Re:For the First Time in History Man Cured of HIV
by bmelton on Wednesday December 15, 2010 @10:55AM
(#2008514)
I have a friend of mine who moved away, so I now mostly keep in touch via his blog. I've known him since 1995, and he's been HIV positive since I've known him.
That said, within the past few years he was admitted to a similar clinical trial that has all but eradicated the presence of HIV in his system. For at least the past 6 months (it's under very close watch) there has been absolutely no detectable traces of HIV in his blood.
This is far outside my general sphere of knowledge, so I'm apt to speak unintelligently on the subject if I go into deeper detail, but it goes without saying that we're ecstatic for him, his family, and everybody else in the world plagued with the virus.
My biggest concern is the cost of the treatment. He's in trial, so it costs him effectively nothing, but as the treatment is perfected and rolled out to the masses, I have very little doubt that this will be affordable to only those with the very best insurance or those with very fat pockets.
I'll reserve judgement on the morality of that, as I do believe the presence of an expensive cure is infinitely better than the absence of a cure, but I'm just hopeful that they can manage a way to ensure that it does in fact work as they believe, and refine the process to such a degree that it becomes affordable.
That said, within the past few years he was admitted to a similar clinical trial that has all but eradicated the presence of HIV in his system. For at least the past 6 months (it's under very close watch) there has been absolutely no detectable traces of HIV in his blood.
This is far outside my general sphere of knowledge, so I'm apt to speak unintelligently on the subject if I go into deeper detail, but it goes without saying that we're ecstatic for him, his family, and everybody else in the world plagued with the virus.
My biggest concern is the cost of the treatment. He's in trial, so it costs him effectively nothing, but as the treatment is perfected and rolled out to the masses, I have very little doubt that this will be affordable to only those with the very best insurance or those with very fat pockets.
I'll reserve judgement on the morality of that, as I do believe the presence of an expensive cure is infinitely better than the absence of a cure, but I'm just hopeful that they can manage a way to ensure that it does in fact work as they believe, and refine the process to such a degree that it becomes affordable.