CEDEX, FR)
"Correspondence Name and Address: MCDONNELL BOEHNEN HULBERT & BERGHOFF
300 SOUTH WACKER DRIVE
SUITE 3200
CHICAGO
IL
60606
US
Serial No.: 182067
Series Code: 10
Filed: October 9, 2002"
I still think your journal should print an explanation for readers, detailing Dr. Ho's patent listed above, along with his other HIV-related patents.
Attached is a list of Dr. Ho's six patents, along with the four patents held by the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center.
Best,
Michael Petrelis
From: gyamey@plos.org
Dear Michael,
As promised, I am writing to let you know about our competing interests policy as it applies to David Ho’s commentary that discusses the scientific reasons why he thinks an HIV vaccine could be developed.
We discussed this issue with David Ho, and also at our editorial meeting today.
As you know, we ask authors to declare financial ties that may be relevant to the specific article that they are writing. We ask all authors to look at our competing interests policy (http://www.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-static&name=interests) and declare any competing interests. So, for example, if an author in his/her article discusses a particular treatment, it would obviously be extremely important for that author to declare any ties to the manufacturer of that treatment.
In discussing the scientific reasons why he is optimistic that an HIV vaccine could be developed, Professor Ho did not believe that his financial ties had any specific relevance to the issue of the science behind HIV vaccine development (his ties are to manufacturers of antiretroviral therapies, and these manufacturers arguably stand to lose financially if a vaccine is developed).
As I mentioned before, we are constantly revisiting our competing interests policies (we are a new journal, and or policies are still evolving). We have had two examples now where readers have written in to say they felt that an author should have declared all their sources of funding (whether or not they were connected with the piece). This has prompted us to consider whether to ask all authors simply to declare all their sources of funding (leaving it up to readers to decide what is and is not relevant). This is one question that we will put to our external advisory group on competing interests once it is up and running.
I am sure that we do not have the perfect policy, but we are trying to come up with the one that works best (i.e. that allows readers to know whether financial ties could have biased the article). As we evolve, I will be sure to keep you informed. It is valuable for us to have feedback from our readers on how we are doing. Many—perhaps even most—journals still don’t have any policy at all about asking authors to declare competing interests. We have launched our journal with a policy that we realize may need revision.
Finally, please do look at our editorial that comes out at the end of this month (written by the PLoS Medicine editors). As with all articles, it will be freely available at http://www.plosmedicine.org/. It discusses our first steps towards adopting competing interests policies that can help to protect the probity of the journal’s content.
With thanks again for your interest in PLoS Medicine,
Best wishes
Gavin Yamey MD, MRCP
Magazine Editor, PLoS Medicine
Public Library of Science
- -
March 14, 2005
Dear Gavin:
Thanks for getting back to me, explaining more details about your journal's evolving policies on competing interests and what Dr. Ho had to say about why he didn't declare any in his recent article about AIDS vaccine research.
You wrote: "In discussing the scientific reasons why he is optimistic that an HIV vaccine could be developed, Professor Ho did not believe that his financial ties had any specific relevance to the issue of the science behind HIV vaccine development (his ties are to manufacturers of antiretroviral therapies, and these manufacturers arguably stand to lose financially if a vaccine is developed)."
My response is that Dr. Ho does have financial ties to AIDS vaccines.
According to the US Patent and Trade Office, filed papers in 2002 for HIV vaccine related invention. This is excerpt from the very long patent, where Dr. Ho is listed as the lead inventor:
"Vaccination of hiv infected persons following highly active antiretrovial therapy
"Abstract
"The present invention provides a method of permitting cessation of antiviral therapy on HIV-infected subjects without virus rebound or with at least a delayed virus rebound or a decreased post rebound set-point. The method comprises the re-induction of HIV-specific immune responses using a vaccination strategy to induce both humoral and cell-mediated immunity. The present invention achieves an immunological control of persistent infectious virus after discontinuation of antiviral therapy. The vaccine strategy according to the invention is both safe and immunogenic in the subject HIV-infected patient population.
"Inventors: Ho, David; (New York, NY) ; Markowitz, Martin; (New York, NY) ; KLEIN, MICHEL; (LYON CEDEX, FR) ; HABIB, RAPHAELLE EL; (LYON CEDEX, FR)
"Correspondence Name and Address: MCDONNELL BOEHNEN HULBERT & BERGHOFF
300 SOUTH WACKER DRIVE
SUITE 3200
CHICAGO
IL
60606
US
Serial No.: 182067
Series Code: 10
Filed: October 9, 2002"
I still think your journal should print an explanation for readers, detailing Dr. Ho's patent listed above, along with his other HIV-related patents.
Attached is a list of Dr. Ho's six patents, along with the four patents held by the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center.
Best,
Michael Petrelis
Sunday, March 13, 2005
March 14, 2005
Catherine Mathis
The New York Times
Corporate Communication
Dear Ms. Mathis:
I've sifted through the U.S. Patent and Trade Office's search engines and learned Dr. David Ho, director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, is listed below as the inventor of six HIV tests, herbal extracts or agents.
Of particular interest to me, which I want the Times to pay attention to, is item number five on my list, "Defensins: as an antiviral agent," on the list below.
Dr. Ho's abstract to the patent office stated: "The invention further relates to methods for identifying and using agents, including small molecule chemical compositions, antibodies, peptides, nucleic acids, antisense nucleic acids, and ribozymes, that increase naturally occurring defensin expression or activity, thereby inhibiting HIV in a cell; as well as to the use of expression profiles and compositions in diagnosis and prophylaxis, and therapy related to HIV infection and related disease states such as AIDS."
Ho and his co-inventors filed the patent claim on May 30, 2003.
In a January 23, 2004, story by Andrew Pollack, headlined "AIDS Researcher Partly Retracts Study that Caused Stir," the Times reported how Ho and his colleagues made mistakes in an experiment with defensins.
However, the Times did not report that the test involved in the experiment is partly patented by Ho. I believe the paper should have informed readers of Ho's competing interests in this matter.
Now would be a good time to revisit what Pollack wrote, especially his omission of public information about the patent owners of the test used in the failed experiment.
If the Times feels it could have done a better job of delivering all the facts to the reader in this AIDS-specific story, a note to readers about Ho possessing the patent on the test would be appropriate.
Furthermore, as you see below, I've attached information from the patent office on all six of the patents that list Ho as an inventor, and four patents listing his laboratory, the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, as the assignee for an invention.
Some of the inventions may have been used in analyzing specimens from the gay male patient in New York with a drug-resistant strain of HIV, extensively reported on in the Times. I say may have been used because I am not sure how many tests and of what sort were performed on the patient, or if Ho or his research center has patents on any of the tests.
If any of the tests used in the New York mutant HIV strain case are patented by either Ho or his laboratory, then I think the Times has a responsibility to tell readers these facts.
I suggest you determine if any Ho or Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center patented tests were used in that case, to make sure the Times' coverage was as fully informed and accurate about transparency as possible.
I respectfully request a reply.
Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
^^^
U.S. PATENT AND TRADE OFFICE
http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html
SIX PATENTS THAT LIST DR. DAVID HO AS AN INVENTOR
1.
Chinese herbal extracts in the treatment of HIV related disease in vitro
Abstract
The invention features herbal extracts from ten (10) Chinese Herbal Medicines demonstrating significant in vitro and ex vivo anti-HIV activity and their use for the diagnosis and treatment of HIV and HIV-related disease.
Inventors: Ho; David D. (Chapqua, NY); Li; Xiling S. (Alhambra, CA)
Assignee: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA)
Appl. No.: 712062
Filed: June 7, 1991
2.
Immunoreagents reactive with a conserved epitope of human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1) gp120 and methods of use
Abstract
The invention features immunoreagents which neutralize the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) by binding to a novel conserved epitope of the HIV-1 gp120. These immunoreagents exhibit a broad neutralizing effect upon HIV attachment to host cells, and are therefore useful in the detection, prevention, amelioration and treatment of HIV disease, primarily AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) and ARC (AIDS Related Complex). More particularly, the invention relates to novel human monoclonal antibodies selectively reactive to a conserved conformation dependent determinant of the HIV-1 gp120, derivatives thereof, cell lines that produce these antibodies, and the use of the monoclonal antibodies and their derivatives for the detection, prevention, amelioration and treatment of HIV related disease.
Inventors: Ho; David D. (Capaqua, NY); Robinson; James E. (New Orleans, LA)
Assignee: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA); Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College (New Orleans, LA)
Appl. No.: 870531
Filed: June 6, 1997
3.
Methods for identifying genomic equivalent markers and their use in quantitating cells and polynucleotide sequences therein
Abstract
Methods for identifying genetic sequences useful as genomic equivalent markers for organisms are described. The method involves determining the ratio of the absolute number of copies of wild type and mutant amplicons in a number of samples from organisms heterozygous for the mutation. After establishing the number of copies of a particular genetic sequence per genome, the sequence may be used as a measure of the number of genomes per sample, in order to normalize the analysis of another target sequence to abundance per cell. By way of example, the CCR5 gene was shown to be present at 2 copies per genome.
