Petrelis Files

2007 Meeting Schedule of NIH HIV Drug Panel Requested

This letter was sent today:

Dr. Alice K. Pau
Executive Secretary
Panel on Antiretroviral Guidelines for Adults and Adolescents
Office of AIDS Research
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Bethesda, MD

Dear Dr. Pau,

As a person living with AIDS who takes a twice-daily cocktail of drugs recommended by your Panel, after much consultation with my personal doctor and community activists, I am very interested in monitoring and influencing the important work the Panel will perform on behalf of the US government and people with AIDS in 2007.

In order to carry out those two tasks I need the following information from you:

1. Dates, times and locations of all Panel meetings will hold either at the NIH campus, or anywhere in the USA;

2. Dates and times of all monthly teleconference calls the Panel will hold;

3. For both the in-person meetings and teleconference calls, amount of time each member of the public will be allowed to present testimony;

4. Advance agendas for the meetings and calls;

5. The URLs on the NIAID web site where all the above requested information will be available for public inspection.

6. A copy of all federally-mandated rules and regulations governing the Panel;

7. An explanation of who decides the membership of the Panel, if term limits exist for Panel membership, if any members have lifetime appointments to the Panel, how to lodge complaints against members, existing mechanisms to remove a member;

8. The name of the person I need to contact to demand that all Panel members, in addition to disclosing any links to pharmaceutical or medical diagnostic companies, that they must also reveal exact dollar amounts of any grants, honoraria, stock options, reimbursements travel, lodging and associated expenses when appearing at conferences or any HIV-related meetings on behalf of a company;

In the interest of government transparency, please provide me with the requested documents and information at your earliest convenience.

A prompt reply is appreciated.

Best regards,
Michael Petrelis
San Francisco, CA