A.I.D.S. Patients Turn To Street Formula Drugs (Press, 31 March 1987)
This is a Generative AI summary of this newspaper article. It may contain errors or omissions. Please note that the language in the summary is reflective of the original article and the societal attitudes of the time in which it was written.
Summary: A.I.D.S. Patients Turn To Street Formula Drugs (Press, 31 March 1987)
According to a report by the "Chicago Sun-Times" on 31 March 1987, underground clinics in over 40 cities across the United States are providing homemade experimental medications to A.I.D.S. patients seeking alternatives in their treatment. These clinics operate discreetly to sidestep legal challenges and avoid confrontation with anti-homosexuality activists. Volunteers, utilising telephone answering machines and mail services, manage these clandestine operations. The clinics create affordable versions of experimental compounds, sharing recipes for A.I.D.S. treatments that are not yet sanctioned by government authorities. Several thousand self-identified "guinea pigs," including individuals with A.I.D.S. and related conditions, have sought out the drugs, often through sympathetic doctors or advertisements in LGBTQ publications. The first of these underground clinics was established by a man named Jim Henry in San Francisco in January 1986. Henry combined dinitrochlorobenzene (D.N.C.B.), a chemical typically used in photography, with alcohol and lotion, claiming that this mixture enhanced the immune system. As a person living with A.I.D.S., he asserted that his condition improved after using this treatment and witnessing similar positive outcomes in others. Henry reported that he began distributing a street version of another experimental compound known as A.L. 721, which is being researched as a potential A.I.D.S. therapy. He indicated that A.Z.T. is currently the only A.I.D.S. medication approved by federal authorities, and so far, he has not faced any governmental backlash for his activities. The report highlights the desperation among A.I.D.S. patients for effective treatments, driving them to seek out unverified and potentially dangerous alternatives in the absence of approved medical options.
Important Information
The text on this page is created, in the most part, using Generative AI and so may contain errors or omissions. It is supplied to you without guarantee or warranty of correctness. If you find an error or would like to make a content suggestion please get in contact
The text on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 New Zealand