Inventors: Zhang; Linqi (New York, NY); Lewin; Sharon R. (Armadale, AU); Kostrikis; Leondios (New York, NY); Ho; David D. (Chappaqua, NY)
Assignee: The Rockefeller University (New York, NY)
Appl. No.: 481288
Filed: January 11, 2000
4.
Vaccination of hiv infected persons following highly active antiretrovial therapy
Abstract
The present invention provides a method of permitting cessation of antiviral therapy on HIV-infected subjects without virus rebound or with at least a delayed virus rebound or a decreased post rebound set-point. The method comprises the re-induction of HIV-specific immune responses using a vaccination strategy to induce both humoral and cell-mediated immunity. The present invention achieves an immunological control of persistent infectious virus after discontinuation of antiviral therapy. The vaccine strategy according to the invention is both safe and immunogenic in the subject HIV-infected patient population.
Inventors: Ho, David; (New York, NY) ; Markowitz, Martin; (New York, NY) ; KLEIN, MICHEL; (LYON CEDEX, FR) ; HABIB, RAPHAELLE EL; (LYON CEDEX, FR)
Correspondence Name and Address: MCDONNELL BOEHNEN HULBERT & BERGHOFF
300 SOUTH WACKER DRIVE
SUITE 3200
CHICAGO
IL
60606
US
Serial No.: 182067
Series Code: 10
Filed: October 9, 2002
5.
Defensins: use as antiviral agents
Abstract
The present invention relates to inhibition of viruses, e.g., HIV, using defensins. The invention further relates to methods for identifying and using agents, including small molecule chemical compositions, antibodies, peptides, nucleic acids, antisense nucleic acids, and ribozymes, that increase naturally occurring defensin expression or activity, thereby inhibiting HIV in a cell; as well as to the use of expression profiles and compositions in diagnosis and prophylaxis, and therapy related to HIV infection and related disease states such as AIDS.
Inventors: Zhang, Linqi; (Rochelle Park, NJ) ; Ho, David D.; (Chappaqua, NY) ; Caffrey, Rebecca E.; (Redwood City, CA) ; Dalmasso, Enrique A.; (Fremont, CA) ; Mei, Jianfeng; (Guilford, CT)
Correspondence Name and Address: TOWNSEND AND TOWNSEND AND CREW, LLP
TWO EMBARCADERO CENTER
EIGHTH FLOOR
SAN FRANCISCO
CA
94111-3834
US
Assignee Name and Adress: Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center
New York
NY
The Rockefeller University
Fremont
CA
Ciphergen Biosystems, Inc.
Serial No.: 452763
Series Code: 10
Filed: May 30, 2003
6.
Comparative proteomics of progressor and nonprogressor populations
Abstract
The invention identifies polypeptide biomarkers of disease progression or nonprogression by comparative protein profiling of samples from progressors and nonprogressors subpopulations of a population exposed to the pathogen or sharing a risk facto causing the disease. The polypeptides, their ligands, and modulators find use as diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic agents.
Inventors: Rich, William E.; (Redwood Shores, CA) ; Ho, David D.; (Chappaqua, NY) ; Zhang, Linqi; (Rochelle Park, NJ)
Correspondence Name and Address: TOWNSEND AND TOWNSEND AND CREW, LLP
TWO EMBARCADERO CENTER
EIGHTH FLOOR
SAN FRANCISCO
CA
94111-3834
US
Assignee Name and Adress: Ciphergen Biosystems, Inc.
Fremont
CA
Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center
New York
NY
The Rockefeller University
New York
NY
Serial No.: 452666
Series Code: 10
Filed: May 30, 2003
FOUR PATENTS THAT LIST THE AARON DIAMOND AIDS RESEARCH CENTER AS THE ASSIGNEE
1.
G-coupled receptors associated with macrophage-trophic HIV, and diagnostic and therapeutic uses thereof
Abstract
Entry of HIV-1 into target cells requires cell surface CD4 as well as additional host cell cofactors. A cofactor required for infection with virus adapted for growth in transformed T cell lines was recently identified and named fusin. Fusin, however, does not promote entry of macrophage-tropic viruses that are believed to be the key pathogenic strains in vivo. It has now been determined that the principal cofactor for entry mediated by the envelope glycoproteins of primary macrophage-tropic strains of HIV-1 is CC-CKR5, a receptor for the .beta.-chemokines RANTES, MIP-1.alpha., and MIP-1.beta..
Assignee: New York University (New York, NY); The Aaron Diamond Aids Research Center (New York, NY)
Appl. No.: 666020
Filed: June 19, 1996
2.
Sulfated CCR5 peptides for HIV-1 infection
Abstract
This invention provides a compound comprising the structure: .theta..alpha.YDINYYTSE.beta..lambda. wherein each T represents a threonine, each S represents a serine, each E represents a glutamic acid, each Y represents a tyrosine; each D represents an aspartic acid, each I represents an isoleucine; and each N represents an asparagine; wherein .alpha. represents from 0 to 9 amino acids, with the proviso that if there are more than 2 amino acids, they are joined by peptide bonds in consecutive order and have a sequence identical to the sequence set forth in SEQ ID.
Inventors: Dragic; Tatjana (Scarsdale, NY); Olson; William C. (Ossining, NY)
Assignee: Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Tarrytown, NY); Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Centre (New York, NY)
Appl. No.: 796202
Filed: February 28, 2001
3.
Uses of a chemokine receptor for inhibiting HIV-1 infection
Abstract
This invention provides a polypeptide comprising a fragment of a chemokine receptor capable of inhibiting HIV-1 infection. In an embodiment, the chemokine receptor is C--C CKR-5. In another embodiment, the fragment comprises at least one extracellular domain of the chemokine receptor C--C CKR-5. This invention further provides different uses of the chemokine receptor for inhibiting HIV-1 infection.
Correspondence Name and Address: John P. White
Cooper & Dunham LLP
1185 Avenue of the Americas
New York
NY
10036
US
Assignee Name and Adress: Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Centre (ADARC)
Serial No.: 852238
Series Code: 09
Filed: May 9, 2001
4.
Stabilized viral envelope proteins and uses thereof
Abstract
This invention provides an isolated nucleic acid which comprises a nucleotide segment having a sequence encoding a viral envelope protein comprising a viral surface protein and a corresponding viral transmembrane protein wherein the viral envelope protein contains one or more mutations in amino acid sequence that enhance the stability of the complex formed between the viral surface protein and transmembrane protein. This invention also provides a viral envelope protein comprising a viral surface protein and a corresponding viral transmembrane protein wherein the viral envelope protein contains one or more mutations in amino acid sequence that enhance the stability of the complex formed between the viral surface protein and transmembrane protein. This invention further provides methods of treating HIV-1 infection.
Correspondence Name and Address:
John P. White
Cooper & Dunham LLP
1185 Avenue of the Americas
New York
NY
10036
US
Assignee Name and Adress: Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Centre
Serial No.: 780993
Series Code: 10
Filed: February 18, 2004
Catherine Mathis
The New York Times
Corporate Communication
Dear Ms. Mathis:
I've sifted through the U.S. Patent and Trade Office's search engines and learned Dr. David Ho, director of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, is listed below as the inventor of six HIV tests, herbal extracts or agents.
Of particular interest to me, which I want the Times to pay attention to, is item number five on my list, "Defensins: as an antiviral agent," on the list below.
Dr. Ho's abstract to the patent office stated: "The invention further relates to methods for identifying and using agents, including small molecule chemical compositions, antibodies, peptides, nucleic acids, antisense nucleic acids, and ribozymes, that increase naturally occurring defensin expression or activity, thereby inhibiting HIV in a cell; as well as to the use of expression profiles and compositions in diagnosis and prophylaxis, and therapy related to HIV infection and related disease states such as AIDS."
Ho and his co-inventors filed the patent claim on May 30, 2003.
In a January 23, 2004, story by Andrew Pollack, headlined "AIDS Researcher Partly Retracts Study that Caused Stir," the Times reported how Ho and his colleagues made mistakes in an experiment with defensins.
However, the Times did not report that the test involved in the experiment is partly patented by Ho. I believe the paper should have informed readers of Ho's competing interests in this matter.
Now would be a good time to revisit what Pollack wrote, especially his omission of public information about the patent owners of the test used in the failed experiment.
If the Times feels it could have done a better job of delivering all the facts to the reader in this AIDS-specific story, a note to readers about Ho possessing the patent on the test would be appropriate.
Furthermore, as you see below, I've attached information from the patent office on all six of the patents that list Ho as an inventor, and four patents listing his laboratory, the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, as the assignee for an invention.
