Store
ACT UP has released the following statement:
A Gay man was initially denied meds that protect against HIV.
Mt. Sinai Hospital refused crucial emergency treatment.
How many more will be denied?
Protest this outrage!
Wed. July 17, Noon, Madison Ave. & 100th St. – Mt. Sinai
On Friday, July 5, a gay man who feared he’d just been exposed to HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, went for treatment to the Emergency Room at Manhattan's Mt. Sinai Hospital. He needed PEP (Post Exposure Prophylaxis), a treatment shown to be very good at stopping the virus, if treatment starts quickly. And Mt. Sinai's Emergency Department has PEP.
Despite this -- with the clock ticking -- Mt. Sinai not only REFUSED him treatment but denied that such a thing existed! How could this happen at a prominent teaching hospital in a major medical center?
ACT UP got the call from the man who feared he'd been infected, made sure he got to a hospital quickly, and heard from him about how he was denied treatment at Mt. Sinai. The patient got the medications after ACT UP intervened. ACT UP is keeping track of these incidents and holding hospitals and government health officials accountable.
Mt. Sinai is not alone. There are several reports of delays or refusals
by other NYC health care providers in getting PEP to those who need it.
The NYC Department of Health's Bureau of HIV AIDS is doing a lousy job
of getting the word out about this important tool of HIV prevention.
Time to wake them up! The New York City Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene recently cut funds for providing this service to the uninsured!
Demand Mt. Sinai do its job!
Protest Wed. July 17 at Mt. Sinai Hospital
Madison Ave between 100th and 101st St. at Noon.
Demand that all emergency health providers meet their obligations and provide PEP on demand!!
Demand that the city and state Departments of Health fund and promote this emergency preventive, aggressively!
ACT UP is watching.
With
new HIV infections increasing at the fastest rate in over 15 years,
it’s time for more AIDS activism -- check out ACT UP’s new F*ck Smarter
toolkit online at: http://actupny.com/actions/files/SmarterSex-BW-English.pdf
If YOU are ever exposed to HIV, remember PEP (Post Exposure Prophylaxis, the standard medical HIV treatment for needle sticks, broken condoms, etc.)
About ACT UP: Founded in 1987, ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power), is a diverse, non-partisan group of individuals united in anger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis. ACT UP meets every Monday night in New York City at the LGBT Community Center, 208 West 13th Street off 7th Ave.
ACT UP www.actupny.com