JONESRA%AQUA.decnet@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (REX A. JONES 857-9563) (01/21/90)
As of Friday, Jan. 19, Woodrow Myers was offered and accepted the post of
New York City Health Commissioner. Myers is currently Indiana State Health
Commissioner. There was a great deal of controversy over the nomination of
Myers to the post, due to his onetime support of quarentine for some AIDS
patients. He seemed to have made his reputation in Indiana by supporting
the right of Ryan White to attend school even though he had AIDS. Myers
came to the Indiana post from San Francisco, where he was one of the first
doctors (apparently) to work with AIDS patients.
Due to the importance of the Commissionership in NYC, it may be worthwhile
to hear what people who know of Myers think about this appointment. What
effect will his appointment have upon the AIDS epidemic (through his
actions-good or bad)? Should any of the high risk groups have any fears
about Dr. Meyers? Will he be the strong commissioner that people in the
media in Indianapolis have portrayed him as being capable of being?
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"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
--Salvor Hardin
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jonesra@silver.ucs.indiana.edu |One of these sigs should work.
JONESRA%AQUA.decnet@silver.ucs.indiana.edu|This is not an official IU
jonesra@iuqua.bitnet |document. This posting does
jonesra@aqua.ucs.indiana.edu |not reflect the views of IU
|unless by coincidence.bowles@lll-crg.llnl.gov (Jeff A. Bowles) (01/22/90)
JONESRA%AQUA.decnet@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (REX A. JONES 857-9563) writes: >As of Friday, Jan. 19, Woodrow Myers was offered and accepted the post of >New York City Health Commissioner. > >Due to the importance of the Commissionership in NYC, it may be worthwhile >to hear what people who know of Myers think about this appointment. What >effect will his appointment have upon the AIDS epidemic (through his >actions-good or bad)? Should any of the high risk groups have any fears >about Dr. Meyers? Will he be the strong commissioner that people in the >media in Indianapolis have portrayed him as being capable of being? Certainly the protests on Thursday and Friday should tell him one thing: that New York City isn't Indiana. The protests were over his statements that quarantine of certain HIV-positive persons might be justified, and that contact tracing/mandatory reporting of HIV carriers to the city health department might be a good idea. When he accepted the position, he stated that "quarantine isn't a viable alternative in New York City." He also said that it was his impressions that contact tracing mechanisms had been started [after a fashion] in NYC and that he wasn't going to change how things were until he had a chance to study it. Former Commissioned Stephen Joseph proposed "mandatory reporting" and contact tracing, and caught hell for it. Myers, it seems, views Josephs proposals as a fait accompli. That sounds like a political move. Unless someone shoots him, he's here, and he'll stay for a while. We have to hold our collective breaths and watch him carefully. And there are much better people to shoot :-) Jeff Bowles New York City
rbraun@spdcc.com (Rich Braun) (01/23/90)
Speaking of AIDS-phobic politicians, does anyone know what ever happened to Sen. Don Childers (D-West Palm Beach) of the Florida legislature? Back in 1985, he proposed a quarantine law for Florida which would have given mandatory testing powers to a whole range of officials, and create special programs to house and educate those who test positive. He stated at the time that he is less worried about lawsuits from AIDS victims and carriers than about being sued by parents upset about exposure of their children to AIDS in the schools. Not far from Childers' legislative district, the house in which three boys with AIDS lived was burned down by hysterical neighbors during that same year. I shudder to think this man could be elected to Congress or some other office some day. -rich