Genital herpes is spreading at an alarming rate among teenagers. And some doctors and researchers say that the incurable disease is dangerously overshadowed by other public-health crusades. The scourge of singles bars in the late 1970s and early 80s, herpes moved to the back burner of public-health concerns after the i
GAITHERSBURG, Md. -- Cheryl Winchell, a family doctor in this verdant Washington suburb, is the first to say she s not an on-line addict -- or, as she puts it, a mouse potato. The Internet is really a lot of hype, she says. As a doctor in solo practice who is also a member of the Maryland State Board of Physician Quali
WASHINGTON -- Because of the high price tag, the Clinton administration has decided against extending Medicaid coverage to people who are infected with the AIDS virus but too healthy to qualify for the program. Currently, most people infected with HIV become eligible for Medicaid, the federal-state program for the poor
WHITEHOUSE STATION, N. J. -- Merck & Co. reassured analysts that new drugs to fight baldness, arthritis and brain disorders will allow the company to continue its heady growth despite increasing competition for almost all its major products. Merck is facing a raft of patent expirations of many of its blockbuster pr
WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court agreed to decide whether a person infected with the AIDS virus qualifies as disabled under the federal disabilities law. The case forces the justices to address highly emotional and divisive social questions over how people infected with human immunodeficiency virus, which causes AIDS, s
When HMOs advertise for new members, they re not looking for people like Jim Tierney, a 40-year-old quadriplegic who is prone to pneumonia, skin sores and other costly afflictions. Yet New England s largest health plan has decided to take in Mr. Tierney and hundreds of others like him -- and to pay for the privilege.
Researchers have run into a major roadblock in their efforts to eradicate the AIDS virus in patients who are taking the powerful new drug cocktails. Two medical research teams say they uncovered a very tiny amount of dormant HIV, the AIDS virus, in patients whose circulating bloodstream had shown no detectable remnant
Brian A. Brown, Deputy editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal Europe.
Nushawn Williams liked to keep score. The 20-year-old New Yorker counted the women he slept with, even after being told by Chautauqua County health officials that he was HIV positive. He wasn t so meticulous, however, when it came to informing his sexual partners that he carried the virus that causes AIDS, according to
Robert Langreth; The Wall Street Journal's New York bureau.
Several times each week, workers from Empire Blue Cross & Blue Shield head out to doctors offices equipped with miniature tape recorders hidden in sunglass cases or pens. Posing as patients, they visit diet doctors, dermatologists, chiropractors and other health-care providers. The goal: to catch greedy doctors who
SACRAMENTO -- Carol Craig battles with passion against the prison plague of hepatitis C, an often-fatal blood disease that is now sweeping through California s correctional system. But it s not the infected men and women behind the towering concrete walls and razor wire who worry her. It s the unknowing, the innocent a
HOME TEST KITS, which help people monitor their health away from the doctor s office, have been a time-saving and money-saving boon to consumers. But be wary of the unapproved or fraudulent test kits being marketed on the Internet, in magazines and elsewhere. Like many booming markets, the test-kit sector has attracted
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Amgen Inc. has finally received approval for its first new drug in six years, a treatment for chronic hepatitis C. But it still faces the plight of so many biotech companies: Trying to generate new products and new growth, while grappling with killer competition and deep cutbacks in health-care
BINGHAMTON, N. Y. -- Sandy Smith sifts through the case folder, making mental notes as she goes: seven years old ...likes to color ...in school, average grades ...after school, plays with friends ...IQ above 90. I am not getting the picture of a sickly child, says Mrs. Smith, a state welfare official, as she tries to d
The most important question facing AIDS patients who have staved off illness using the powerful new combination drug therapy is: How long can they go before the drug s antiviral effects wear off? AIDS researchers at a conference in Toronto will present evidence today suggesting they are closer to the answer. The resear
The most important question facing AIDS patients who have staved off illness using the powerful new combination drug therapy is: How long can they go before the drug s antiviral effects wear off? AIDS researchers at a conference in Toronto will present evidence today suggesting they are closer to the answer. The resear
Like many internists, Scott Strickland sees patients whose biggest health worry is the occasional cold or flu. But unlike other primary-care doctors in the Park Nicollet Clinic, a 420-physician group in Minneapolis, Dr. Strickland, 43 years old, devotes about half his practice to the care of people with HIV, the virus
ATLANTA -- For the first time in the history of the AIDS epidemic, the number of new cases in the U.S. has dropped, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Between 1995 and 1996, the number of AIDS cases fell 6% to 56,730 from 60,620. The CDC attributed the decline to new advances in treatment of H
Researchers will report today that an experimental drug from DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Co. will likely be a potent addition to the new combination drug therapies that have gained wide use against AIDS since last year. Based on preliminary research data, the new drug, Sustiva , may help doctors overcome
ATLANTA -- The decline in the AIDS mortality rate has reached the point where the illness is no longer the leading cause of death among Americans age 25 to 44, according to a new federal study. In its annual profile of births and deaths in the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the numbe
The landmark study that last year showed that a three-drug combination can eliminate detectable levels of the AIDS virus in patients blood is finally being released. Today s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the nation s most prestigious medical journal, publishes the research study that showed a powerful c
The Food and Drug Administration counts as one of its greatest regulatory triumphs its refusal to allow the sale of thalidomide, the antinausea drug that went on to cause birth defects in more than 100 children in countries where its sale was allowed. That was in 1960. Now the FDA is considering a new proposal to sell
