Overview

In this extraordinary history, James Driscoll reveals the untold story of how AIDS activists, by thwarting bureaucratic plans imposed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), both saved HIV patients and rescued the FDA itself from a self-inflicted public health catastrophe. By 1996, accelerated approval of AIDS drug cocktails transformed AIDS from a death sentence to a manageable disease. That approval, however, came only after years of struggle pitting AIDS activists against the hidebound culture of the Food and Drug Administration, which wanted to run lengthy efficacy trials required for full approval and possibly delay the drugs at a cost of tens of thousands of lives. Driscoll's courageous efforts, which are an important personal part of the story, navigated conflicts among AIDS activist groups as they struggled with both major American political parties to be heard and respected. He examines the effect of AIDS activism on the LGBT community, its views of itself, and its place in modern American society. Additional materials analyze FDA mistakes, drug pricing, and other contemporary challenges for the LGBTs community.

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9781680531428

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In the 1990s James Driscoll, Ph.D., led the AIDS movement for FDA reform. He is author of scores of articles on a wide range of subjects and four previous books, most recently Shakespeare and Jung: The God in Time and Shakespeare's Identities. As an activist for AIDS prevention and gay rights, he has distinguished himself with trenchant criticisms of an outmoded, bureaucratized FDA and of political opportunism masquerading as religious conviction.

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