Friday, July 31, 2009

Got called by Mike Gerson who is getting very interested in needle exchange programs and will do a piece on it in The Washington Post.. He called from the mobile unit that goes around DC doing needle exchange. He was very excited in a positive way telling me that he is now converted to a “true believer’ in favor of needle exchange. He wanted to know from me what the scientific data are. I told him the story of the Shalala Committee that I was on with Harold Varmus, David Satcher, Alan Leschner, etc. where Donna asked us to do a “meta-analysis”-type look at the literature on needle exchange and ask 2 questions: 1) does needle exchange promote drug abuse and 2) does needle exchange decrease incidence of HIV infection among drug users. We found clearly that it did not promote drug use and did decrease HIV infection. We presented the data to Donna who strongly recommended a federally funded needle exchange program and called the WH to indicate this. To all of our dismay, the WH rejected this for political reasons. Drug Tsar McCaffrey did not want it; neither did prominent black Congressmen like Charlie Rangel (Charlie thought that it might be interpreted as a signal that we had given up on the black community). In any event, Mike was thrilled that the science backed up his impression. As a background, the Congress just recently lifted the ban on federally funded needle exchange, only with the proviso that such programs cannot be implemented within 1000 feet of school, park, recreational facility, etc. This is silly since it blocks out most of the entire city in most places. August 1 – 10, 2009 Much press regarding the beginning of the vaccine trials for H1N1. I was on ABC, MSNBC, multiple radio shows, Diane Rehm Show, etc. discussing the H1N1 issues.