CDC recommends preventive AIDS drugs for those exposed, or possibly exposed to virus

Story dated 21 January 2005

"Health professionals applauded the federal government for including people exposed to the HIV virus through isolated episodes of unsafe sex or drug use among those recommended for emergency treatment, calling the new policy an overdue surprise from the Bush administration. Previously, federal health officials advised a preventative 28-day regimen of AIDS drugs only for health care workers accidentally exposed on the job. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded its guidelines Thursday, saying rape victims, as well as some individuals who knowingly put themselves at risk, should receive the drug cocktail that can keep them from becoming infected with HIV."

Okay, what this is saying is that if you have the HIV virus, or if they think you could have been exposed to the virus (but they don't know you if have it), this new Bush Administration policy is recommending emergency treatment with the toxic AIDS drug cocktail. The article states that "[p]eople accidentally or incidentally exposed to the AIDS virus are usually given a three-drug combination that includes AZT and 3TC. Treatment should start no more than 72 hours after the exposure to the virus, and the drugs should be used for 28 days, according to the CDC." What the writers of this article fail to mention at all is that the AIDS cocktail is toxic. Jerome Zack, associate director of basic sciences for the UCLA AIDS Institute, states that, "[t]he current medications are quite toxic to the liver. There's also many problems with fat metabolism. For instance, you can get high cholesterol levels and things like that. So patients will often have to go off the medication within five years of starting treatment just because of toxicity."

Now, I don't know much about how drugs work, but when one ingests a toxic substance, does not one grow ill? How many so-called 'AIDS symptoms' could be attributed to the high toxicity to the AIDS cocktail? Let me tell you a short story. A source at a nearby hospital tells me of a patient who has AIDS symptoms. He does not have the HIV virus. However, he was cut when he was in the ER and they gave him the toxic AIDS cocktail as a preventative. That is when I get nervous when I hear 'Federal Policy' and 'AIDS Cocktail' in the same story. How long before this policy becomes mandatory? Believe it or not, your government does not necessarily know more about your health than you do. If I got HIV, I would likely not even consider the cocktail. Ingesting a toxic substance when your body is under attack is not my idea of a wise course of action.
---------Current AIDS Cocktail is Toxic, new research into creating a safer 'AIDS Sniper'
---------HIV patients find that the current drug treatments aren't necessarily the answer.

posted by The Sovereign Editor | 3:57 PM

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