Rob Frydlewicz: AZT Gains FDA Approval, March 20, 1987

Six years after AIDS began ravaging the gay male population a glimmer of hope arrived when the FDA approved the use of AZT (marketed as Retrovir) on March 20, 1987. However, since many who had AIDS already had severely compromised immunne systems, the prescribed dosage was difficult for their bodies to handle. Side effects could be quite unpleasant & debillitating.

In these early years of the plague those infected with the AIDS virus were more or less voluntary guinea pigs when it came to experimental treatments. However, they willingly, and heroically, participated because they were desperate for any treatment that might extend their lives. For example, a dear friend of mine at one point was getting injections of pulverized shark bone.

Because of stories circulating about AZT's early toxicity, many patients were reluctant to take it. Eventually its strength was reduced and the prescribed frequency reduced drastically, but doctors still had to dispel the old stories.

Now that there was something on the market the number of gay men getting tested for HIV increased. And a few years later AZT's effectiveness was enhanced when it began to be prescribed in combination with other anti-viral drugs that came on the market.

Another treatment breakthrough occurred in the early 1990's when a new generation of drugs - known as protease inhibitors - were introduced. They helped transform HIV into more of a chronic condition for many. As a result, AIDS deaths began declining significantly in the mid-1990's. <comments />