Confidential AIDS Test Log Missing in Capital

A confidential log of people who underwent AIDS testing apparently was taken from a city health clinic, officials said Wednesday.

The book, which reportedly contains the names of 500 people tested for exposure to the AIDS virus, has been missing since last Friday, leading to fears that it could be used for blackmail.

The officials drew a tight net around information about the log book, saying that disclosing information about its contents is a federal offense and insisting that anyone attempting to use the list would be prosecuted.

“Our goal right now is to retrieve the book and prevent anything like this from ever happening again,” Public Health Commissioner Dr. Reed Tuckson said.

City Tightens Security

Although security at the city Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services Administration has been tightened, Tuckson said reports of the apparent lapse will almost certainly frighten people away from getting tested for acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Tuckson would not identify the contents of the book, but two sources close to the investigation who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that it contains the names of people who have had tests for the AIDS virus performed through the clinic.

The Washington Times quoted unnamed sources as saying the list included 500 names.

“We don’t know what’s happened to this book,” said Steve Smith, chairman of the private Metropolitan Washington Committee on AIDS Issues. “We can only hope it hasn’t fallen into the hands of someone who will want to harass or intimidate the people whose names are included.”

Might Be Misplaced

Police and health officials said they have not even been able to confirm that the book was stolen, saying there is still the chance it was misplaced or thrown out.

Smith said the disappearance has raised fears among those who have used the clinic and now “are imagining the variety of consequences.”

“Inevitably, blackmail is a theoretical possibility,” city Human Services Department spokesman Charles Seigel said. “But that’s purely theoretical, because it’s got information that could be used for blackmail.”

But James Graham, director of the private Whitman-Walker clinic, which conducts nearly all of the city’s AIDS testing, said the facility handles mostly alcohol and drug abuse patients on public assistance, and it is not likely that prominent people subject to blackmail would be treated there.

AIDS is a contagious, fatal disease that attacks the body’s immune system, rendering it incapable of resisting other diseases and infections. No cure has been found. The chief victims have been homosexual men and intravenous drug users.