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In Defense of the HIV "Criminal"

Wed, 22 May 2013 11:06:16 +0000

On May 7, Representative Barbara Lee of California introduced the REPEAL ("Repeal Existing Policies that Encourage and Allow Legal") HIV Discrimination Act to Congress, calling for the review of federal and state laws regarding the criminal prosecution of individuals for HIV-related offenses. Currently, 34 states have enacted laws that make exposure to (or the non-disclosure of) HIV a crime.

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Open Letter to the Media: Stop "Selling" HIV!

Wed, 22 May 2013 10:34:12 +0000

Attention-grabbing headlines are the name of the game in news business. The advent of search engine analytics has somehow made the practice all the more absurd, bordering on desperate, as media outlets and bloggists (like us) vie for your valuable page views.

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"Beam Me Up, Scotty!" Drug Microchip May Help Adherence

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:13:35 +0000

It's sound like something out of a Star Trek movie. Imagine this for a second:

You swallow a pill. Digestive juices activate a sand grain-sized sensor inside the pill. A remote signal is then sent to an adhesive patch on the surface of your skin. The patch sends a digital confirmation to your healthcare provider, who can track and record your adherence. The sensor (made of trace copper and magnesium) is then safely expelled from your body.

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One Pill or Three? Conflicting Research Puts HIV Generics in the Spotlight

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:37:11 +0000

On the face of things, the strategy makes perfect sense.

With the patent expiring on one of the three drugs in Atripla (the once-daily, single-pill antiretroviral used in first-line therapy in the U.S.), why not save money by using a cheap generic version of first drug (Sustiva), replacing the second (Emtriva) with a suitable generic (Epivir), and offering the branded drug component (Viread) on its own? Drug coverage providers in the U.S. could potentially save up to $1 billion per year, said an investigative team from Harvard Medical School this past July.

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Is U.S. Edging Closer Toward HIV Treatment "On Diagnosis?"

Tue, 07 May 2013 04:37:37 +0000

We have gotten a number of queries on our recently updated Understanding HIV Therapy, regarding the adult treatment initiation guidelines issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) at the end of March, which state:

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Challenges as U.S. Health Panel Calls for HIV Testing for All

Tue, 07 May 2013 04:18:42 +0000

Citing evidence that the early testing of HIV results in better clinical outcomes and a lower risk of transmission, the U.S. Prevention Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued recommendations on Thursday that all people ages 15 to 65 be offered an HIV test when visiting their physician.

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Danish HIV Cure "Within Months?" Not Likely...

Wed, 01 May 2013 09:15:18 +0000

There's no joy in being a naysayer, particularly when so many in the media are ready to crack open the champagne at the first whisper of an HIV "cure."

This week, however, Danish researchers went one step beyond a whisper to suggest that a cure could be likely "within months," based on the results of an in vitro lab study they conducted at Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark.

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Move Over Iron Man! HIV Comic Targets South African Youth

Wed, 01 May 2013 08:59:38 +0000

With films like Iron Man 3 and the upcoming Man of Steel drawing box office interest around the world, there would seem no better medium for teaching HIV/AIDS to kids than with a superhero comic book with the same sort of "WHAM! BAM!" appeal.

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Supreme Court Divided on �Anti-Prostitution Pledge�

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 05:48:33 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court appears divided over a challenge to a 2003 law that requires non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to adopt an "anti-prostitution pledge" in order to receive federal funding for HIV/AIDS programs abroad.

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Survey to Explore High Rate of Smoking Among People with HIV

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 05:21:12 +0000

According to research presented at the 2013 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI), the rate of smoking among people with HIV is literally double that of the general population (42% versus 21%). Worse yet, a Danish study has shown that a 35-year-old man with HIV will likely die 15 years earlier than his non-smoking, HIV-positive counterpart.

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