LA Lapse The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported March 11 that
the federally funded Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center mistakenly
treated more than 400 syphilis patients between 1999 and 2004 with
control-release (CR) penicillin/bicillin instead of the intended
long-acting variety. The CR insert states “not indicated for the
treatment of syphilis,” but the clinic realized the error only after a
patient read the label. Treatment- failure rate was reportedly
unaffected. Says Peter Kerndt, STD program
Florida Follies In
February, a Palm Beach County Health Department worker accidentally
e-mailed a confidential list of 6,500 local PWAs to 800 department
colleagues. Office techies contained the data, but less than a month
later, local HIVers received anonymous letters soliciting for a bogus
charity. A few weeks after that, the same health department
disclosed that 15 pages of yet another confidential PWA list went
missing for two months. “They’re really not related incidents,” says
department spokesperson Tim O’Connor, adding that neither list included
mailing addresses. The FBI is investigating.
DC Demerits The
spermicide Nonoxynol-9 (N-9), once thought to help prevent HIV, has
been known to heighten risk since the late ’90s. By 2000, the CDC and
other health orgs worldwide had downgraded their recommendations, and
last year, Durex, the world’s largest condom maker, discontinued its
N-9–lubricated love gloves. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) has refused to tweak N-9–product labeling. When pressed, an FDA
spokeswoman, sounding confused and surprised, asked POZ: “Do you know
what other products contain N-9?"
