The Region : 2 Doctors Cleared for AIDS Experiment

Two Los Angeles physicians have obtained U.S. Food and Drug Administration permission to conduct human experiments to see if two experimental drugs used in combination can both suppress the AIDS virus and stimulate the immune system to ward off infections. Michael J. Scolaro and Peter Kennedy said the privately funded trials, involving 30 AIDS patients, will begin today at St. Vincent Medical Center. The two drugs are ribavirin, an antiviral compound that recently was found to stave off the disease in people who are just beginning to develop signs of AIDS, and TP5, an immune system stimulator. Although such studies usually are done at universities by full-time faculty members, Scolaro and Kennedy, who are in private practice, said they have been frustrated at not being able to treat their acquired immune deficiency syndrome patients with experimental drugs that show promise.