Faculty Bibliography

When the SARS epidemic ended last July, experts were concerned that it would come back from wherever it hid in nature. But officials of the World Health Organization were just as worried about a new epidemic emerging from a SARS sample that escaped from one of the many laboratories working with it. The outbreak began March 25 after a graduate student became infected in China's main SARS laboratory in Beijing. Her case led to two more waves of transmission involving seven people including her mother, who died before her illness was recognized as SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, on April 22. One problem is what happens when you have BL3 and BL4 laboratories in old buildings in developing countries, he went on, adding: What struck me as quite bizarre is, here is a student working in a laboratory that handles SARS, and when she gets a respiratory disease and pneumonia, it takes three weeks before they even tested for SARS. That is a long period of time. In that period, for example, she could have infected fellow passengers on trains

If Plan B ever does go over the counter, doctors will lose the ability to keep track of side effects such as nausea, vomiting, headache and bleeding. Perhaps more importantly, patients might be steered into leaving their doctors out of important medical decisions. When a patient asks me to prescribe a routine birth- control pill (which may contain lower doses of the same progesterone, levonorgestrel, that Plan B contains), she often uses it as an opportunity to discuss not only her fear of pregnancy but also sexually transmitted diseases or other issues. The FDA's track record is mixed. Last December, it bravely banned ephedra because of an acknowledged inability to regulate the dosage or effects of the potent over-the-counter herb. But cold medications, Tylenol and aspirin have shown the potential to damage livers and kidneys after they were already over the counter and beyond the FDA's ability to regulate them. Where should the FDA draw the line? Consider that Plan B is a hormone at least three times as powerful as the progestin found in many prescription-only birth-control pills. Why prescription-only? Because birth-control pills have the potential to cause blood clots and strokes along with other serious complications that increase if the medicine isn't used properly

Merck, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Gilead Sciences said in a joint statement that they were in discussions to develop a one-pill combination of three antiretroviral drugs. The single pill would include two Gilead drugs tenofovir, which the company sells under the brand name Viread, and emtricitabine, which it sells under the brand name Emtriva and a third drug, efavirenz. Bristol-Myers Squibb markets efavirenz under the brand name Sustiva in the United States, Canada and some European countries; Merck sells efavirenz as Stocrin elsewhere. The [Bush] administration had been expected to be the target of heavy criticism at the weeklong meeting for its previous reluctance to approve inexpensive combinations of patented antiretroviral AIDS drugs. AIDS advocacy groups had accused the Bush administration of bowing to pressure from the U.S. pharmaceutical industry by delaying approval of less costly generic copies to promote sales of the more expensive patented originals. It was unclear what had contributed to the administration's change of policy, but international health officials welcomed the announcement. It's a pretty radical change in U.S. policy, if applied, Dr. Peter Piot, the director of the United Nations AIDS program, said in a telephone interview. It will help AIDS treatment programs everywhere

When the SARS epidemic ended last July, experts were concerned that it would come back from wherever it hid in nature. But officials of the World Health Organization were just as worried about a new epidemic emerging from a SARS sample that escaped from one of the many laboratories working with it. 'One problem is what happens when you have BL3 and BL4 laboratories in old buildings in developing countries,' he went on, adding: 'What struck me as quite bizarre is, here is a student working in a laboratory that handles SARS, and when she gets a respiratory disease and pneumonia, it takes three weeks before they even tested for SARS. That is a long period of time.' In that period, for example, she could have infected fellow passengers on trains. Black & White Photo: Peter Dasilva, The New York Times / The World Health Organization recommends that work on SARS be performed in a laboratory classified as Biosafety Level 3, the second-most biologically secure ranking. But according to at least one worried virologist, the world still needs a common definition of what a BL3 lab is.; Black & White Photo: Marilynn K. Yee, The New York Times / A researcher, wearing protective gear and taking in filtered air, works with cells infected with the SARS virus at Columbia University

When the SARS epidemic ended last July, experts were concerned that it would come back from wherever it hid in nature. But officials of the World Health Organization were just as worried about a new epidemic emerging from a SARS sample that escaped from one of the many laboratories working with it. The outbreak began March 25 after a graduate student became infected in China's main SARS laboratory in Beijing. Her case led to two more waves of transmission involving seven people -- including her mother, who died -- before her illness was recognized as severe acute respiratory syndrome on April 22. ''One problem is what happens when you have B.L. 3 and B.L. 4 laboratories in old buildings in developing countries,'' he went on, adding: ''What struck me as quite bizarre is, here is a student working in a laboratory that handles SARS, and when she gets a respiratory disease and pneumonia, it takes three weeks before they even tested for SARS. That is a long period of time.'' In that period, for example, she could have infected fellow passengers on trains

AIDS advocacy groups accused the [Bush] administration of bowing to pressure from the U.S. pharmaceutical industry by delaying approval of less costly generic copies of AIDS drugs to promote the sale of the more expensive, patented originals

The expedited process is also designed to encourage manufacturers to create a single pill, consisting of two or three licensed anti- retroviral drugs that are more potent when taken together. Further, the speedier process will allow manufacturers to put combinations of these anti-retroviral drugs into single, easy-to-dispense packages, eliminating the confusing jumble of dosages that can hamper compliance with AIDS treatment, especially among the poor and illiterate. The [Bush] administration had been expected to be the target of heavy criticism at the weeklong meeting for its previous reluctance to approve inexpensive combinations of patented anti-retroviral AIDS drugs. In the past, the United States had insisted on more stringent criteria for inexpensive generic copies of these drugs and for approving fixed-dose combinations of them

The [Bush] administration had been expected to be the target of heavy criticism at the weeklong meeting for its previous reluctance to approve inexpensive combinations of patented antiretroviral AIDS drugs. In the past, the United States insisted on more stringent criteria than the World Health Organization had already required for inexpensive generic copies of these drugs and for approving fixed-dose combinations of them. From a public health perspective, Dr. [Peter Piot] said, fixed-dose combinations should increase the availability of antiretroviral drugs in remote areas and be safer for patients. Taking one pill, or a small number of pills should increase patient compliance and help prevent the development of resistant strains of H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, he said. The single pill would include two Gilead drugs -- tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, which the company sells under the brand name Viread, and emtricitabine, which it sells under the brand name Emtriva -- and a third drug, efavirenz. Bristol-Myers Squibb markets efavirenz under the brand name Sustiva in the United States, Canada and some European countries; Merck sells efavirenz as Stocrin elsewhere

The expedited process is also designed to encourage manufacturers to create a single pill, consisting of two or three licensed anti- retroviral drugs that are more potent when taken together. Further, the speedier process will allow manufacturers to put combinations of these anti-retroviral drugs into single, easy-to-dispense packages, eliminating the confusing jumble of dosages that can hamper compliance with AIDS treatment, especially among the poor and illiterate