Some of the inventions may have been used in analyzing specimens from the gay male patient in New York with a drug-resistant strain of HIV, extensively reported on in the Times. I say may have been used because I am not sure how many tests and of what sort were performed on the patient, or if Ho or his research center has patents on any of the tests.
If any of the tests used in the New York mutant HIV strain case are patented by either Ho or his laboratory, then I think the Times has a responsibility to tell readers these facts.
I suggest you determine if any Ho or Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center patented tests were used in that case, to make sure the Times' coverage was as fully informed and accurate about transparency as possible.
I respectfully request a reply.
Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
^^^
U.S. PATENT AND TRADE OFFICE
http://www.uspto.gov/patft/index.html
SIX PATENTS THAT LIST DR. DAVID HO AS AN INVENTOR
1.
Chinese herbal extracts in the treatment of HIV related disease in vitro
Abstract
The invention features herbal extracts from ten (10) Chinese Herbal Medicines demonstrating significant in vitro and ex vivo anti-HIV activity and their use for the diagnosis and treatment of HIV and HIV-related disease.
Inventors: Ho; David D. (Chapqua, NY); Li; Xiling S. (Alhambra, CA)
Assignee: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA)
Appl. No.: 712062
Filed: June 7, 1991
2.
Immunoreagents reactive with a conserved epitope of human immunodeficiency virus type I (HIV-1) gp120 and methods of use
Abstract
The invention features immunoreagents which neutralize the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 (HIV-1) by binding to a novel conserved epitope of the HIV-1 gp120. These immunoreagents exhibit a broad neutralizing effect upon HIV attachment to host cells, and are therefore useful in the detection, prevention, amelioration and treatment of HIV disease, primarily AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome) and ARC (AIDS Related Complex). More particularly, the invention relates to novel human monoclonal antibodies selectively reactive to a conserved conformation dependent determinant of the HIV-1 gp120, derivatives thereof, cell lines that produce these antibodies, and the use of the monoclonal antibodies and their derivatives for the detection, prevention, amelioration and treatment of HIV related disease.
Inventors: Ho; David D. (Capaqua, NY); Robinson; James E. (New Orleans, LA)
Assignee: Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA); Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College (New Orleans, LA)
Appl. No.: 870531
Filed: June 6, 1997
3.
Methods for identifying genomic equivalent markers and their use in quantitating cells and polynucleotide sequences therein
Abstract
Methods for identifying genetic sequences useful as genomic equivalent markers for organisms are described. The method involves determining the ratio of the absolute number of copies of wild type and mutant amplicons in a number of samples from organisms heterozygous for the mutation. After establishing the number of copies of a particular genetic sequence per genome, the sequence may be used as a measure of the number of genomes per sample, in order to normalize the analysis of another target sequence to abundance per cell. By way of example, the CCR5 gene was shown to be present at 2 copies per genome.
Inventors: Zhang; Linqi (New York, NY); Lewin; Sharon R. (Armadale, AU); Kostrikis; Leondios (New York, NY); Ho; David D. (Chappaqua, NY)
Assignee: The Rockefeller University (New York, NY)
Appl. No.: 481288
Filed: January 11, 2000
4.
Vaccination of hiv infected persons following highly active antiretrovial therapy
Abstract
The present invention provides a method of permitting cessation of antiviral therapy on HIV-infected subjects without virus rebound or with at least a delayed virus rebound or a decreased post rebound set-point. The method comprises the re-induction of HIV-specific immune responses using a vaccination strategy to induce both humoral and cell-mediated immunity. The present invention achieves an immunological control of persistent infectious virus after discontinuation of antiviral therapy. The vaccine strategy according to the invention is both safe and immunogenic in the subject HIV-infected patient population.
Inventors: Ho, David; (New York, NY) ; Markowitz, Martin; (New York, NY) ; KLEIN, MICHEL; (LYON CEDEX, FR) ; HABIB, RAPHAELLE EL; (LYON CEDEX, FR)
Correspondence Name and Address: MCDONNELL BOEHNEN HULBERT & BERGHOFF
300 SOUTH WACKER DRIVE
SUITE 3200
CHICAGO
IL
60606
US
Serial No.: 182067
Series Code: 10
Filed: October 9, 2002
5.
Defensins: use as antiviral agents
Abstract
The present invention relates to inhibition of viruses, e.g., HIV, using defensins. The invention further relates to methods for identifying and using agents, including small molecule chemical compositions, antibodies, peptides, nucleic acids, antisense nucleic acids, and ribozymes, that increase naturally occurring defensin expression or activity, thereby inhibiting HIV in a cell; as well as to the use of expression profiles and compositions in diagnosis and prophylaxis, and therapy related to HIV infection and related disease states such as AIDS.
Inventors: Zhang, Linqi; (Rochelle Park, NJ) ; Ho, David D.; (Chappaqua, NY) ; Caffrey, Rebecca E.; (Redwood City, CA) ; Dalmasso, Enrique A.; (Fremont, CA) ; Mei, Jianfeng; (Guilford, CT)
Correspondence Name and Address: TOWNSEND AND TOWNSEND AND CREW, LLP
TWO EMBARCADERO CENTER
EIGHTH FLOOR
SAN FRANCISCO
CA
94111-3834
US
Assignee Name and Adress: Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center
New York
NY
The Rockefeller University
Fremont
CA
Ciphergen Biosystems, Inc.
Serial No.: 452763
Series Code: 10
Filed: May 30, 2003
6.
Comparative proteomics of progressor and nonprogressor populations
Abstract
The invention identifies polypeptide biomarkers of disease progression or nonprogression by comparative protein profiling of samples from progressors and nonprogressors subpopulations of a population exposed to the pathogen or sharing a risk facto causing the disease. The polypeptides, their ligands, and modulators find use as diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic agents.
Inventors: Rich, William E.; (Redwood Shores, CA) ; Ho, David D.; (Chappaqua, NY) ; Zhang, Linqi; (Rochelle Park, NJ)
Correspondence Name and Address: TOWNSEND AND TOWNSEND AND CREW, LLP
TWO EMBARCADERO CENTER
EIGHTH FLOOR
SAN FRANCISCO
CA
94111-3834
US
Assignee Name and Adress: Ciphergen Biosystems, Inc.
Fremont
CA
Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center
New York
NY
The Rockefeller University
New York
NY
Serial No.: 452666
Series Code: 10
Filed: May 30, 2003
FOUR PATENTS THAT LIST THE AARON DIAMOND AIDS RESEARCH CENTER AS THE ASSIGNEE
1.
G-coupled receptors associated with macrophage-trophic HIV, and diagnostic and therapeutic uses thereof
Abstract
Entry of HIV-1 into target cells requires cell surface CD4 as well as additional host cell cofactors. A cofactor required for infection with virus adapted for growth in transformed T cell lines was recently identified and named fusin. Fusin, however, does not promote entry of macrophage-tropic viruses that are believed to be the key pathogenic strains in vivo. It has now been determined that the principal cofactor for entry mediated by the envelope glycoproteins of primary macrophage-tropic strains of HIV-1 is CC-CKR5, a receptor for the .beta.-chemokines RANTES, MIP-1.alpha., and MIP-1.beta..
Assignee: New York University (New York, NY); The Aaron Diamond Aids Research Center (New York, NY)
Appl. No.: 666020
Filed: June 19, 1996
2.
Sulfated CCR5 peptides for HIV-1 infection
Abstract
This invention provides a compound comprising the structure: .theta..alpha.YDINYYTSE.beta..lambda. wherein each T represents a threonine, each S represents a serine, each E represents a glutamic acid, each Y represents a tyrosine; each D represents an aspartic acid, each I represents an isoleucine; and each N represents an asparagine; wherein .alpha. represents from 0 to 9 amino acids, with the proviso that if there are more than 2 amino acids, they are joined by peptide bonds in consecutive order and have a sequence identical to the sequence set forth in SEQ ID.
Inventors: Dragic; Tatjana (Scarsdale, NY); Olson; William C. (Ossining, NY)
Assignee: Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Tarrytown, NY); Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Centre (New York, NY)
Appl. No.: 796202
Filed: February 28, 2001
3.
Uses of a chemokine receptor for inhibiting HIV-1 infection
Abstract
This invention provides a polypeptide comprising a fragment of a chemokine receptor capable of inhibiting HIV-1 infection. In an embodiment, the chemokine receptor is C--C CKR-5. In another embodiment, the fragment comprises at least one extracellular domain of the chemokine receptor C--C CKR-5. This invention further provides different uses of the chemokine receptor for inhibiting HIV-1 infection.
Correspondence Name and Address: John P. White
Cooper & Dunham LLP
1185 Avenue of the Americas
New York
NY
10036
US
Assignee Name and Adress: Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Centre (ADARC)
Serial No.: 852238
Series Code: 09
Filed: May 9, 2001
4.
