AIDS drug waiting list is feared

Monday, March 28, 2005 | 11:12 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- If additional money is not allocated for HIV and AIDS patients, their names will have to go onto a waiting list for medication, a legislative committee was told.

Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani, D-Las Vegas, said, "If we create a waiting list, it will mean a death sentence for these individuals."

Alex Haartz, administrator of the state Health Division, had been asked by the committee to determine if Gov. Kenny Guinn's recommendations would enable all AIDS patients who receive medicine from the state to receive their prescriptions.

As of March 1, 852 HIV or AIDS patients were in the state health programs, and initial projections were that the total would rise by 29 in the next biennium. But the rate is growing faster than anticipated. There could be 48 on the waiting list in next fiscal year and 131 on the list in the 2007 fiscal year without additional money, officials said.

The division needs an additional $1.8 million over the next two years to make sure there is no waiting list to get drugs. Guinn has allocated $1.3 million per year in state money and the division said it is in line for a $5 million federal grant.

The average cost per month per individual is $837 now.

Dr. Jerry Cade, director of the wellness program at University Medical Center in Las Vegas, told the committee that until now, every AIDS patient has received the necessary medication.

"There's been no waiting list but that will change this year unless we get increased funding," Cade said.

Assemblyman David Parks, D-Las Vegas, told the committee he knows some people who were near death but after getting on medication are now leading healthy lives.

He said the state must avoid putting these patients on waiting lists. Assemblywoman Sheila Leslie, D-Reno, agreed. "We cannot have a waiting list," she said.

Clark County, Cade said, has not had a pediatric case of HIV/AIDS in eight years. He said the health district programs get the mothers on medication and prenatal care.