Remission Mission: Dutch, U.S. Researchers Report Partial Success with Flushing Strategies; Plan to Suspend Treatment in Patients
TAGline • 1998Dutch, U.S. Researchers Report Partial Success with Flushing Strategies; Plan to Suspend Treatment in Patients Halls abuzz with the ‘c’ word Late every August, the once-and-future greats (and some not-so greats) of AIDS research pay homage to HIV co-discoverer Robert C. Gallo at the annual laboratory meeting once, in palmier days, hosted in Bethesda by…
Down in Flames: Crypto Treatment Hopes Dashed as Sloppy, Divisive Unimed Fails to Provide Clean Data — or Proof of Efficacy
TAGline • 1998Crypto Treatment Hopes Dashed as Sloppy, Divisive Unimed Fails to Provide Clean Data — or Proof of Efficacy Unimed’s ugly ultimatum On May 6th, the FDA’s Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee met to consider an application for approval of Unimed Pharmaceuticals’ cryptosporidiosis treatment, nitazoxanide (NTZ), for the treatment of cryptosporidial diarrhea in PWAs. TAG’s Laura Morrison…
Swift Success: CDC/Thai Vertical Transmission Results Silence Critics and Pave Way for Prevention of Millions of Infections Worldwide
TAGline • 1998CDC/Thai Vertical Transmission Results Silence Critics and Pave Way for Prevention of Millions of Infections Worldwide But who will bear the cost? Four years ago, results of ACTG 076 showed that HIV-infected pregnant women treated with a complex regimen of AZT (100 mg five times daily during the third trimester of pregnancy, intravenous AZT (1…
A View from Afar: Conference Circuit Ingénu and Self-Appointed Apothecaire Dispenses Bitter Tonic at Congress’ Close
TAGline • 1998Conference Circuit Ingénu and Self-Appointed Apothecaire Dispenses Bitter Tonic at Congress’ Close Word of ‘a serious malaise’ As part of the “rapporteur” element of this year’s world AIDS congress, 12 minute summaries of each of the four tracks (A=Basic Science; B=Clinical Science and Care; C=Epidemiology, Prevention and Public Health; D=Social and Behavioral Sciences) were prepared…
Designs Unforgiving: U.S. and French Investigators Alike Are ‘Shocked, shocked’ to Learn of Maintenance Protocol’s Failure
TAGline • 1998U.S. and French Investigators Alike Are ‘Shocked, shocked’ to Learn of Maintenance Protocol’s Failure Might the Brits get it right? First it was kidney stones. Blood in the urine. Hyperbilirubinemia. Yellowed whites of the eyes. An unquantifiable array of quality-of-life issues. The occasional gastric reflux. Annoying but only infrequently life-threatening. A Letter to Physicians warned…
The Antiviral Report
Publication • 1998A Critical Review of New Antiretroviral Drugs & Treatment Strategies June 1998 By Spencer Cox, Jill Cadman, Paul Dietz, Mark Harrington, Winston Layne, Luis Santiago & Theo Smart Introduction by Spencer Cox In January, 1996, at the Third Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections in Washington, DC, I found myself standing amidst some very rude…
Birth of a Paradigm: Panel Embraces Maximum Viral Suppression as Goal of Therapy; Drug Company Bonanza Creates Headaches for Third-Party Payers and AIDS Treatment Educators
TAGline • 1997Panel Embraces Maximum Viral Suppression as Goal of Therapy; Drug Company Bonanza Creates Headaches for Third-Party Payers and AIDS Treatment Educators Eleventh hour backstage skullduggery stymied by unified community “And What Rough Beast, Its Hour Come Round at Last, Slouches Towards Bethesda to Be Born?” (with apologies to W.B. Yeats) In June the Federal government…
Druthers, Grim: Activist Epistler Chronicles Frightening Tales of Multiply Resistant HIV from D.C. Principles Panel
TAGline • 1997Activist Epistler Chronicles Frightening Tales of Multiply Resistant HIV from D.C. Principles Panel Toxic cocktail The NIH panel convened late last November to develop new state-of-the-art guidelines for the treatment of HIV infection included a series of provocative (some would say alarming) presentations regarding resistance considerations in the choice of antiretroviral combination regimens. TAG’s indefatigable…
Shallow Foundations: Opportunistic Infections Continue to Vex the Lives of PWAs as Long As Immunodeficiency Remains
TAGline • 1997Opportunistic Infections Continue to Vex the Lives of PWAs as Long As Immunodeficiency Remains ‘Postponing the inevitable’ Michael Marco and his TAG colleagues working within TAG’s Opportunistic Infections Committee (Theo Smart, Laura Morrison, Tim Horn, Paul Dietz, Mark Harrington) released their 134-page OI Report at the national retroviral meeting in Washington, D.C. last month. The…
New Drug Dilemmas
Publication • 1997Scientific and Regulatory Issues in the Era of Antiretrovirai Polytherapy and a Viral Load-Driven Standard of Care (Version 0.5) A Report to the FDA Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee 14 July 1997 by Spencer Cox, Paul Dietz, Mark Harrington & Theo Smart Edited by Spencer Cox & Mark Harrington PREFACE & INTRODUCTION by Spencer Cox PREFACE…