HIV and ID Observations

August 28th, 2012

“Quad” Approved by FDA

We now have a third single-pill treatment available for HIV treatment, co-formulated tenofovir/emtricitabine/elvitegravir/cobicistat. From the FDA announcement: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Stribild (elvitegravir, cobicistat, emtricitabine, tenofovir disoproxil fumarate), a new once-a-day combination pill to treat HIV-1 infection in adults who have never been treated for HIV infection. Stribild contains two previously approved HIV […]

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August 17th, 2012

Beeper, An Enthusiastic Farewell!

August 17, 2012, is the first day in over 25 years that I left for work without clipping a beeper to my belt. Yes, our hospital now offers paging through cell phones. Eureka! As I’ve written before, it was a long time coming. Here are some advantages: Spares the embarrassment of wearing a circa-1980s device around non-MD colleagues. Portrays a […]

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August 15th, 2012

Brush with Greatness: Atul Gawande

I was an English major in college, so when my acceptance to medical school (miraculously) arrived, several people gave me books written by doctors about their experience in the medical profession. “See,” these gifts implied, “Just because you’re going to medical school doesn’t mean you need to become a science drone. Doctors can write too!” Sure, doctors […]

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August 13th, 2012

A Poll: Clintons vs Bush

Got this email recently from a former colleague who now does mostly international work: Hey Paul — nice recap of the IAC conference. But I was wondering if you’d forgotten about someone very important when you wrote, “I can’t think of any major politicians who have done more for HIV than the Clintons.” Um, how about […]

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August 1st, 2012

Really Rapid Review — 2012 International AIDS Conference, Washington, DC

Last week’s International AIDS Conference in Washington got plenty of media attention, mostly because it was the first time in umpteen years that it was held in the United States, the delay between meetings due to our absurd (and now repealed) immigration laws regarding HIV. (Quick trivia question — where was the conference supposed to be […]

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July 30th, 2012

2013 CROI Dates and Location: Feb 28 – March 6, Atlanta (Probably)

From the Georgia World Conference Center calendar: Note that this is not confirmed. But it looks like we’ll be sharing the center with an optometry education company and a dance competition. That should be fun. (Hat tip to an unnamed academic ID/HIV physician for the info, because you won’t find it here — yet.) [Edit:  now confirmed, March 3-7, Atlanta.]

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July 29th, 2012

A Quick Note to Time Magazine

Dear Time Magazine, Thanks for the recent coverage of HIV treatment. One small suggestion: in the future, try to find some some stock photos of HIV medications that are somewhat more up-to-date than, um, 1997, which is what you chose here and here. In our field, seeing these original AZT, ddC, and nelfinavir tablets is kind of like seeing […]

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July 25th, 2012

AIDS Quilt, the Early 1990s, and Sadness

The early 1990s has potentially many associations — the break-up of the Soviet Union, the first Gulf War, the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City bombings, The Lion King, Forest Gump, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, and the cancellation of the baseball season, to name a few. But we HIV/ID specialists will always […]

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July 23rd, 2012

IAS-USA HIV Guidelines Updated

With the International AIDS Conference in Washington just starting, the International Antiviral (ahem) Society-USA has revised its HIV treatment guidelines, updating the 2010 version. As has been the case for several years now, it’s published in JAMA and also available on the IAS-USA web site. It’s a well written, evidence-driven summary of the current state of […]

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July 16th, 2012

Sizzling Summer Serratias

Several ID/HIV items to contemplate as the heat really kicks in here in the torrid USA: TDF/FTC approved for pre-exposure prophylaxis. The challenging issues of defining the best candidates for this strategy — and finding the providers to prescribe it — still remain, but FDA approval should at least help justify insurance coverage if clinicians choose […]

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