In a major change in the nation s drug-approval policy, President Clinton will propose today that new drugs likely to be prescribed for children should first be tested on kids for safety, dosage and, in some cases, effectiveness. The policy could pose a quandary for the drug industry, which would face new research cost
The new federal guidelines for television advertising of prescription drugs already are unleashing a series of hard sell ads. But the commercials are long, wordy and packed with scary-sounding medical warnings and terminology that could turn off many consumers. The Food and Drug Administration Friday began allowing dru
The first returns are in on Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc. s new AIDS drug and it looks like a winner. The drug, Viracept , generated $43.6 million in sales in its first full quarter on the market, easily surpassing the most optimistic projections by securities analysts. Agouron also unveiled a fiscal fourth-quarter
WASHINGTON -- Caught in a severe cash crunch, 22 states have imposed emergency restrictions to limit either the number of people enrolled in their AIDS-drug assistance programs or the availability of the drugs themselves, a new report says. Some of the states, such as Alabama, have capped the number of people with AIDS
The Food and Drug Administration sent warning letters to Johnson & Johnson regarding its home HIV test, but the company says the regulatory actions didn t play into the company s decision late last month to withdraw the product. The company received two warning letters this year raising concerns about various aspec
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- Johnson & Johnson s Direct Access Diagnostics unit said it is immediately taking its Confide HIV home test off the market due to a lack of demand. We thought consumer demand would be greater than it was. We were on the market for about a year, and in that time did about 90,000 tests, said a s
WASHINGTON -- A government panel recommended a relatively aggressive approach in treating people with HIV , giving much-needed guidance to physicians and patients but raising important issues for insurers and public programs that pay for the pricey drugs. The long-awaited clinical guidelines -- the first ones from the
Medical progress in the battle to control AIDS has some AIDS charities ailing. Since the discovery last year that new drugs can help control the disease, a number of AIDS organizations nationwide have seen their donations slide. In April, AIDS Alliance closed its Contra Costa County, Calif., office, citing a funds shor
Amid the wizardry of modern medical research, the mundane task of actually prescribing drugs remains a hit-and-miss undertaking. We know that some people respond very well to a drug, others not as well while a certain proportion of patients will be resistant to that drug, says George Poste, chief science and technology
Laurie McGinley, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
ATLANTA -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that preliminary findings suggest that raspberries imported from Guatemala and Chile are the source of 90 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis. The CDC said it received reports about cases of cyclosporiasis in April and May from five states -- California, Flor
ATLANTA -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that preliminary findings suggest that raspberries imported from Guatemala and Chile are the source of 90 confirmed cases of cyclosporiasis. The CDC said it received reports about cases of cyclosporiasis in April and May from five states -- California, Flor
Matt Murray, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
Every month, New Yorker Richard Daniels receives a lifeline, encased in foam rubber and wrapped in a nondescript package. It s his one-month supply of Crixivan , a protease inhibitor that has shown promise in the battle against AIDS. The 45-year-old Mr. Daniels has been receiving Federal Express shipments of the drug m
LEVERKUSEN, Germany (AP) -- Bayer AG said it expects to pay some 460 million marks ($265 million) to the survivors of more than 6,000 AIDS victims in the U.S. infected by tainted blood products between 1978 and 1985. Bayer spokeswoman Christina Sehnert confirmed Bayer was close to agreement on the AIDS cases, in whic
ONE OF THE MOST common travel-related diseases, hepatitis A, is also one of the most preventable, yet few Americans are taking advantage of new, long-lasting vaccines against the disease. In the U.S., we don t do a good job of getting people to go to travel medicine clinics and get their vaccines, says Hal Margolis, di
WASHINGTON -- Hamstrung by federal budget constraints, President Clinton set a national goal of developing an AIDS vaccine within 10 years but offered no new federal spending to help achieve it. In a speech evoking President John F. Kennedy s 1961 call to put a man on the moon, Mr. Clinton used a commencement address a
Pregnant women on Medicaid -- poor and traditionally shunted to overburdened inner-city hospitals and clinics -- are becoming among the most lucrative patients in the health-care business. Across the country, low-income mothers-to-be are discovering that hospitals want to be their new best friend. At Columbia/HCA Healt
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Four medical companies have reached pacts with the federal government and several state governments that could clear the way for a multimillion-dollar lawsuit settlement over blood-clotting medications that transferred AIDS or the AIDS virus to hemophiliacs, reports Thursday s Wall Street Journal.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Scientists at the Whitehead Institute discovered a deep hole in the center of a heretofore mysterious AIDS virus protein, raising hopes of creating a new class of drugs that nestle in the cavity and block the virus. The research, published in today s issue of the journal Cell, is the culmination of
IT S DOGMA among pet lovers that life is sweeter when shared with an companion -- whether furred, feathered, or finned. But pet ownership has health risks as well as benefits. So it s wise to stay updated on illnesses linked to pets -- from allergies to animal infections that can be passed to humans. On the plus side,
Hilary Stout, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Through fires, floods and earthquakes, Bill Clinton always appeared swiftly on the disaster scene in California with some sympathetic words and a promise of federal aid. But when floods saturated Northern California early this year, the president was nowhere to be seen. Instead, in flew Al Gore.