Stabilized viral envelope proteins and uses thereof
Abstract
This invention provides an isolated nucleic acid which comprises a nucleotide segment having a sequence encoding a viral envelope protein comprising a viral surface protein and a corresponding viral transmembrane protein wherein the viral envelope protein contains one or more mutations in amino acid sequence that enhance the stability of the complex formed between the viral surface protein and transmembrane protein. This invention also provides a viral envelope protein comprising a viral surface protein and a corresponding viral transmembrane protein wherein the viral envelope protein contains one or more mutations in amino acid sequence that enhance the stability of the complex formed between the viral surface protein and transmembrane protein. This invention further provides methods of treating HIV-1 infection.
Correspondence Name and Address:
John P. White
Cooper & Dunham LLP
1185 Avenue of the Americas
New York
NY
10036
US
Assignee Name and Adress: Progenics Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Centre
Serial No.: 780993
Series Code: 10
Filed: February 18, 2004
Friday, March 11, 2005
Subj: Your Query about Competing Interests
Date: 3/11/2005 3:23:52 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: gyamey@plos.org
To: mpetrelis@aol.com
CC: vbarbour@plos.org, pocampo@plos.org
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Dear Michael,
As promised, I am writing to let you know about our competing interests policy as it applies to David Ho’s commentary that discusses the scientific reasons why he thinks an HIV vaccine could be developed.
We discussed this issue with David Ho, and also at our editorial meeting today.
As you know, we ask authors to declare financial ties that may be relevant to the specific article that they are writing. We ask all authors to look at our competing interests policy (http://www.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-static&name=interests) and declare any competing interests. So, for example, if an author in his/her article discusses a particular treatment, it would obviously be extremely important for that author to declare any ties to the manufacturer of that treatment.
In discussing the scientific reasons why he is optimistic that an HIV vaccine could be developed, Professor Ho did not believe that his financial ties had any specific relevance to the issue of the science behind HIV vaccine development (his ties are to manufacturers of antiretroviral therapies, and these manufacturers arguably stand to lose financially if a vaccine is developed).
As I mentioned before, we are constantly revisiting our competing interests policies (we are a new journal, and or policies are still evolving). We have had two examples now where readers have written in to say they felt that an author should have declared all their sources of funding (whether or not they were connected with the piece). This has prompted us to consider whether to ask all authors simply to declare all their sources of funding (leaving it up to readers to decide what is and is not relevant). This is one question that we will put to our external advisory group on competing interests once it is up and running.
I am sure that we do not have the perfect policy, but we are trying to come up with the one that works best (i.e. that allows readers to know whether financial ties could have biased the article). As we evolve, I will be sure to keep you informed. It is valuable for us to have feedback from our readers on how we are doing. Many—perhaps even most—journals still don’t have any policy at all about asking authors to declare competing interests. We have launched our journal with a policy that we realize may need revision.
Finally, please do look at our editorial that comes out at the end of this month (written by the PLoS Medicine editors). As with all articles, it will be freely available at http://www.plosmedicine.org/. It discusses our first steps towards adopting competing interests policies that can help to protect the probity of the journal’s content.
With thanks again for your interest in PLoS Medicine,
Best wishes
Gavin Yamey MD, MRCP
Magazine Editor, PLoS Medicine
Public Library of Science
185 Berry St, Ste. 1300
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA
tel (+1) 415-624-1221
fax (+1) 415-546-4090
http://www.plos.org
Date: 3/11/2005 3:23:52 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: gyamey@plos.org
To: mpetrelis@aol.com
CC: vbarbour@plos.org, pocampo@plos.org
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Dear Michael,
As promised, I am writing to let you know about our competing interests policy as it applies to David Ho’s commentary that discusses the scientific reasons why he thinks an HIV vaccine could be developed.
We discussed this issue with David Ho, and also at our editorial meeting today.
As you know, we ask authors to declare financial ties that may be relevant to the specific article that they are writing. We ask all authors to look at our competing interests policy (http://www.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-static&name=interests) and declare any competing interests. So, for example, if an author in his/her article discusses a particular treatment, it would obviously be extremely important for that author to declare any ties to the manufacturer of that treatment.
In discussing the scientific reasons why he is optimistic that an HIV vaccine could be developed, Professor Ho did not believe that his financial ties had any specific relevance to the issue of the science behind HIV vaccine development (his ties are to manufacturers of antiretroviral therapies, and these manufacturers arguably stand to lose financially if a vaccine is developed).
As I mentioned before, we are constantly revisiting our competing interests policies (we are a new journal, and or policies are still evolving). We have had two examples now where readers have written in to say they felt that an author should have declared all their sources of funding (whether or not they were connected with the piece). This has prompted us to consider whether to ask all authors simply to declare all their sources of funding (leaving it up to readers to decide what is and is not relevant). This is one question that we will put to our external advisory group on competing interests once it is up and running.
I am sure that we do not have the perfect policy, but we are trying to come up with the one that works best (i.e. that allows readers to know whether financial ties could have biased the article). As we evolve, I will be sure to keep you informed. It is valuable for us to have feedback from our readers on how we are doing. Many—perhaps even most—journals still don’t have any policy at all about asking authors to declare competing interests. We have launched our journal with a policy that we realize may need revision.
Finally, please do look at our editorial that comes out at the end of this month (written by the PLoS Medicine editors). As with all articles, it will be freely available at http://www.plosmedicine.org/. It discusses our first steps towards adopting competing interests policies that can help to protect the probity of the journal’s content.
With thanks again for your interest in PLoS Medicine,
Best wishes
Gavin Yamey MD, MRCP
Magazine Editor, PLoS Medicine
Public Library of Science
185 Berry St, Ste. 1300
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA
tel (+1) 415-624-1221
fax (+1) 415-546-4090
http://www.plos.org
Subj: Your query about David Ho's financial ties
Date: 3/11/2005 12:15:09 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: gyamey@plos.org
To: mpetrelis@aol.com
CC: vbarbour@plos.org, pocampo@plos.org
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Dear Michael,
Many thanks indeed for your call about this issue, which we are looking into, and which we are also discussing at our next editorial meeting. I'll keep you informed.
Incidentally, the issue of competing interests is one that we're taking seriously at PLoS Medicine. In fact, we're in the process of establishing an external, advisory group on competing interests (that includes a lay member). We will ask the group to help guide us on our policies, and we will also ask them about individual cases that arise.
As you know, we do ask all authors to look at our competing interests policy and ask them to declare ties that may be important for that particular article. We will certainly ask the advisory group to look at our policy.
Thanks for bringing this issue to our attention.
Best wishes,
Gavin Yamey
Magazine Editor
Date: 3/11/2005 12:15:09 PM Pacific Standard Time
From: gyamey@plos.org
To: mpetrelis@aol.com
CC: vbarbour@plos.org, pocampo@plos.org
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Dear Michael,
Many thanks indeed for your call about this issue, which we are looking into, and which we are also discussing at our next editorial meeting. I'll keep you informed.
Incidentally, the issue of competing interests is one that we're taking seriously at PLoS Medicine. In fact, we're in the process of establishing an external, advisory group on competing interests (that includes a lay member). We will ask the group to help guide us on our policies, and we will also ask them about individual cases that arise.
As you know, we do ask all authors to look at our competing interests policy and ask them to declare ties that may be important for that particular article. We will certainly ask the advisory group to look at our policy.
Thanks for bringing this issue to our attention.
Best wishes,
Gavin Yamey
Magazine Editor
Thursday, March 10, 2005
January 20, 2005
Bay Area Reporter
(Not online. To respond, send email to BARpaper@aol.com or Matthewsbajko@aol.com )
San Francisco HIV cases continue to plateau
by Matthew S. Bajko
San Francisco's HIV epidemic has stabilized, and health officials reported this month they expect the trend to continue through at least 2007, if not longer. The leveling off is a turnaround from the late 1990s through 2001, when HIV incidence had a resurgence.
It also makes San Francisco unique, in that the country as a whole saw new HIV/AIDS diagnoses increase by 3.2 percent between 2001 and 2002. While health officials reported a slight increase among heterosexual cases and a decrease among injection 2002 numbers, San Francisco ranked 12th, falling behind Washington D.C. and Memphis.
"San Francisco has gone from being one of the most severely affected cities in terms of AIDS incidence to population to now having fallen to 12th. The leading cities have more injection drug users and heterosexual infections," explained Dr. Willi McFarland, director of the HIV/AIDS statistics, epidemiology, and intervention research section at the city's Department of Public Health. "It's not all good news, it's mixed. HIV incidence has leveled off, but at a rate that will continue to increase the number of MSM living with HIV."
As the city prepares to conduct its HIV consensus estimate this year ñ the last one was conducted in 2001 ñ the number of people living with HIV or AIDS is expected to stay about the same at 12,786. The number of new annual HIV infections, which had been 748, is expected to be "a little lower" said McFarland.
