An Outrage for Hepatitis C Patients like us

[Guest guest]

Dear FAIR Foundation members with Hepatitis C as your focus disease, as a

hepatitis C patient I'm outraged and I think you will be too when you learn of

the following facts.

In my research of the NIH allocations, I unearthed that the NIH is spending

millions of hepatitis C (HCV) bio-medical research dollars on HIV/AIDS, much of

it with no purpose for 4-5 million HCV patients and many millions for research

that benefits a few hundred thousand HIV/HCV co-infected patients—an expense

that should not be taken from the mono-infected HCV patient's research budget—we

don't have HIV! As you know, the HCV NIH budget is only $93 million compared to

the $2.9 billion HIV/AIDS budget and the HIV/AIDS funding will be increased by

approximately $740 million to around $3.6 billion when the $7.4 billion of

stimulus funds destined for the NIH Institutes are allocated pro-rata as called

for in the bill.

It will be hard to believe, but here are some of the research projects funded by

hepatitis C dollars and going to only HIV research:

Noncarbohydrate Approaches to AntiAIDS Nuleosides

Nutritional Status In HIV Hispanic Drug Abusers

The Logics for HIV Risk Among Homeless Heroin Injectors

Risk Factors for HIV-1 infection Among Young Thai Men

Neurobehavioral Effects of HIV & Host Genetics in China

Reducing HIV Risk Among Methamphetamine IDUs Through Peer Education

Couples-Based HIV/STI Prevention for Injecting Drug Users in Kazakhstan

Drug Interactions in Substance Abusers with HIV Infection

And HIV/HCV co-infection studies that a mono-infected HCV patient has no need

for:

Dozens upon dozens. Here is a sample:

Epidemiology of HIV and Hepatitis C Among Injecting Drug Users in Tijuana

STRATHDEE, STEFFANIE

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN DIEGO

CA

$706,524

Actually, she has two like this totally almost $800,000.

I have posted all of the misappropriated funding projects here:

http://fairfoundation.org/NIH_misappropriated_funds.pdf

Also, of great ethical concern is that the Director of the NIAID, which is

charged with oversight of HIV And HCV funding, Fauci, MD, who is this

country's top HIV researcher and who oversees the NIAID budget, has taken

$181,599 from the HCV budget for his personal study of HIV/HCV co-infection,

this when $2.9 billion is available from the HIV budget. I personally think his

taking HCV funds for his study is unethical. On the NIH site, his research

project and cost are listed last under HCV funding, perhaps hoping no one would

go down the list that far and find it. Dr. Fauci's striking bias for HIV is

inappropriate for a Director of the NIAID whose is allegedly representing HCV

and other infectious diseases.

Because FAIR represents all non-AIDS illnesses, and because I want this effort

to be directly for hepatitis patients like you and me, I have joined with a

partnership of HCV advocates and HCV advocate organizations. All partners in

this group are quite upset about this, and we are each releasing the attached

press release in which I have agreed to be the contact person for the media. We

named our group HepCop for " Hepatitis C Research Oversight Partnership. "

I am hopeful that your outrage will match mine and that you engage in strong

advocacy at this time in the following ways:

· JOIN HepCop. Sign the petition that will be sent to the Office of

Government Ethics and Congressional Appropriations Committees at HepCop using

this web site http://www.hcvets.com/NIH/PressRelease/0904.asp

· Forward this letter with the attached Press Release to every HCV

person/family you know and post it in every HCV chat room, online group, etc.

· Also send it to your local newspaper and to other newspapers like the LA

Time s, Wall Street Journal, etc.

· Write to the Acting NIH Director with a Cc to Fauci, MD. I

sincerely hope you voice your strong objections to the misappropriated funds in

your letter, but also the questionable ethics of Dr. Fauci taking from the

paltry $93 million HCV budget for his HIV/HCV study when $2.9 billion is

available to draw from in the HIV budget.

Please write to them at

Raynard S. Kington, M.D., Ph.D.

Acting Director: National Institutes of Health

Rockville Pike, Bethesda , MD

Bldg 1, Room 328

1 Center Drive

Bethesda, MD 20892

and Cc it to

Fauci, MD, Director, NIAID

Mail Stop Code 2520, Building 31, Room 7A03

31 Center Drive

Bethesda, MD 20892

Thank you for your advocacy and for helping us obtain fair and equitable funding

for HCV!

Dr. Darling, DDS

President and CEO: The FAIR Foundation, a national organization with thousands

of members and supporters whose goal is

to reverse inequities in NIH research funding and to institute new

organ-donor policies to reverse America 's organ-donor crisis

Founder: The FAIR Foundation Liver Disease & Transplant Support Group

Author: Coma Life, an autobiographical memoir of life " within " coma and survival

over hepatitis C induced liver cancer, coma, 3

liver transplants, heart attack, diabetes & Muscular Dystrophy (Myasthenia

Gravis)

Address: 78629 Bougainvillea Drive , Palm Desert , CA 92211 Ph: 760-200-2766