Josh Greenberg, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- With the death toll from hepatitis C expected to triple over the next 10 to 20 years, a panel of health experts urged doctors to treat the disease more aggressively. But they conceded that physicians cannot yet do much to stop it. Hepatitis C afflicts nearly four million Americans -- most of whom don t kn
Thomas M. Burton, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
CHICAGO -- Litigation related to hemophilia and AIDS will be a significant potential burden for manufacturers of blood-derived products even if a proposed multimillion-dollar settlement is approved, people familiar with the cases said. They cited the number of plaintiffs opting out of the settlement. David Shrager, a P
Rhonda L. Rundle, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
LA JOLLA, Calif. -- After raising $500 million from investors over its 13-year life, Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc. is finally launching its first commercial product, a hot new biotechnology drug aimed against the virus that causes AIDS. Now comes the nerve-racking part: marketing the drug, which will be sold under the b
George Anders, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
For the past seven months, Preston Phillipps has been waiting for a $100,000 check. It s part of a giant legal settlement negotiated last summer, in which four drug companies agreed to pay more than $600 million to hemophiliacs infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, because of tainted blood-clotting products.
Bruce Ingersoll, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration gave children infected with the AIDS virus access to the same revolutionary drug therapy that has benefited so many adults. The agency approved two protease inhibitors for treating pediatric AIDS patients: Norvir , an
Oscar Suris, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta has confirmed what many in the war against AIDS were beginning to suspect: Fewer of those infected are dying. In a report released yesterday, the CDC said 12% fewer Americans with AIDS died from the disease in the first half of 1996 than during the same period a
The Wall Street Journal - Tuesday, 25 February 1997.
David P. Hamilton, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
TOKYO -- Green Cross Corp., battered financially and psychologically by a long-running AIDS scandal, has opted to deal with its problems by disappearing. In a transaction scheduled for Oct. 1, the Japanese company will be fully absorbed by Yoshitomi Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., another major drug maker. The move spe
The Wall Street Journal - Thursday, 6 February 1997.
Stephen D. Moore
STOCKHOLM --In the global race to develop new therapies against AIDS, researchers haven t had the time or money to deliver definitive answers to some of the most vexing scientific mysteries posed by the disease, reports Thursday s Wall Street Journal Europe. Take drug resistance - the uncanny ability of HIV, the virus
Stephen D. Moore, Special to The Wall Street Journal
Glaxo Wellcome PLC said its chairman, Sir Colin Corness, will retire as of the annual shareholders meeting in May and be succeeded by the drug maker s current chief executive, Sir Richard Sykes. Sir Colin served as a non-executive, or part-time chairman, but Sir Richard has no plans to relinquish his full-time execut
Laurie McGinley, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON -- Even with their high price tags, combination drug therapies are lowering the overall cost of treating AIDS patients, according to new data presented at a big AIDS conference here. Two studies show that the treatments, which combine new protease inhibitors with older AIDS drugs, reduce the use of hospi
Michael Waldholz, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
A powerful new AIDS drug made by Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc. is safer and easier for patients to use than its rivals in the protease-inhibitor family, say researchers who have been conducting human tests. This advantage could propel Viracept , which is awaiting federal approval, into the front ranks of
Rhonda L. Rundle, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
A powerful new AIDS drug made by Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc. is safer and easier for patients to use than its rivals in the protease-inhibitor family, say researchers who have been conducting human tests. This advantage could propel Viracept , which is awaiting federal approval, into the front ranks of
Michael Waldholz, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
Ever since the AIDS epidemic descended upon the U.S. with a fury of sickness and death 16 years ago, Frank Kronberg has asked himself why he has been spared infection while friends and lovers have died. It s like the angel of death was told to pass me by, says Mr. Kronberg, a 51-year-old computer technician at the Univ
Elyse Tanouye, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
Top U.S. health officials declared in 1984 that an AIDS vaccine would be created within three years. Thirteen years later, a vaccine against the human immunodeficiency virus that causes the disease is barely more than a theory, and many frustrated scientists gloomily predict it won t be ready for another decade or more
BOULDER, Colo. -- Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc. said it and Chiron Corp. received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that allows limited human testing of a drug employing gene therapy against HIV infection. In Nasdaq Stock Market trading, shares of the biopharmaceutical concern shot up 19%, or $2.375,
Rhonda L. Rundle, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
The first protease inhibitor drug designed especially for HIV-infected children is becoming available through a government-approved giveaway program that drug maker Agouron Pharmaceuticals Inc. will announce today. The drug, Viracept , is a member of the protease inhibitor family that, when used in combination w
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