AZT, an AIDS Drug, to Be Available Free to Qualified Patients

The AIDS treatment drug AZT, which can cost up to $800 a month, will be provided free to those who can’t afford it, Orange County’s health officer said Friday.

The county received $301,702 in federal money passed on by the state as part of a nine-month pilot program statewide to provide AZT to people with prescriptions for the drug but without resources to pay for it, Dr. L. Rex Ehling said.

The money will be enough to provide free AZT for 40 to 50 people, health officials said.

The Orange County Health Care Agency says that 602 people in the county have been diagnosed as having AIDS since 1980, and 359 of them have died.

Not Considered a Cure

AZT, or azidothymidine, is not considered a cure for AIDS, but it has been effective in prolonging the lives of many patients with a deadly form of pneumonia or with AIDS-related complex.

Under state regulations, anyone earning more than double the federal poverty level will be excluded from the program, Ehling said, meaning a single person can make a maximum of $11,000 annually.

Ehling said, “We haven’t come up with any specific numbers” on how many people in the county might be eligible to receive the drug without charge. The cost of AZT, which is produced by one drug maker, Burroughs Wellcome Co., was reduced in December by 20% and now costs about $640 to $800 monthly.

“Needless to say, we are thrilled” by the county’s announcement, said Matthew Hamlin, case manager of the AIDS Services Foundation, which is based in Costa Mesa. “It is going to enable a lot of people who need AZT to get it and not wait for benefits to come through.”

Hamlin said some people who have AIDS-related complex, or who have tested positive for the AIDS virus but have not contracted the disease, also have prescriptions for AZT.

The state Medi-Cal program already pays for the drug, and people receiving Medi-Cal benefits are not eligible under the new pilot program, Ehling said, although those with pending applications for Medi-Cal may be eligible.

People with prepaid health plans who pay some of the cost of their prescriptions may also be eligible, he said.

The AIDS virus is spread in an exchange of blood or bodily fluids, either through intimate sexual contact, shared hypodermic needles or from a mother to her unborn child, according to federal health officials. Homosexual men have been the main victims in the United States.

Ehling said the federal government has given no indication if the program will be continued beyond the end of the current fiscal year, Sept. 30.

“We’ll just have to wait and see what they do,” he said.

Ehling said the county Health Care Agency will start interviewing applicants for the program Monday, checking tax returns or other income records or verifications of unemployment, in addition to the prescriptions.

He said the prescriptions will be good for one month, requiring those on the program to return monthly and declare that there has been no change in their income status.

Ehling said elibility interview appointments can be scheduled by calling (714) 834-8406. He said information about the new program and eligibility guidelines would be available at (714) 834-3802.