The numbers are a double-edged sword for the numerous AIDS agencies that work to maintain the successes San Francisco has achieved in battling the disease over the last two decades. Federal dollars that support AIDS and HIV care follow the epidemic, meaning San Francisco's piece of the funding pie is likely to continue to shrink.
America's AIDS epidemic is moving into the South, what some health officials are dubbing the "AIDS belt."
Among the top 10 cities for AIDS incidence in 2002, Miami ranked second, Baton Rouge ranked third, West Palm Beach came in fifth, Fort Lauderdale sixth, New Orleans seventh, and Columbia, South Carolina placed eighth.
Sitting in first place was New York City, an 800-pound gorilla when it comes to federal AIDS funds. Last spring, when San Francisco lost nearly $4 million in Ryan White CARE Act funding, local health officials said the drop was partly due to New York securing more funds than in years past.
In what has become a yearly report for the city's HIV Prevention Planning Council, McFarland presented the latest data and his predictions for where the city's AIDS epidemic is headed at the group's first meeting of the new year on January 13. He offered several reasons as to why health officials' fears in recent years of a resurgence in HIV have not panned out.
Their fears stemmed from rises in other sexually transmitted diseases, including syphilis and male rectal gonorrhea, both of which spiked upwards in 2000 and have continued to climb ever since. Both STDs can be a predictor for rises in HIV, for carriers are more susceptible to contracting the virus. But McFarland said that has yet to happen in San Francisco due to serosorting.
"We have seen an increase in STDs and unprotected anal sex and not have had HIV go up. This is due to networks of only positive men having sex with positive men and negative men only being with negative men," said McFarland. "If you separate out positive men, risk behavior has gone down since 2001."
The number of both positive and negative MSM reporting unprotected anal sex with a partner of the opposite serostatus has fallen in the last three years. But among men of the same HIV status, the number reporting unprotected anal sex has shot up since 2002. However, McFarland cautioned that serosorting might not be a viable HIV prevention strategy.
"It may not be a strategy over the long term that may be stable. How long will people choose someone of the same status?" he said.
Bay Area Reporter
(Not online. To respond, send email to BARpaper@aol.com or Matthewsbajko@aol.com )
San Francisco HIV cases continue to plateau
by Matthew S. Bajko
San Francisco's HIV epidemic has stabilized, and health officials reported this month they expect the trend to continue through at least 2007, if not longer. The leveling off is a turnaround from the late 1990s through 2001, when HIV incidence had a resurgence.
It also makes San Francisco unique, in that the country as a whole saw new HIV/AIDS diagnoses increase by 3.2 percent between 2001 and 2002. While health officials reported a slight increase among heterosexual cases and a decrease among injection 2002 numbers, San Francisco ranked 12th, falling behind Washington D.C. and Memphis.
"San Francisco has gone from being one of the most severely affected cities in terms of AIDS incidence to population to now having fallen to 12th. The leading cities have more injection drug users and heterosexual infections," explained Dr. Willi McFarland, director of the HIV/AIDS statistics, epidemiology, and intervention research section at the city's Department of Public Health. "It's not all good news, it's mixed. HIV incidence has leveled off, but at a rate that will continue to increase the number of MSM living with HIV."
As the city prepares to conduct its HIV consensus estimate this year ñ the last one was conducted in 2001 ñ the number of people living with HIV or AIDS is expected to stay about the same at 12,786. The number of new annual HIV infections, which had been 748, is expected to be "a little lower" said McFarland.
The numbers are a double-edged sword for the numerous AIDS agencies that work to maintain the successes San Francisco has achieved in battling the disease over the last two decades. Federal dollars that support AIDS and HIV care follow the epidemic, meaning San Francisco's piece of the funding pie is likely to continue to shrink.
America's AIDS epidemic is moving into the South, what some health officials are dubbing the "AIDS belt."
Among the top 10 cities for AIDS incidence in 2002, Miami ranked second, Baton Rouge ranked third, West Palm Beach came in fifth, Fort Lauderdale sixth, New Orleans seventh, and Columbia, South Carolina placed eighth.
Sitting in first place was New York City, an 800-pound gorilla when it comes to federal AIDS funds. Last spring, when San Francisco lost nearly $4 million in Ryan White CARE Act funding, local health officials said the drop was partly due to New York securing more funds than in years past.
In what has become a yearly report for the city's HIV Prevention Planning Council, McFarland presented the latest data and his predictions for where the city's AIDS epidemic is headed at the group's first meeting of the new year on January 13. He offered several reasons as to why health officials' fears in recent years of a resurgence in HIV have not panned out.
Their fears stemmed from rises in other sexually transmitted diseases, including syphilis and male rectal gonorrhea, both of which spiked upwards in 2000 and have continued to climb ever since. Both STDs can be a predictor for rises in HIV, for carriers are more susceptible to contracting the virus. But McFarland said that has yet to happen in San Francisco due to serosorting.
"We have seen an increase in STDs and unprotected anal sex and not have had HIV go up. This is due to networks of only positive men having sex with positive men and negative men only being with negative men," said McFarland. "If you separate out positive men, risk behavior has gone down since 2001."
The number of both positive and negative MSM reporting unprotected anal sex with a partner of the opposite serostatus has fallen in the last three years. But among men of the same HIV status, the number reporting unprotected anal sex has shot up since 2002. However, McFarland cautioned that serosorting might not be a viable HIV prevention strategy.
"It may not be a strategy over the long term that may be stable. How long will people choose someone of the same status?" he said.
Dear Friends:
Take a look at this excerpt from an article published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
>>The inadvertent use of Bicillin C-R, which contains only half the recommended dose of BPG for syphilis, was discovered after a patient treated for syphilis read the product insert, which stated that the medication was not indicated for treatment of syphilis.<<
This story from today's issue of the CDC's Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report is disturbing for two reasons:
1. For five long years, the wrong treatment for syphilis was given to gay men at the LA Gay Community Center's and no one noticed. Considering the lengthy period of time involved in this situation, I wonder why the many health officials in LA, at the gay center and from the CDC were unaware of the problem. If these officials are not paying attention to proper treatments for STDs, and it takes such a long time for a problem like this to be uncovered, it does not instill much confidence in the oversight capabilities of these people.
2. Praise for uncovering the use of the wrong medicine must go to the patient cited in this report for doing what all of the health officials failed to do -- read the damn package insert!
Okay, it must be assumed it was too much trouble or took far too long to read the package insert and the health authorities, for five years, simply operated on blind faith.
Let's give a medal and job to the patient who uncovered what the health officials and all their degrees ignored.
Michael Petrelis
^^^
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5409a1.htm
March 11, 2005
Inadvertent Use of Bicillin® C-R to Treat Syphilis Infection --- Los Angeles, California, 1999--2004
In March 2004, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LACDHS) was notified that a large nonprofit clinic serving the gay and lesbian community in Los Angeles used a nonrecommended preparation of penicillin to treat syphilis patients during January 1999--March 2004. The clinic had inadvertently used Bicillin® C-R, a mixture of 1.2 million units (MU) benzathine penicillin G (BPG) and 1.2 MU procaine penicillin G, rather than Bicillin® L-A, a preparation that contains the 2.4 MU BPG per dose recommended by CDC (1). Bicillin L-A is recommended for treating syphilis and upper respiratory tract infections caused by susceptible streptococci (2). Bicillin C-R is indicated for streptococcal infections of the skin and respiratory tract; however, its efficacy in treating syphilis is unknown.
The inadvertent use of Bicillin C-R, which contains only half the recommended dose of BPG for syphilis, was discovered after a patient treated for syphilis read the product insert, which stated that the medication was not indicated for treatment of syphilis.
Review of clinic pharmacy records revealed that it received a shipment of Bicillin C-R in lieu of an unfilled order for Bicillin L-A in late 1998 and that the pharmacy subsequently ordered Bicillin C-R until March 2004. The clinic used Bicillin C-R as its exclusive formulation of injectable penicillin during January 1999--March 2004. This report summarizes the investigation of the misuse of Bicillin C-R at the Los Angeles clinic, which represents the largest occurrence of inadvertent treatment with Bicillin C-R to date. The investigation led to discussions among CDC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Bristol, Tennessee), whose Monarch Pharmaceuticals subsidiary markets Bicillin products. As a result, King Pharmaceuticals agreed to institute packaging and labeling changes to Bicillin products to prevent inadvertent treatment of syphilis with Bicillin C-R.
Five BPG-containing products are marketed by Monarch: Bicillin L-A, Bicillin® L-A Pediatric (0.6 MU BPG), Bicillin C-R, Bicillin® C-R Pediatric (a mixture of 0.3 MU BPG and 0.3 MU procaine penicillin G), and Bicillin® C-R 900/300 (a mixture of 0.9 MU BPG and 0.3 MU procaine penicillin G). Despite a change in package color in 2002 to distinguish Bicillin C-R from Bicillin L-A (3), the proprietary names and package appearances remained similar for the two formulations (Figure). The product insert sheet included a warning against the use of Bicillin C-R for treatment of syphilis.
