Tuesday, May 24, 2011

peeling the labels off bottled prescription drugs

A Fairview man was sentenced to 30 months in prison today for a different sort of drug-dealing crime: He was caught with three other men in a basement apartment peeling the labels off bottled prescription drugs — mostly used for treating HIV — that would be later sold on the black market in the Dominican Republic, said federal authorities and the complaint.
In March 2010, local police found Edison C. Rosario, 25, along with the three other people, in a basement Fairview apartment using lighter fluid to peel off the medical prescription labels, authorities said.
Authorities found more than 6,000 bottles of prescription medication, including HIV drugs such as Atripla, Combivir, Isentress, Kaletra, Prezista, Reyataz, and Truvada at the scene.
In all, the medication had a wholesale value of $2 million, said U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
Rosario was sentenced today before Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark, after previously pleading guilty to one count of conspiring to engage in the unlicensed wholesale distribution of pharmaceuticals.
Two other men, Rudy Manuel Gonzalez, 38, of Cliffside Park, and Jose Batista, 24, of New York, have also pleaded guilty, authorities said.
According to the complaint, the windows of the basement apartment in the Bergen County borough were all covered with either plastic bags or taped-down window shades.
It had no bed, couches or televisions and was mostly furnished with folding tables and chairs, the complaint said.
Prosecutors said today that the increasingly popular crime of repackaging and reselling prescription drugs has prompted two major concerns.
The first is that the re-sale of the drugs on the street or to pharmacies may be dangerous because the drugs could become contaminated during the smuggling process or while being treated with items like lighter fluid.
The second concern, prosecutors said, was that the prescription drugs were often purchased illegally from impoverished people coming out of pharmacies who needed the medicines, but chose to take cash from dealers instead.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Denver woman arrested for spreading HIV/AIDS

A female sex worker has been arrested in Denver for continuining to work as a prostitute even after knowing that she is HIV positive. Frances Woodke, 45, was charged on Tuesday Feb 2 2011 with two misdemeanors, prostitution and solicitation for prostitution, and a felony count of prostitution with full knowledge of being HIV positive.
Woodke was arrested on Jan 26 2010 when she offered sex for twenty three dollars to an undercover officer and was placed in Denver County Jail. According to the Denver District Attorney's Office, Woodke has been arrested before for attempted prostitution with knowledge of her positive HIV status. She spent time in prison in 2000 and 2008 for the crimes.
The Denver's district office is making plans to try and identify people that were exposed to the HIV virus by Woodke.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Promising HIV prevention

Treatment can't solve the problem, but adding a couple of new tools to the fully scaled-up implementation of available HIV prevention options could cut the global HIV infection rate in half.

The recent announcement that a pill currently used to treat HIV infection can also help prevent it was an important milestone in the effort to keep people from getting the virus.

The breakthrough utilizes a strategy known as pre-exposure prophylaxis. At-risk people take a drug in advance of exposure to the pathogen that makes it less likely they will become infected.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

We must all build on HIV/Aids success

On World Aids Day we pay tribute to the millions who are infected and affected by HIV/Aids worldwide. We continue to spread the word that in spite of much success, too many lives are still being devastated by this deadly disease. Our task looms large, but our message is simple: we have a shared responsibility as governments and individuals to build on the success achieved by making smart investments and decisions that will ultimately save more lives.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Photos tell of life with HIV

Of the eight men and women whose photographs have gone up on the walls of the Overture Center’s Playhouse Gallery this week, five are using pseudonyms such as “Anonymous,” “Your Neighbor,” and “Could Be You.”
The fact that some of the photographers featured in “Living with HIV/AIDS: Perspectives Through the Lens” didn’t want their identities revealed is itself a statement about the stigma that still surrounds this disease, said Heidi Nass, a patient advocate for the HIV/AIDS Comprehensive Care Program at UW-Health and one of the show’s photographers. All of the photographers are HIV positive.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Why The HIV/AIDS Community Should Care About the New Medicare Panel

Over the years, HIV/AIDS activists and their allies have been pioneers in creating new frontiers in the medical establishment. Through their efforts, the FDA drug approval procedures were reformed so promising new therapies could reach desperate patients quicker. The heroic efforts of the HIV/AIDS community has made health care better for millions of Americans.

I celebrated the passage of the new health reform law. It has given Americans living with HIV/AIDS much reason to hope. But even in victory, there are important details that must be worked out. We should not be afraid of making changes that will protect patient rights and total care. One such change that is needed relates to the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB).

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

ARV: Cheap solution to prevent babies contracting HIV

A healthy baby is the joy of every mother. Experts in helping HIV positive mothers achieve their desire of a healthy, HIV free baby say the use of antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy and breastfeeding period is the magic, reports Sade Oguntola.


Prevention of HIV transmission to the unborn child starts in the womb