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Texas Considers Cuts To State HIV Medication Program – Texas is considering cuts to its AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP), called the HIV Medication Program, after the state senate failed to approve an additional $19 million in funds for the next two years. The program currently serves an estimated 14,000 low-income Texans who cannot afford their antiretroviral medications. The Texas Department of State Health Services will consider tightening income requirements, making patients wait longer to start treatment, or restricting the drugs the program covers if additional funding is not provided. For more information, please see the article in the Houston Chronicle.

California ADAP Asks Gilead To Reduce Drug Prices – California’s State Controller John Chiang sent a letter to Gilead Sciences last week asking Gilead to assist California’s ADAP by further reducing its HIV drug prices. According to the letter, California has experienced a 275 percent increase in AIDS drug expenditures since 2000, with Atripla now costing $21,900 per patient per year. In his letter, Chiang asks Gilead to continue providing financial assistance to ADAP programs and to consider additional drug price cuts so that state programs can continue to provide the drugs without cutting services. For more information, please see the article in the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal or the letter from Mr. Chiang.

HIV/AIDS Community Mourns The Passing Of Elizabeth Taylor – Actress Dame Elizabeth Taylor, one of the first prominent HIV/AIDS activists, passed away last week from heart failure. Taylor became an AIDS activist in 1984, soon before her friend and fellow actor Rock Hudson died of the disease in 1985. Her efforts raised millions of dollars for the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF). Her children have asked that donations be made to ETAF in her memory. AmfAR has created a page on its website in memory of Taylor that includes a video tribute and a message wall. For more information or to make a donation, please see the amfAR website or the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation website.

ViiV Healthcare Recruits Participants For Phase 3 Clinical Trial For Integrase Inhibitor GSK1349572 – ViiV Healthcare, a joint venture between Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline, is currently recruiting treatment-experienced HIV-positive adults to study the safety and efficacy of its proposed integrase inhibitor, GSK1349572, versus Isentress (raltegravir). Participants may not have taken Isentress previously and must have a viral load (amount of HIV in the blood) of 400 copies per milliliter or more. The trial will last 48 weeks and will compare once-daily GSK1349572 to twice-daily Isentress. ViiV expects to recruit a total of 688 participants. For more information, please see the U.S. Clinical Trials registry.

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On Wednesday, June 10, the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation (AIM) confirmed that a Californian adult film actress had tested positive for HIV. The Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation is a clinic based in San Fernando Valley that serves the Southern California adult film industry. AIM provides testing, treatment, and counseling services for actors and actresses in this region.

This is the first publicly confirmed case of HIV in the Southern California industry since 2004, when a sudden outbreak halted adult film production for a month. At the time, Darren…

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In light of California’s budget crisis, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s proposed state budget will cut nearly all funding for AIDS programs once supported by the state’s General Fund. If passed, the cuts could affect the Office of AIDS — the state agency that organizes programs, services, and activities related to HIV/AIDS — and its ability to provide services to California’s citizens.

The measure will ultimately affect HIV testing and prevention programs as well as Californians living with the disease. Officials from AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), a non-profit health care organization, said…