Investigators reviewed databases from the clinic and from the LACDHS Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Program to identify patients who were treated during January 1999--March 2004 for confirmed syphilis infection or because of contact with a person known or suspected to have syphilis. All available data on treatment were evaluated.
During January 1999--March 2004, a total of 429 patients were treated with Bicillin C-R for confirmed syphilis infection at the clinic. An additional 234 patients were treated with Bicillin C-R at the clinic for reported sexual contact with someone who was known or suspected to be infected with syphilis (contacts). Of persons with confirmed syphilis, none were female, and 215 (50%) were known to be infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Five (2%) contacts were female, and 10 (4%) contacts were known to be infected with HIV. No female patients were pregnant during or after treatment with Bicillin C-R.
Clinic staff attempted to reach syphilis patients and contacts treated with Bicillin C-R by letter, up to three telephone calls, and, if necessary, telephone calls to emergency contacts listed on medical records. In addition, the clinic and LACDHS issued press releases to inform potentially affected patients and local health-care providers. LACDHS public health investigators attempted to reach patients whom the clinic was unable to locate or contact.
A standard protocol was developed to retest and retreat all patients and contacts who had been treated with Bicillin C-R for syphilis. All patients were offered retreatment regardless of retesting results. Patients with a confirmed syphilis diagnosis were evaluated by clinic medical staff, retested with quantitative rapid plasma reagin (RPR) tests, and advised to undergo lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid analysis if they had either clinical manifestations suggestive of neurosyphilis or evidence of treatment failure (e.g., less than a fourfold decline in RPR titer since initial treatment). Contacts were tested with a specific treponemal test, and those with a reactive test were managed in the same way as those with a confirmed syphilis diagnosis. Patients were offered retreatment with a CDC-recommended regimen appropriate for their stage of infection.
As of January 26, 2005, of the 429 patients with confirmed syphilis, 282 (66%) were successfully contacted; 255 (59%) were retreated, 19 (4%) refused retreatment, and eight (2%) are pending evaluation. Of those who were retreated, 19 (4%) underwent lumbar puncture for suspected treatment failure. One patient treated for syphilis with Bicillin C-R subsequently had neurosyphilis diagnosed. Of the 234 contacts, 116 (50%) were successfully contacted, 98 (42%) were retested, and 15 (6%) are pending evaluation. Of the 98 contacts who were retested, 22 (22%) had serologic evidence of previous syphilis infection, and 19 (19%) were retreated; three (3%) refused retreatment.
Operations at the clinic were disrupted for approximately 6 months. The clinic reassigned professional and clerical staff to the evaluation and retreatment effort, and some clinic activities were postponed or canceled. In addition, LACDHS dedicated two public health investigators to this effort for nearly 4 months.
Reported by: R Bolan, MD, P Amezola, MPH, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center; P Kerndt, MD, Los Angeles County Dept of Health Svcs, California. J Soreth, MD, Food and Drug Admin. M Taylor, MD, J Heffelfinger, MD, H Weinstock, MD, Div of STD Prevention, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention; M Greenberg, MD, M Janowski, MD, EIS officers, CDC.
Editorial Note:
Inadvertent use of Bicillin C-R for treatment of syphilis was documented in several STD programs during 1993--1998 (4). However, its misuse in treating approximately 660 persons in a Los Angeles clinic during January 1999--March 2004 is the largest reported occurrence to date and posed considerable clinical and programmatic challenges.
Compared with procaine penicillin G, use of BPG results in detectable serum concentrations that are prolonged (up to 30 days for BPG, compared with up to 7 days for procaine penicillin G). Prolonged serum concentration is considered essential for treating syphilis effectively because sustained spirocheticidal levels are required to treat the slowly reproducing agent of syphilis, Treponema pallidum. Treatment of syphilis with half the recommended dose of BPG might have increased the risk for syphilis treatment failure and neurosyphilis, particularly among those infected with HIV (5--7). However, treatment failure and neurosyphilis can occur even with recommended penicillin regimens in persons with and without HIV infection (8). Therefore, whether treatment failures that occurred among those treated with Bicillin C-R represent an excess over what would be expected had they been treated with Bicillin L-A cannot be determined without additional data. An investigation by CDC and state and local health departments is assessing whether treatment failure was more common in patients treated with Bicillin C-R than in a similar population treated with Bicillin L-A. Such inadvertent use entails discomfort and inconvenience to patients because it requires retesting and possible retreatment for syphilis. In addition, inadequate treatment of syphilis might have contributed to an increase in the local transmission of the disease.
In May 2004, CDC contacted FDA about the inadvertent use of Bicillin C-R. FDA worked with CDC and King Pharmaceuticals to design and implement changes to the product labeling, including more easily visible carton-color changes to distinguish L-A and C-R formulations, and the warning, "not for the treatment of syphilis," printed directly on syringes and cartons of Bicillin C-R. In November 2004, King Pharmaceuticals distributed a letter to clinicians, professional societies, and STD programs throughout the United States, alerting them to the potential for confusing Bicillin C-R with Bicillin L-A, the appropriate use of each formulation, changes in product labels, and mechanisms for reporting inadvertent use of Bicillin C-R for treatment of syphilis.
Education of clinic managers, pharmacists, and providers in the proper use of different penicillin preparations might help reduce the inappropriate use of Bicillin products. Providers, STD clinics, and pharmacies should review their product records and tracking systems for ordering and delivering penicillin treatments for syphilis.
References
CDC. Sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines 2002. MMWR 2002;51(No. RR-6).
Bisno AL, Gerber MA, Gwaltney JM Jr, Kaplan EL, Schwartz RH. Diagnosis and management of group A streptococcal pharyngitis: a practice guideline. Clin Infect Dis 1997;25:574--83.
Food and Drug Administration. Office of Drug Safety annual report FY 2002. Bethesda, MD: Food and Drug Administration; 2004.
CDC. Inadvertent use of Bicillin® C-R for treatment of syphilis---Maryland, 1998. MMWR 1999;48:777--9.
Rompalo AM, Joesoef MR, O'Donnell JA, et al. Clinical manifestations of early syphilis by HIV status and gender: results of the syphilis and HIV study. Sex Transm Dis 2001;28:158--65.
Lynn WA, Lightman S. Syphilis and HIV: a dangerous combination. Lancet Infect Dis 2004;4:456--66.
Collis TK, Celum CL. The clinical manifestations and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases in human immunodeficiency virus-positive men. Clin Infect Dis 2001;32:611--22.
Rolfs RT, Joesoef MR, Hendershot EF, et al. A randomized trial of enhanced therapy for early syphilis in patients with and without human immunodeficiency virus infection. N Engl J Med 1997;337:307--14.
Take a look at this excerpt from an article published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
>>The inadvertent use of Bicillin C-R, which contains only half the recommended dose of BPG for syphilis, was discovered after a patient treated for syphilis read the product insert, which stated that the medication was not indicated for treatment of syphilis.<<
This story from today's issue of the CDC's Weekly Morbidity and Mortality Report is disturbing for two reasons:
1. For five long years, the wrong treatment for syphilis was given to gay men at the LA Gay Community Center's and no one noticed. Considering the lengthy period of time involved in this situation, I wonder why the many health officials in LA, at the gay center and from the CDC were unaware of the problem. If these officials are not paying attention to proper treatments for STDs, and it takes such a long time for a problem like this to be uncovered, it does not instill much confidence in the oversight capabilities of these people.
2. Praise for uncovering the use of the wrong medicine must go to the patient cited in this report for doing what all of the health officials failed to do -- read the damn package insert!
Okay, it must be assumed it was too much trouble or took far too long to read the package insert and the health authorities, for five years, simply operated on blind faith.
Let's give a medal and job to the patient who uncovered what the health officials and all their degrees ignored.
Michael Petrelis
^^^
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5409a1.htm
March 11, 2005
Inadvertent Use of Bicillin® C-R to Treat Syphilis Infection --- Los Angeles, California, 1999--2004
In March 2004, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (LACDHS) was notified that a large nonprofit clinic serving the gay and lesbian community in Los Angeles used a nonrecommended preparation of penicillin to treat syphilis patients during January 1999--March 2004. The clinic had inadvertently used Bicillin® C-R, a mixture of 1.2 million units (MU) benzathine penicillin G (BPG) and 1.2 MU procaine penicillin G, rather than Bicillin® L-A, a preparation that contains the 2.4 MU BPG per dose recommended by CDC (1). Bicillin L-A is recommended for treating syphilis and upper respiratory tract infections caused by susceptible streptococci (2). Bicillin C-R is indicated for streptococcal infections of the skin and respiratory tract; however, its efficacy in treating syphilis is unknown.
