Daniel Hay Lewis, charged by the Broward Sheriff’s Office with criminal transmission of HIV despite the fact that he does not have the virus, is no longer in jail.
Daniel Hay Lewis was charged with the criminal transmission of HIV because he tried to bite a Broward Sheriff’s deputy while being arrested early last week. LGBT and health advocates are now speaking out about the case, saying the charges are inappropriate and an example of “prosecutorial hysteria.”
Waiting lists have continued to grow for programs that help supply life-saving drugs to HIV/AIDS patients who are uninsured and unable to afford their medications.
This month 8,100 people were on waiting lists for AIDS Drug Assistance Programs in 13 states, an increase of more than 2,500 since January. Nearly half of those patients live in Florida.
HIV/AIDS patient advocates said this week in public debates in Miami and Tampa that they oppose recently proposed cuts to eligibility to the state’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program.
Responding to a federal report obtained by The Florida Independent that alleges that Florida has mismanaged funds for a program meant to supply HIV/AIDS medications to low-income citizens, Michael Rajner — legislative director of the Florida GLBT Democratic Caucus — says the state has downplayed how neglect has played an important part in its AIDS Drug Assistance Program’s ongoing funding crisis.
The Florida Department of Health on Monday will hold the first of several public debates to decide whether to reduce eligibility to Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program (aka ADAP) from 400 percent of the federal poverty level to 200 percent.
In other words: A person who earns $30,000 a year would not qualify for ADAP. HIV/AIDS drugs cost between $10,000 and $20,000 a year.
The number of Florida HIV/AIDS patients on a waiting list to get their medications through the taxpayer-funded AIDS Drug Assistance Program (aka ADAP) continues to grow.
An amendment supported by Democratic U.S. Rep. Alcee Hastings, D-Fort Lauderdale, to increase funding for AIDS Drug Assistance Programs was passed last Friday as part of the continuing resolution for federal spending.
Carl Schmid, deputy executive director of The…
If Kenneth Keeton, a Lake Placid man who describes himself as “borderline full-blown AIDS right now,” had to rely on Florida’s AIDS Drug Assistance Program, an underfunded system that provides HIV/AIDS drugs to low-income patients, or the charity of a private pharmaceutical program, he says the consequences would be dire.
“I would probably get sick and die,” he says.
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