Red Cross Opposes AIDS Measure, Fears Prop. 64 Could Endanger Blood Supply

The American Red Cross announced Friday that it opposes Proposition 64, the AIDS initiative that is sponsored by backers of Lyndon H. LaRouche and that has been widely criticized by medical experts and public officials.

In an unusual step, the executive management committee of the Red Cross voted in Washington on Monday to oppose the measure out of fear that it could endanger the blood supply and public health, Ralph Wright, director of public relations, said in Los Angeles.

“California State Proposition 64 does not appear to be based upon sound medical or scientific evidence, nor does it appear to have been developed in consultation with recognized health officials,” a Red Cross statement released Friday said.

Proposition 64 would classify acquired immune deficiency syndrome and the condition of carrying antibodies to the AIDS virus as communicable diseases and would seek to compel health officials to test suspected carriers, collect their names and remove them from schools and certain jobs. It has been opposed by the California Medical Assn., state Health Director Kenneth Kizer and the state’s county health officers.

Wright said the Red Cross acted at the urging of the medical community, which contends that the measure would harm efforts to control AIDS and devastate the nation’s system of stockpiling donated blood.

The proponents, who are affiliated with LaRouche, the Virginia-based extremist presidential candidate, say the initiative is needed to force medical authorities to apply standard public health measures to AIDS. They contend that the medical establishment is ignoring evidence about how AIDS is spread because of political considerations.

Meanwhile, a former employee of the federal Centers for Disease Control said this week that he wants his name removed from the official ballot arguments supporting Proposition 64.

Gus S. Sermos authorized use of his name, but he said his views were distorted by the initiative’s backers. He does not support LaRouche’s beliefs, Sermos said.

Sermos is listed in the state voter pamphlet as a proponent of the measure. It describes him as a “former CDC public health adviser with the AIDS program in Florida.” Sermos worked for the Centers for Disease Control tallying cases of AIDS in Florida until he was fired last June. He has appealed the dismissal.

“I’m not an expert,” Sermos said this week. “I’ve merely reported a lot of AIDS cases for 2 1/2 years in Florida. . . . I’m not an expert at all, merely a witness.”

Sermos said he was contacted by telephone in July by a representative of the Prevent AIDS Now Initiative Committee, the Los Angeles group that sponsored the initiative on California’s Nov. 4 ballot. The committee’s president is West Coast coordinator of the National Democratic Policy Committee, the political organization begun by LaRouche.

Two others who signed the ballot argument, Dr. John Grauerholz, a Leesburg, Va., physician affiliated with LaRouche, and Dr. Nancy Mullan, a Burbank child psychiatrist, confirmed their support of the measure.

Despite Sermos’ desire, a spokesman for Secretary of State March Fong Eu said it is too late to remove his name because the ballot pamphlets have been printed.