[Letter to Colleague from Anthony Fauci]

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES Public Health Servce
National Institutes of Health
VI(INationai Institute o leg
and Infectious Diseases
Bethesda, Maryland 20892
May 16, 1990
Dear Colleague:
The AIDS Clinical Trials Group is a nationwide network of medical centers
established by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to evaluate
promising therapies against the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and the opportunistic
infections and cancers that characterize AIDS. Clinical trials conducted by the ACTG have
contributed significantly to the understanding and the treatment of HIV disease.
For some time the ACTG has been singled out for intense criticism by the AIDS
Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), an activist organization. We welcome constructive
comments and suggestions from all groups; however, ACT UP has widely circulated
documents containing a number of allegations and inaccurate information about the policies
and accomplishments of the ACTG.
A great deal of information is available from the Institute that addresses these
concerns and other issues. We have prepared the enclosed package of information to
provide you with specific facts about the ACTG as well as the philosophical and scientific
principles undergirding the ACTG's research approach. Enclosed you will find:
1. A list of allegations and demands by ACT UP, with responses by NIAID;
2. ACTG Highliehts, including accomplishments, priorities for future research,
publications, and discussion of issues of special interest;
3. Three documents (a summary and two detailed Backgrounders) on NIAID's
preclinical and clinical research on AIDS-related opportunistic infections.
I hope these materials will be helpful to your understanding of the issues. For
additional information, please call the NIAID Office of Communications at [phone].
Sincerely,
Anthony S. Fauci, M:.
Director
National Institute of Allergy
and Infectious Diseases
Enclosures

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