Petrelis Files

Sunshine Hearing: Petrelis v. NIH, NIAID, SF DPH AIDS Office

The San Francisco Sunshine Task Force is today hearing my complaint against the CAB, community advisory board, for the HIV vaccine trials here and the lack of openness of the CAB.

It is not acceptable that the National Institutes of Health and the AIDS Office within the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, the folks funding, researching and developing an effective vaccine to fight HIV, have not mandated that CABs adhere to basic transparency principles.

I find it quite telling, and sad, that the leaders of the vaccine effort at the SF Department of Public Health's AIDS Office, are mounting a vigorous campaign to keep the gay community and general public in the dark about CAB and its doings. There once was a time, believe it or not, when NIH, NIAID and SF DPH researchers and administrators actively welcomed community involvement and engagement, instead of fearing sunshine as if they were members of Count Dracula's family.

If you care about this issue and have the time, please attend the Sunshine Task Force meeting today, Tuesday, October 10. The meeting starts at 4 pm and is at City Hall, in room 406.

From the task force's web site:

Determination of jurisdiction of complaint filed by Michael Petrelis against the Department of Public Health-Community Advisory Board for alleged failure to post meeting notices and agendas on the web and local publications, and failure to post agendas and minutes of its meetings. (action item) (attachment)

You can read the 20 pages of attachments by clicking here.