How to Survive a Plague Page #3

One of the worst, worst

things was when people

died in the hospital, they used

to put them in black trash bags.

It was...

It was really awful.

And not every funeral parlor

would take patients who had died

of AIDS.

But so the least we could

offer is sympathy and moral

support, you know, and kindness,

and so forth.

And that they deserved,

in any case.

And when even that became

denied, you know, by the

totalitarian rules of

organizations, of institutions,

it was really horrifying.

It is the most frightening

medical mystery of our times.

AIDS victims must deal with the trauma

of being both a patient and a pariah.

I hate to use the word "gay"

in connection with sodomy.

There's nothing gay about these

people, engaging in incredibly

offensive and revolting conduct that

has led to the proliferation of AIDS.

There is a feeling among

members of any of a number of

professions or just the general

population, that patients with

AIDS, many of whom are homosexual,

are a little bit different.

I think that that has led to a

little bit of a complacency

about the approach

towards this disease.

In the absence of adequate

health care, we have learned to

become our own clinicians, researchers,

lobbyists, drug smugglers, pharmacists.

We have our own libraries, newspapers,

drug stores, and laboratories.

Some of the medications that were

made available were not effective.

They were in this category that

we called "what the hell" drugs,

which is there's some

evidence it could be useful,

it's unlikely to be harmful...

what the hell.

Should I type?

Yes, type.

Take your time.

Where are we?

We're at the people with AIDS health

group, the largest underground buyers'

club in the United States.

And what do you do here?

We help people import drugs

from other countries, um,

that are unapproved here.

Peptide T, albendazole, oral

amphotericin b, um, we have a

whole variety of things for

your treatment pleasure.

None of which work, by the way.

Put that in.

People with AIDS, what they

were mostly thinking about was

"oh, drugs, how do I

get it off-market?

How do I... will we ever get a

black market for this drug?

I hear this is good and..."

It was iris who helped us see:

We don't want a... black market,

we want to make the

real market work.

Try it.

Hi, I'm Mark Harrington

from ACT UP New York.

Recently, a lot of activists have

been asking why ACT UP is going...

Uh, you've got to start over, I've gotta do that...

I've gotta do that over.

You can just start

yourself over.

But I did - but I won't get that

wonderful cigarette-lighting thing.

I think the cigarette maybe

is not going to work.

I shouldn't use the

cigarette at all?

Really?

I don't think so, it's too, um...

too much.

Too much?

Hi, I'm Mark Harrington

from ACT UP New York.

A lot of people have been asking why are

AIDS activists going to the F.D.A.?

First of all, you have to

understand that the F.D.A. Is

one of the many federal AIDS

bureaucracies which we're angry

with for not doing enough

in the fight against AIDS.

Half the people who take A.Z.T.

Can't take it 'cause of side

effects, and therefore,

the F.D.A. Has to take a more activist

stance in the experimental process.

And only the F.D.A. Has the

power under existing laws and

regulations to release the drugs

that we want released now.

How's that?

Chanting group approaches:

A.Z.T. Is not enough!

Give us all the other stuff!

A.Z.T. Is not enough!

Give us all the other stuff!

A.Z.T. Is not enough!

Give us all the other stuff!

It takes nine months to

test a drug in Europe... in Belgium,

in France, in Germany, in england.

We are not asking the F.D.A. To

release dangerous drugs without

safety or efficacy.

We are simply asking the F.D.A.

To do it quicker.

Drugs for sale!

Drugs for sale!

Dextran sulfate for sale.

Get your dextran here.

You can't get it inside.

...f. D.A., but we're

selling it anyway.

$30 for dextran sulfate!

Release the drugs now!

Release the drugs now!

Release the drugs now!

...get to work, get to work!

Get to work, get to work!

...guilty, guilty, guilty!

Guilty, guilty, guilty!

Guilty, guilty, guilty!

...seize control, seize control!

Seize control, seize control!

Keep it moving!

Keep it moving!

Seize control!

Seize control, seize control...

Fight AIDS!

ACT UP!

Fight back!

Fight AIDS!

Seize control!

Seize control, seize control!

Seize control,

seize control, seize control!

Seize control!

Tell us why you got arrested, where are

they taking you, what's going on today?

We don't know what's...

where they're taking us.

We're here because this

government has the resources

to deal with the AIDS epidemic, and

they won't do it unless we force them.

I.J. Hutchins reports

live from Rockville,

where the massive protest

is wrapping up... I.J.?

Well, Jim, it's being billed as one

of Montgomery county's biggest

demonstrations in recent history

and it went off smoothly.

185 arrests, as a coalition of

gay groups came to Rockville

to shut down the F.D.A.

Tonight, from Washington,

crossfire, against all odds.

On the left, Tom Braden.

On the right, pat Buchanan.

In the crossfire, Peter Staley of the New

York AIDS coalition to unleash power.

Peter Staley, you have the

AIDS virus, and I am sorry.

But don't you think that the

federal drug administration has

a responsibility not to let

people, such as you, have quacks

that could cause even more

harm than you already have?

The problem is, is that the F.D.A.

Is using the same

process to test a nasal spray

as it is to test AIDS drugs,

and it's a 7-10 year process.

You have the F.D.A.

Giving you a drug.

So far, you've got A.Z.T.

Why... - which I can't take

because it's too... far too toxic

and over half the people

that have HIV can't take.

Okay, but the F.D.A. Says

there is nothing else

that is worth anything.

Mr. Staley, this is gonna astonish you,

but I agree with you a hundred percent.

I think if someone's got AIDS

and someone wants to take a

drug, it's their life and if it gives them

hope, you ought to be able to take it.

What I want to ask you is

whether you know of anything

that you think might be some

kind of miraculous cure that

you think they're

sitting on at F.D.A.

There are over 140 drugs out

there that the F.D.A. Has

identified as possibilities,

and are in some stage of

being looked at right now.

Why are they holding back?

Among that 140, there's gotta

be one or a combination thereof

that can, that can slow down this

virus or halt it in its tracks.

You're just simply carrying

the virus, is that correct?

I have a few very minor symptoms and

my immune system is virtually shot.

What would you like to take?

I would like to be able to take

dextran sulfate... legally.

How would that hurt you?

...on the underground

right now.

Well, why not, Mr. Braden?

Because... well, I don't know

anything about dextran sulfate.

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