Protesters Say Reagan Commission Lacks Expertise : Critics Assail AIDS Panel at First Session

President Reagan’s national commission on AIDS was greeted at its first meeting Wednesday by charges of gay activists, minority leaders and health care professionals that its members have little or no expertise and in some cases hold militant right-wing views.

During a frequently contentious session, which was picketed by more than 80 demonstrators, critics attacked the panel for not having a member who had the deadly disease and dismissed it as an “irrelevant” group whose eventual findings could not be taken seriously.

“This commission currently does not engender great trust,” said Stephen Beck, director of the National Assn. of Persons with AIDS. “I don’t see how you can hope to understand this disease fully . . . . You have to reach out beyond yourselves, into the world, where this plague is taking such a terrible toll.”

Members Irritated

Commission members, clearly irritated by the charges, said that they are determined to make intelligent recommendations on national AIDS policy before disbanding next year, as Reagan has directed. Dr. W. Eugene Mayberry, chairman of the 14-member panel, pleaded with critics to let the commission do its work and to forgo noisy protests--at least for now.

“Those of you who don’t like us too much, please give us a try,” he said, as the seven-hour meeting drew to a close. “Who knows, you may like us.”

The commission came under fire immediately after its members were announced two months ago. Critics charged that several appointees, including Cardinal John J. O’Connor, Roman Catholic archbishop of New York, had allegedly made disparaging comments about homosexuals or other persons with the disease, which has killed more than 22,000 people in this country.

In the last few weeks, Mayberry, an endocrinologist and chief executive officer of the Mayo Foundation in Rochester, Minn., has sought to dampen such criticism and focus more attention on the commission’s work. The group includes members with “significant” experience in the fields of research, medical care and its costs, and public health, he noted Wednesday.

Due in a Year

When it was formed, Reagan charged the panel--known officially as the Presidential Commission on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Epidemic--with making recommendations within a year about AIDS-related research, disease prevention campaigns and programs to care for patients. The task will be “formidable,” Mayberry said, “and to succeed we need the cooperation, not the antagonism of the public.”

But that goal may prove elusive, if Wednesday’s meeting is any indication.

During a heated question and answer session, for example, several audience members criticized panel member Theresa L. Crenshaw, a San Diego, Calif., sex therapist, for allegedly making statements that AIDS can be spread by mosquito bites and from toilet seats, and that children with the deadly disease should be kept out of school.

Crenshaw denied making the remark about toilet seats but said that “the jury is still out” on whether casual contact can spread the virus--a finding disputed by most researchers. She added that it may be necessary to keep AIDS patients out of school “because we can’t keep them in a bubble.”

Panelist Attacked

Other audience members attacked panelist Cory Servass, editor and publisher of the Saturday Evening Post and medical director of the Foundation for Preventative Medicine, for writing an article saying that she had worn gloves while treating children with AIDS during a visit to Ethiopia.

“How can I possibly trust the findings of this commission, when you (Servass) are so misinformed that you think you can get AIDS by touching skinny black kids in Africa?” said Michael Petrellis, an AIDS patient and New York journalist.

Servass responded that she had a cut on her finger during the visit and has been tested for AIDS several times, adding: “I don’t care what you say, I’m not naive about this.”

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome is caused by a virus that destroys the immune system, leaving the individual powerless against other rare infections and cancers. It is commonly transmitted through sexual intercourse, the sharing of unsterilized hypodermic needles and from woman to fetus during pregnancy.