Are You Positive?

by Stephen Davis

  ~I was not informed that CD4 cell counts vary greatly from day to day and hour to hour in a normal human being, and that “"variance in CD4 from… non-HIV related longitudinal fluctuations needs to be accounted for in analysis of the prognostic power of CD4 in HIV infection.” I was also not informed that perfectly healthy people can have low CD4 cell counts. Nor was I informed why my doctor had decided that the CD4 cell count in my case would be indicative of anything, much less an indication or marker for AIDS, and the scientific basis for his decision.

  ~I was not informed that the diagnosis of AIDS in the United States can be based strictly on being HIV-Positive and having a CD4 cell count of 200 or below. I was also not informed that this definition of AIDS is not accepted by other countries (Canada, for example), and that by moving to Canada I would no longer have AIDS. Nor did my doctor explain how a disease can change definition when it crosses a national border or provide the scientific basis for that explanation.

  ~I was informed of my HIV-Positive diagnosis after only an HIV ELISA Antibody test without an HIV Western Blot confirmation test, in violation of the CDC’s protocol.

  ~I was also not informed that the Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) drugs that I was prescribed have been known for five years to cause more deaths from their side effects than the deaths recorded from AIDS-related illnesses. Nor was I informed that the newer HAART drugs are worse than the ones prescribed ten years ago.