The OraQuick Advance HIV rapid home testing kit is producing a surprising number
of false-positive results, worrying health officials in New York and San Francisco.
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Friday, December 16, 2005
NEW YORK —-A rapid test that the Food & Drug Administration will consider
approving for sale and use at home produces too many false-positive results,
health officials in New York and San Francisco reported, according to the New
York Times. The OraQuick Advance HIV test uses a mouth swab instead of a blood
sample, making health leaders hopeful that more people will someday use such
a test to determine their HIV status. Health leaders emphasized that the test
should not be abandoned and is still a valuable tool to fight AIDS. Users should
be made aware that a positive result from OraQuick should be confirmed by another,
more reliable type of test. Dr. Susan Blank, an assistant health commissioner
in New York, said city clinics performed up to 3,700 tests using the method,
and initially had about five false positives each month, a rate officials expected.
But that number rose to 30 in November, sparking concern. City labs have reviewed
procedures to be sure they use the test kits correctly, she added. “I
think we need to be careful that we don’t throw out the baby with the
bath water,” Blank told the Times.
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — An appellate panel ruled Wednesday that New Jersey’s
anti-discrimination law applies to children victimized by bias-based bullying,
saying schools can be held liable for student-on-student harassment. The ruling
upheld a $50,000 award to a Toms River boy who endured anti-gay taunts from
classmates despite the school district’s punishment of some of those responsible.
But it struck down a $10,000 award the state Division on Civil Rights had ordered
the school district to pay his mother. The ruling was applauded by the American
Civil Liberties Union, which said children have a right to a harassment-free
school. “Today’s decision ensures that children receive the same
protections in their schools that their parents receive in the workplace,’’
said Deborah Jacobs, executive director of the ACLU-New Jersey. “Children
are entitled to a safe schoolyard free from discrimination and harassment just
like adults expect in the workplace.’’ But the school district’s
lawyer said children and schools cannot be held to the same standards as workplaces
and employers, and said the district would appeal the ruling. The case, which
dates to 1999, involved a student identified only as L.W., who was perceived
to be homosexual and harassed and assaulted by classmates beginning when he
was in the fourth grade. The harassment got so bad, the boy at one point refused
to go to school the following year, although he finally did, according to the
Appellate Division’s opinion. “You’re a dancer, you’re
gay, you’re a faggot, you don’t belong in our school, get out,’’
read a note inserted into his school locker, according to the opinion, which
said the boy was slapped, punched and struck with a neck-chain by fellow students
at various times.
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.-—-Rejecting the defendant’s claim of self-defense,
a jury last week convicted a Yonkers woman of first-degree manslaughter after
she fatally shot her longtime partner last Christmas Eve. Helen Chumbley admitted
killing Barbara Shollar during an argument on Dec. 24, 2004, but alleged that
she feared for her life and was a victim of battered women’s syndrome.
Chumbley alleged that she suffered physical and mental abuse for years from
Shollar. She said Shollar lunged at her the night of the shooting, and she thought
Shollar was going to force her to kill herself after the victim told Chumbley
to get their gun. The jury acquitted Chumbley of second-degree murder, a charge
that alleged she intended to kill Shollar. But with the conviction of first-degree
manslaughter, Chumbley faces 5 to 25 years in prison.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP)-—-William Paterson University has rescinded a reprimand
to an employee who used an e-mail to describe gays as “perversions.”
Ruling on a grievance brought by his union, a university hearing officer found
no evidence to support the charge that Roy “Jihad” Daniel had violated
New Jersey’s regulations governing harassment when he replied to a professor
who had sent out an e-mail inviting people to watch a film about a lesbian relationship.
“They should have never done this in the first place,” Daniel said
last week. “I thought it was ludicrous from the beginning. I had no ill
intent,” he said. The 63-year-old computer worker and part-time student
replied on March 8 to a mass e-mailing from professor Arlene Holpp Scala, saying
he did not wish to receive any further e-mails “about Connie and Sally,
and Adam and Steve. These are perversions.”
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