Tag Archives: HIV/AIDS

STAT News reports: Legal groups on Monday filed a class-action lawsuit against the health insurer Aetna, alleging the company violated the privacy of its customers by sending many of them letters through which the phrase “filling prescriptions for HIV” was visible through envelope windows. The federal suit alleges the breach affected as many as 12,000 Aetna customers living in 23 …

STAT News reports: Thousands of people with HIV received mailed letters from Aetna last month that may have disclosed their HIV status on the envelope. The letters, which Aetna said were sent to approximately 12,000 people, were meant to relay a change in pharmacy benefits. Text visible through a small window on the envelopes listed the patients’ names and suggested …

Gentle readers, today is Madonna’s 59th birthday. Below is a short story that first appeared on JMG on this day in 2006, a date which, as you’ll see, plays a role in the story. Ricky Loved Madonna Twenty years ago today, August 16th 1986, I was a few months into a new job with AMC Theatres, a position that I …

The clips may not be work-friendly. Playbill reports: Broadway Bares: Strip U, the 27th edition of the annual burlesque-style fundraiser in New York, earned $1,568,114, a jump from last year’s $1,482,724 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, but slightly down from 2015’s record-breaking total of $1,598,501. Attendees watched 181 of the hottest male and female dancers in New York City—joined by …

Sexy videos alert! Via press release: Class will be in session this summer at the only college campus where clothing is optional and bodacious burlesque is always in the curriculum. This year’s theme for Broadway Bares is Strip U, an unrivaled evening of seductive striptease production numbers with an academic twist, produced by and benefiting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. Broadway …

This will be a lifesaver for many people: The Food and Drug Administration on Friday announced its approval of Teva’s abbreviated new drug application the first generic of Gilead’s Truvada (emtricitabine and tenofovir disoproxil). The drug is indicated both as a treatment for HIV-1 in combination with other antiretroviral drugs and for pre-exposure prophylaxis to prevent sexually acquired HIV infection …

The New York Times reports: At least one million people will die in sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere, researchers and advocates said on Tuesday, if funding cuts proposed by the Trump administration to global public health programs are enacted. The United States currently spends more than $6 billion annually on programs that buy antiretroviral drugs for about 11.5 million people worldwide …

CNN reports: The latest treatments for HIV mean that young people living with the virus could live up to a decade longer, a new study says. The paper, published Wednesday, found that 20-year-olds who started with antiretroviral therapy in 2010 are predicted to live up to 10 years longer than those who first underwent similar treatment in 1996 — when …

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports: Temple University researchers on Monday said they had used a gene-editing technique to snip out HIV DNA from the genetic code of mice, bolstering the hope that the infection can be cured. The work, done with University of Pittsburgh scientists and published in the journal Molecular Therapy, builds on several years of Temple experiments that initially …

Last month the Trump administration proposed slashing the annual budget of the National Institutes for Health by $1.3 billion, $300M of which is earmarked for PEPFAR, former President George W. Bush’s universally praised program to battle HIV/AIDS in Africa. Today Bush writes an eloquent op-ed for the Washington Post which urges the Trump team to spare PEPFAR from the chopping …

Bloomberg reports: President Donald Trump’s administration has proposed cutting $1.23 billion this fiscal year from research funded by the National Institutes of Health, according to a White House document sent to congressional appropriators. The reduction is part of $18 billion in cuts that the administration wants in fiscal 2017, which ends in October. Most of the proposed reductions at NIH …

CNET reports: Apple on Tuesday unveiled a variant of its flagship phone as part of the (Red) program, which funds programs that combat HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. The special edition of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will come in 128-gigabyte and 256GB configurations, starting at $749. They will go on sale Friday. While Apple has long …

The New York Times reports: The National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park here is a somber glen of plants, trees, walks, grass and cairn, with thousands of names etched in stones and pavement. Visitors’ emotions run high, but the details of exactly how AIDS devastated and transformed the world are not found here. “The story of AIDS is …

Ben Winslow reports for Salt Lake City’s Fox affiliate: A bill that requires someone to disclose their HIV or AIDS status before engaging in any sexual activity or face a criminal penalty has passed a House Committee. Rep. Justin Fawson’s House Bill 369 passed out of committee Friday morning over objections from the ranking Democrat on the committee and an …

Deutsche Welle reports: Tanzania announced plans on Saturday to publish a list of gay people allegedly selling sex online. This comes just days after the government shut down dozens of AIDS clinics accused of promoting homosexuality. Deputy health minister, Hamisi Kigwangalla [photo], wrote on Twitter that his government was investigating “the homosexuality syndicate” and would arrest and prosecute those involved …

As longtime readers know, there are four or five JMG entries that I repost every year. This is one of them. My dear friend Daniel Johnson, who threw the most kickass Groundhog Day birthday parties for himself, would have been 60 years old today. His was a life that burned brightly and I am illuminated still. Daniel Johnson, 1957-1997. I …

News-Medical reports: The first large-scale clinical trial of a long-acting injectable drug for HIV prevention began today. The study, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, will examine whether a long-acting form of the investigational anti-HIV drug cabotegravir injected once every 8 weeks can safely protect men and transgender women from HIV infection at least as well as the anti-HIV …

You’ll want to watch the clip below. From Broadway Cares: Broadway’s best spread messages of unity, hope and resilience through satire, song and dance December 5 and 6, 2016, at the 28th annual Gypsy of the Year competition. Gypsy of the Year , which celebrated six weeks of dedicated fundraising from 55 Broadway, Off-Broadway and national touring companies, raised $4,492,636 …

Hate group leader Linda Harvey writes at World Net Daily: Many Americans have wept as sons, brothers and friends have perished from AIDS, and long for an Uncle Sam public health message that tells the truth: No male ever needs to engage in anal sex with another male, and we need to stop accommodating homosexual behavior and “gay” identity at …

CBS News reports: A special tribute was held in honor of World AIDS Day to the victims who died of the disease in New York City. The AIDS Memorial Park at Saint Vincent’s Triangle in Greenwich Village was dedicated on Thursday. The project was launched in 2011 to remember the men, women and children who have died from AIDS in …