The inadvertent use of Bicillin C-R, which contains only half the recommended dose of BPG for syphilis, was discovered after a patient treated for syphilis read the product insert, which stated that the medication was not indicated for treatment of syphilis.
Review of clinic pharmacy records revealed that it received a shipment of Bicillin C-R in lieu of an unfilled order for Bicillin L-A in late 1998 and that the pharmacy subsequently ordered Bicillin C-R until March 2004. The clinic used Bicillin C-R as its exclusive formulation of injectable penicillin during January 1999--March 2004. This report summarizes the investigation of the misuse of Bicillin C-R at the Los Angeles clinic, which represents the largest occurrence of inadvertent treatment with Bicillin C-R to date. The investigation led to discussions among CDC, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Bristol, Tennessee), whose Monarch Pharmaceuticals subsidiary markets Bicillin products. As a result, King Pharmaceuticals agreed to institute packaging and labeling changes to Bicillin products to prevent inadvertent treatment of syphilis with Bicillin C-R.
Five BPG-containing products are marketed by Monarch: Bicillin L-A, Bicillin® L-A Pediatric (0.6 MU BPG), Bicillin C-R, Bicillin® C-R Pediatric (a mixture of 0.3 MU BPG and 0.3 MU procaine penicillin G), and Bicillin® C-R 900/300 (a mixture of 0.9 MU BPG and 0.3 MU procaine penicillin G). Despite a change in package color in 2002 to distinguish Bicillin C-R from Bicillin L-A (3), the proprietary names and package appearances remained similar for the two formulations (Figure). The product insert sheet included a warning against the use of Bicillin C-R for treatment of syphilis.
Investigators reviewed databases from the clinic and from the LACDHS Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD) Program to identify patients who were treated during January 1999--March 2004 for confirmed syphilis infection or because of contact with a person known or suspected to have syphilis. All available data on treatment were evaluated.
During January 1999--March 2004, a total of 429 patients were treated with Bicillin C-R for confirmed syphilis infection at the clinic. An additional 234 patients were treated with Bicillin C-R at the clinic for reported sexual contact with someone who was known or suspected to be infected with syphilis (contacts). Of persons with confirmed syphilis, none were female, and 215 (50%) were known to be infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Five (2%) contacts were female, and 10 (4%) contacts were known to be infected with HIV. No female patients were pregnant during or after treatment with Bicillin C-R.
Clinic staff attempted to reach syphilis patients and contacts treated with Bicillin C-R by letter, up to three telephone calls, and, if necessary, telephone calls to emergency contacts listed on medical records. In addition, the clinic and LACDHS issued press releases to inform potentially affected patients and local health-care providers. LACDHS public health investigators attempted to reach patients whom the clinic was unable to locate or contact.
A standard protocol was developed to retest and retreat all patients and contacts who had been treated with Bicillin C-R for syphilis. All patients were offered retreatment regardless of retesting results. Patients with a confirmed syphilis diagnosis were evaluated by clinic medical staff, retested with quantitative rapid plasma reagin (RPR) tests, and advised to undergo lumbar puncture for cerebrospinal fluid analysis if they had either clinical manifestations suggestive of neurosyphilis or evidence of treatment failure (e.g., less than a fourfold decline in RPR titer since initial treatment). Contacts were tested with a specific treponemal test, and those with a reactive test were managed in the same way as those with a confirmed syphilis diagnosis. Patients were offered retreatment with a CDC-recommended regimen appropriate for their stage of infection.
As of January 26, 2005, of the 429 patients with confirmed syphilis, 282 (66%) were successfully contacted; 255 (59%) were retreated, 19 (4%) refused retreatment, and eight (2%) are pending evaluation. Of those who were retreated, 19 (4%) underwent lumbar puncture for suspected treatment failure. One patient treated for syphilis with Bicillin C-R subsequently had neurosyphilis diagnosed. Of the 234 contacts, 116 (50%) were successfully contacted, 98 (42%) were retested, and 15 (6%) are pending evaluation. Of the 98 contacts who were retested, 22 (22%) had serologic evidence of previous syphilis infection, and 19 (19%) were retreated; three (3%) refused retreatment.
Operations at the clinic were disrupted for approximately 6 months. The clinic reassigned professional and clerical staff to the evaluation and retreatment effort, and some clinic activities were postponed or canceled. In addition, LACDHS dedicated two public health investigators to this effort for nearly 4 months.
Reported by: R Bolan, MD, P Amezola, MPH, Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center; P Kerndt, MD, Los Angeles County Dept of Health Svcs, California. J Soreth, MD, Food and Drug Admin. M Taylor, MD, J Heffelfinger, MD, H Weinstock, MD, Div of STD Prevention, National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention; M Greenberg, MD, M Janowski, MD, EIS officers, CDC.
Editorial Note:
Inadvertent use of Bicillin C-R for treatment of syphilis was documented in several STD programs during 1993--1998 (4). However, its misuse in treating approximately 660 persons in a Los Angeles clinic during January 1999--March 2004 is the largest reported occurrence to date and posed considerable clinical and programmatic challenges.
Compared with procaine penicillin G, use of BPG results in detectable serum concentrations that are prolonged (up to 30 days for BPG, compared with up to 7 days for procaine penicillin G). Prolonged serum concentration is considered essential for treating syphilis effectively because sustained spirocheticidal levels are required to treat the slowly reproducing agent of syphilis, Treponema pallidum. Treatment of syphilis with half the recommended dose of BPG might have increased the risk for syphilis treatment failure and neurosyphilis, particularly among those infected with HIV (5--7). However, treatment failure and neurosyphilis can occur even with recommended penicillin regimens in persons with and without HIV infection (8). Therefore, whether treatment failures that occurred among those treated with Bicillin C-R represent an excess over what would be expected had they been treated with Bicillin L-A cannot be determined without additional data. An investigation by CDC and state and local health departments is assessing whether treatment failure was more common in patients treated with Bicillin C-R than in a similar population treated with Bicillin L-A. Such inadvertent use entails discomfort and inconvenience to patients because it requires retesting and possible retreatment for syphilis. In addition, inadequate treatment of syphilis might have contributed to an increase in the local transmission of the disease.
In May 2004, CDC contacted FDA about the inadvertent use of Bicillin C-R. FDA worked with CDC and King Pharmaceuticals to design and implement changes to the product labeling, including more easily visible carton-color changes to distinguish L-A and C-R formulations, and the warning, "not for the treatment of syphilis," printed directly on syringes and cartons of Bicillin C-R. In November 2004, King Pharmaceuticals distributed a letter to clinicians, professional societies, and STD programs throughout the United States, alerting them to the potential for confusing Bicillin C-R with Bicillin L-A, the appropriate use of each formulation, changes in product labels, and mechanisms for reporting inadvertent use of Bicillin C-R for treatment of syphilis.
Education of clinic managers, pharmacists, and providers in the proper use of different penicillin preparations might help reduce the inappropriate use of Bicillin products. Providers, STD clinics, and pharmacies should review their product records and tracking systems for ordering and delivering penicillin treatments for syphilis.
References
CDC. Sexually transmitted diseases treatment guidelines 2002. MMWR 2002;51(No. RR-6).
Bisno AL, Gerber MA, Gwaltney JM Jr, Kaplan EL, Schwartz RH. Diagnosis and management of group A streptococcal pharyngitis: a practice guideline. Clin Infect Dis 1997;25:574--83.
Food and Drug Administration. Office of Drug Safety annual report FY 2002. Bethesda, MD: Food and Drug Administration; 2004.
CDC. Inadvertent use of Bicillin® C-R for treatment of syphilis---Maryland, 1998. MMWR 1999;48:777--9.
Rompalo AM, Joesoef MR, O'Donnell JA, et al. Clinical manifestations of early syphilis by HIV status and gender: results of the syphilis and HIV study. Sex Transm Dis 2001;28:158--65.
Lynn WA, Lightman S. Syphilis and HIV: a dangerous combination. Lancet Infect Dis 2004;4:456--66.
Collis TK, Celum CL. The clinical manifestations and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases in human immunodeficiency virus-positive men. Clin Infect Dis 2001;32:611--22.
Rolfs RT, Joesoef MR, Hendershot EF, et al. A randomized trial of enhanced therapy for early syphilis in patients with and without human immunodeficiency virus infection. N Engl J Med 1997;337:307--14.
Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Dear Friends:
In looking over the Federal Election Commission records of Joseph Solmonese, the Human Rights Campaign's new leader, I wasn't the least bit surprised that all of his donations since 1992 have been to Democratic candidates and PACs closely affiliated with the Democratic Party.
But what was amusing was seeing that Solmonese had donated twice to his predecessor at HRC -- Cheryl Jacques!
