- Title
- Baltimore Alternative, July 1989
-
-
- Identifier
- BA_89_July
-
-
- Subjects
- ["AIDS activists","LGBTQIA","LGBTQ issues","LGBTQ life","AIDS (Disease)","Baltimore (Md.)","Maryland"]
-
- Description
- The Baltimore Alternative newspaper July 1989 issue.
-
-
- Date Created
- 01 July 1989
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-
- Format
- ["pdf"]
-
- Language
- ["English"]
-
- Collection Name
- ["Baltimore Alternative collection"]
-
Baltimore Alternative, July 1989
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ALTERNATIVE
FDA Approves Aerosol
Pentamidine & Ganciclovir
Community-based Trial Is Basis for Pentamidine Approval-
Experimental Anemia Treatment Given “IND" Status
by Garey Lambert
ROCKVILLE, MB— The Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) has approved
both aerosolized pentamidine and ganciclo¬
vir. Additionally, the FDA will permit ex¬
panded pre-market distribution of r-
erythropoietin, an experimental protein
product that has shown a remarkable ability
to treat the severe anemia that results from
taking AZT. The FDA has been under in¬
tense pressure from AIDS activists, physi¬
cians, and People With AIDS to make these
dugs more widely available.
Department of Health and Human Ser¬
vices Secretary Louis W. Sullivan made the
announcement of the aerosolized pentami¬
dine approval on June 15th. The Food and
Drug Administration is part of the U.S. Pub¬
lic Health Service under the Department of
Health and Human Services.
In a prepared statement, Sullivan said,
‘Today’s approval will help many of those
infected with the AIDS virus avoid one of
the most deadly opportunistic infections as¬
sociated with AIDS. It may help an estimat¬
ed 100,000 or
тете
individuals who are at
risk of developing first or subsequent epi¬
sodes of pneumocystis carinii pneumonia
(PCP) and will, therefore, significantly im¬
prove the quality of their lives.”
FDA approval of aerosol pentamidine
was based largely on data collected from a
clinical trial conducted by the San Francisco
Community Consortium. This is the first
major drug to be approved from results ob¬
tained in a community based trial.
Aerosol pentamidine may be used for
any patient who has had at least one case of
PCP, or whose CD4 lymphocyte cell count
is 200 or less. The Respirgard II nebulizer is
specified in the drug’s approval labelling.
Aerosol pentamidine will be marketed under
the trade name ’’NebuPent.”
A Maryland Blue Cross & Blue Sheild
spokesman told The ALTERNATIVE, that
the insurer, Maryland’s largest, is now pre¬
pared to reimburse for aerosol pentamidine
“if the treatment is administered under the
guidelines of FDA approval.”
“We pay for approved treatments,” the
spokesman added.
Ganciclovir, also known as DHPG, was
approved on June 26th. Ganciclovir, which
will be marketed as Cytovene, has shown ef¬
fectiveness against cytomegalovirus (CMV)
retinitis. The drug slows progression of the
disease. It does not stop the infection, and is
not considered a cure.
see FDA APPROVES page 17
The Compound Q Story
What Really Happened in San Francisco?
— Does Compound Q Work?— The Truth
From Project In form’s Martin Delaney
AIDS Update
by Garey Lambert
By any account, the underground Com¬
pound Q trials now going on in San Francis¬
co, Los Angeles, and New York are daring,
probably heroic.
Project Inform, the radical San Francisco
organization that has been our strongest
advocate for faster drug trials and more
access to experimental treatments, has now
taken its most courageous step yet. It has
House Approves Hate
Crimes Statistics Act
Dannemeyer Continues Offensive, Quotes Gay Press
by Cliff O' Neill
WASHINGTON — After an afternoon of
largely one-sided debate, the U.S. House of
Representatives passed the the Hate Crimes
Statistics Act by a landslide 368-47 margin
June 27th, over the loud protests of anti-gay
Rep. William Dannemeyer (R- CA).
The Hate Crimes Statistics Act (H.R.
1048) would order the Justice Department to
collect statistics on crimes motivated by
race, religion, ethnicity or sexual orientation.
Although the landmark bill was passed last
year by the House by an equally wide mar¬
gin, a last minute tactic from Sen. Jesse
Helms (R-NC) kept the bill from the Senate
floor, effectively killing it for that session of
Congress.
June 27th, the House was set to again
vote on the bill, this time on the House
suspension calendar, on which amendments
are not allowed.
In the House Judiciary Committee, Dan¬
nemeyer amendments to limit the scope of
the bill and the spending allowed under it
were defeated by nearly one-sided margins,
with only Dannemeyer voting for the riders.
Before the bill came to the floor, Danne¬
meyer took the House floor to denounce the
bill’s inclusion of sexual orientation as an
attempt to “derail the freedom train”
launched by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“I would say this
is our biggest
victory to date,
hands down.”
—Peter Staley, ACT UP/NY
Dannemeyer argued that the bill would
“elevate homosexuality above gender, age,
mental capacity, and economic circumstanc¬
es as a legitimate category of redress under
our civil rights laws,” although the bill
contains a disclaimer which states that the
see HOUSE APPROVES page 6
Lambda Rising
Book Report inside
NEWS
Chase-Brexton Clinic Moves . p. 2
Mapplethorpe Show Canceled .... p. 5
Hate Crimes —
Statistics & Solutions . p. 6
“Foley Out of ... Closet” . p. 8
Across America . p. 11
Around The World . p. 13
Pride '89 —
Celebrate Community Growth .. p. 35
Religion . p. 37
involved itself not just in the importation of
unapproved drugs (like Ribavirin, which it
imported from Mexico in the early days of
AIDS), or advocacy for experimental treat¬
ments; Project Inform is now involved in the
conduct of an unapproved, unsanctioned,
though thoroughly scientific study of the
efficacy of Compound Q with volunteer
human subjects.
Project Inform sent “an
experienced smuggler"
to the factory in
Shanghai, China, where
Compound Q
is manufactured.
The study, involving over forty p24 posi¬
tive People With AIDS, is being conducted
by physicians using established scientific
methods, but without a placebo control. Dr.
Alan Levin, the physician overseeing the
treatment of volunteers in San Francisco has
said, “We’re doing good science, and we’ll
do it in 10 percent of the time at one percent
of the cost of government approved research.
The Compound Q story broke on Mon¬
day, June 26 on NBC Nightly News. It
should not have. NBC, and other news
organizations that knew of the underground
Compound Q trial had sworn secrecy until
such time as conclusive results either suc¬
cess or failure, could be reported. NBC
chose to break its promise, and justified its
betrayal by claiming that one of the “study
subjects” had died as the result of “severe”
side effects of the drug.
But the profound significance of this
story did not, and has not stopped at this
unfortunate patient’s death. The study is con¬
jee AIDS UPDATE page 19
HEALTH
AIDS Update . p. 19
Steve Gavin Speaks . p. 20
ARTS
Artscape '89 - The Visual Arts.... p. 23
Art Interview with Eric Miller.... p. 25
Family Masks -
'Puts on a Happy Face' . p. 29
Lambda Literary Awards . p. 31
Wonderland -
A 'Gay Thriller' AIDS Benefit p. 33
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