Jul 08, 2005   | COMMENTS     

NEW YORK — A team of psychologists in Chicago and Toronto have released a report that indicates that many self-proclaimed bisexual men are in reality gay men who have not fully accepted their sexual orientation, according to a report in the New York Times. Researchers measured genital arousal patterns in men as they were shown a variety of sexual imagery. The research shows that men who claimed to be bisexual tended to be aroused only by one gender, usually other men. “Research on sexual orientation has been based almost entirely on self-reports, and this is one of the few good studies using physiological measures,” said Dr. Lisa Diamond, an associate professor of psychology and gender identity at the University of Utah, who was not involved in the study. The study’s senior author, Dr. J. Michael Bailey of Northwestern University, faced criticism in 2003 from transgender activists for “The Man Who Would Be Queen,” a controversial book about gender identity. Other researchers said Bailey’s study on male bisexuality was an interesting start, but needed to be repeated with a much larger survey group, the Times reported. “The last thing you want,” said Dr. Randall Sell, an assistant professor of clinical socio-medical sciences at Columbia University, “is for some therapists to see this study and start telling bisexual people that they’re wrong, that they’re really on their way to homosexuality.”

Review substantiates concerns at U.S. AIDS research agency
WASHINGTON (AP) — The government’s AIDS research agency “is a troubled organization” and its managers have engaged in unnecessary feuding, sexually explicit language and other inappropriate conduct that hampers its global fight against the disease, an internal review found. The review for the National Institutes of Health director’s office, obtained by the Associated Press, substantiates many of the concerns that whistleblower Dr. Jonathan Fishbein raised about the agency’s AIDS research division and its senior managers. The division suffers from “turf battles and rivalries between physicians and Ph.D. scientists” and the situation has been “rife for too long,” the report concluded. Nonetheless, the NIH formally fired Fishbein last week, over the objections of several members of Congress. The top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee are protesting, saying the firing was an example of whistleblower punishment.

Pfizer abandons experimental HIV therapy drug
NEW YORK (AP) — Pfizer Inc. said last week that it is abandoning development of two experimental drugs after they posted poor trial results: an HIV therapy that was in advanced studies and a treatment for a smoking-related lung disease that the company was developing with Germany’s Altana AG. “These are clearly important drugs in their own right, but relative to Pfizer’s overall size it is not of significant consequence to their long-term earnings potential,” said Robert Hazlett, an analyst at Suntrust Robinson Humphrey. Hazlett said he expects Pfizer’s recent agreement to buy Vicuron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., to largely offset any investor concerns about the loss of the two potential drugs. Pfizer said it dropped the capravirine HIV drug because two studies failed to show that it significantly helped patients. Specifically, the drug did not boost the effectiveness of standard triple-drug HIV therapies in patients who had failed to respond to available antiretroviral therapies, the New York-based drug maker said.

Research finds half of Israeli dentists won’t treat AIDS patients
JERUSALEM — A new study finds that 50 percent of dentists in Israel will not treat patients with HIV or AIDS, the Jerusalem Post reported. Presented at the Knesset Labor, Social Affairs and Health Committee last week, the research was conducted by six dentists as part of their work to achieve a master’s degree in public administration. They included 65 dentists in the study, and half said they would not treat HIV/AIDS patients, the Post reported, although younger dentists were more willing than older dentists to take such clients. Dr. Shlomo Zusman, Health Ministry dental services chief, said any doctor who refuses to treat a patient for such reasons could be prosecuted for violating law, the law. Health officials acknowledged, however, that few if any complaints from HIV/AIDS patients against dentists who would not treat them have been received, likely because patients want to keep their medical conditions private, the Post reported.