Maybe he should call her up and ask for advice on how to avoid becoming a failed executive director of a gay and lesbian political action group.
Considering his strong Democratic leanings and donations, it will be fascinating to watch Solmonese reach out to work with the GOP, Greens and independent voters and politicians.
Michael Petrelis
^^^
www.tray.com
SOLMONESE, JOSEPH
3/3/1992 $300.00
WASHINGTON, DC 20009
-[Contribution]
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
SOLMONESE, JOSEPH
5/8/1996 $200.00
WASHINGTON, DC 20009
-[Contribution]
FRIENDS OF ROSA DELAURO
SOLMONESE, JOSEPH
6/23/2001 $500.00
WASHINGTON, DC 20009
EMILY'S LIST -[Contribution]
CANTWELL 2006
Solmonese, Joseph R.
8/17/2001 $250.00
Washington, DC 20009
-[Contribution]
CHERYL JACQUES FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE
Solmonese, Joseph
8/27/2001 $250.00
Washington, DC 20009
EMILY's List/Executive Director -[Contribution]
JULIA CARSON FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE
Solmonese, Joseph R.
9/7/2001 $250.00
Washington, DC 20009
EMILY's List/Executive Director -[Contribution]
CHERYL JACQUES FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE
Solmonese, Joseph
2/7/2002 $200.00
Washington, DC 20005
Emily's List/Executive Director -[Contribution]
FRIENDS OF NANCY KASZAK
Solmonese, Joseph
3/10/2002 $250.00
Washington, DC 20005
Emily's List/Executive Director -[Contribution]
FRIENDS OF NANCY KASZAK
Solmonese, Joseph R.
3/11/2002 $1,000.00
Washington, DC 20009
EMILY's List/Chief of Staff -[Contribution]
RIVERS FOR CONGRESS
Solmonese, Joseph
1/30/2003 $250.00
Washington, DC 20009
Emily's List/Development Director -[Contribution]
GAY AND LESBIAN VICTORY FUND
Solmonese, Jospeh
3/27/2003 $1,000.00
Washington, DC 20009
Emily's List/Chief of Staff -[Contribution]
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC
Solmonese, Joseph R
12/14/2003 $250.00
Washington, DC 20009
Emily's List/Development Director -[Contribution]
LISA QUIGLEY FOR CONGRESS
SOLMONESE, JOE
8/12/2004 $500.00
WASHINGTON, DC 20036
EMILY'S LIST -[Contribution]
CAMPAIGN FOR FLORIDA'S FUTURE FKA BETTY CASTOR FOR U S SENATE
SOLMONESE, JOE
9/29/2004 $500.00
WASHINGTON, DC 20036
EMILY'S LIST -[Contribution]
CAMPAIGN FOR FLORIDA'S FUTURE FKA BETTY CASTOR FOR U S SENATE
Solmonese, Joe R Mr.
7/21/2004 $1,000.00
Washington, DC 20009
EMILY's List/Chief of Staff -[Contribution]
EMILY'S LIST
In looking over the Federal Election Commission records of Joseph Solmonese, the Human Rights Campaign's new leader, I wasn't the least bit surprised that all of his donations since 1992 have been to Democratic candidates and PACs closely affiliated with the Democratic Party.
But what was amusing was seeing that Solmonese had donated twice to his predecessor at HRC -- Cheryl Jacques!
Maybe he should call her up and ask for advice on how to avoid becoming a failed executive director of a gay and lesbian political action group.
Considering his strong Democratic leanings and donations, it will be fascinating to watch Solmonese reach out to work with the GOP, Greens and independent voters and politicians.
Michael Petrelis
^^^
www.tray.com
SOLMONESE, JOSEPH
3/3/1992 $300.00
WASHINGTON, DC 20009
-[Contribution]
HUMAN RIGHTS CAMPAIGN FUND POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE
SOLMONESE, JOSEPH
5/8/1996 $200.00
WASHINGTON, DC 20009
-[Contribution]
FRIENDS OF ROSA DELAURO
SOLMONESE, JOSEPH
6/23/2001 $500.00
WASHINGTON, DC 20009
EMILY'S LIST -[Contribution]
CANTWELL 2006
Solmonese, Joseph R.
8/17/2001 $250.00
Washington, DC 20009
-[Contribution]
CHERYL JACQUES FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE
Solmonese, Joseph
8/27/2001 $250.00
Washington, DC 20009
EMILY's List/Executive Director -[Contribution]
JULIA CARSON FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE
Solmonese, Joseph R.
9/7/2001 $250.00
Washington, DC 20009
EMILY's List/Executive Director -[Contribution]
CHERYL JACQUES FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE
Solmonese, Joseph
2/7/2002 $200.00
Washington, DC 20005
Emily's List/Executive Director -[Contribution]
FRIENDS OF NANCY KASZAK
Solmonese, Joseph
3/10/2002 $250.00
Washington, DC 20005
Emily's List/Executive Director -[Contribution]
FRIENDS OF NANCY KASZAK
Solmonese, Joseph R.
3/11/2002 $1,000.00
Washington, DC 20009
EMILY's List/Chief of Staff -[Contribution]
RIVERS FOR CONGRESS
Solmonese, Joseph
1/30/2003 $250.00
Washington, DC 20009
Emily's List/Development Director -[Contribution]
GAY AND LESBIAN VICTORY FUND
Solmonese, Jospeh
3/27/2003 $1,000.00
Washington, DC 20009
Emily's List/Chief of Staff -[Contribution]
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC
Solmonese, Joseph R
12/14/2003 $250.00
Washington, DC 20009
Emily's List/Development Director -[Contribution]
LISA QUIGLEY FOR CONGRESS
SOLMONESE, JOE
8/12/2004 $500.00
WASHINGTON, DC 20036
EMILY'S LIST -[Contribution]
CAMPAIGN FOR FLORIDA'S FUTURE FKA BETTY CASTOR FOR U S SENATE
SOLMONESE, JOE
9/29/2004 $500.00
WASHINGTON, DC 20036
EMILY'S LIST -[Contribution]
CAMPAIGN FOR FLORIDA'S FUTURE FKA BETTY CASTOR FOR U S SENATE
Solmonese, Joe R Mr.
7/21/2004 $1,000.00
Washington, DC 20009
EMILY's List/Chief of Staff -[Contribution]
EMILY'S LIST
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
March 8, 2005
Ms. Barbara Cohen
Senior Editor
PLoS Medicine
San Francisco, CA
Dear Ms. Cohen:
The February 2005 issue of your medical journal ran an article by Dr. David Ho of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, A Shot in the Arm for AIDS Vaccine Research.
Dr. Ho, in his competing interests statement, claimed he had no competing interests, which is simply not the truth on his part.
I have sent Dr. Ho the attached letter about his many ties to competing interests, including his relationship with
ViroLogic, where he sits on the firm's scientific advisory board and has stock options in the company, and to GlaxoSmithKline, where he advises the drug giant on awarding annual grants in AIDS drug research.
As you well know, such information is explicitly required for all authors who publish in your journal and your strict policy on what must be declared as a real or perceived conflict of interest is clearly stated. (Source: http://www.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-static&name=interests)
For many people with AIDS, including myself, we need more transparency from Dr. Ho and all AIDS researchers, so we can make informed choices with our doctors about the best course of treatment to fight AIDS and its many opportunistic infections.
In the interests of AIDS transparency, I ask you to immediately issue a correction to the press about Dr. Ho omitting his various competing interests in your February 2005 issue, that the correction quickly appear on your web site attached to his original article and print the correction in your next edition.
A prompt reply is respectfully requested and appreciated.
Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
Ms. Barbara Cohen
Senior Editor
PLoS Medicine
San Francisco, CA
Dear Ms. Cohen:
The February 2005 issue of your medical journal ran an article by Dr. David Ho of the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, A Shot in the Arm for AIDS Vaccine Research.
Dr. Ho, in his competing interests statement, claimed he had no competing interests, which is simply not the truth on his part.
I have sent Dr. Ho the attached letter about his many ties to competing interests, including his relationship with
ViroLogic, where he sits on the firm's scientific advisory board and has stock options in the company, and to GlaxoSmithKline, where he advises the drug giant on awarding annual grants in AIDS drug research.
As you well know, such information is explicitly required for all authors who publish in your journal and your strict policy on what must be declared as a real or perceived conflict of interest is clearly stated. (Source: http://www.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-static&name=interests)
For many people with AIDS, including myself, we need more transparency from Dr. Ho and all AIDS researchers, so we can make informed choices with our doctors about the best course of treatment to fight AIDS and its many opportunistic infections.
In the interests of AIDS transparency, I ask you to immediately issue a correction to the press about Dr. Ho omitting his various competing interests in your February 2005 issue, that the correction quickly appear on your web site attached to his original article and print the correction in your next edition.
A prompt reply is respectfully requested and appreciated.
Sincerely,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA
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