Koop Says Article Gave Women Bad Advice on AIDS
Surgeon General C. Everett Koop complained today that a Cosmopolitan magazine article on AIDS did women a great disservice by implying they were not at risk of contracting the virus through sexual intercourse.
Testifying before the House subcommittee on health and the environment, Koop said, “A recent article in Cosmopolitan would lead women to believe they were not at risk,” of contracting the disease through normal vaginal intercourse.
“The risk is real,” Koop said, responding to a question from Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Los Angeles). Koop complained the article did “such a disservice” to women by undermining the advice of public health experts.
“Although homosexual and intravenous drug activity are the root by which most cases are transmitted, it is just not true that there is no danger from normal vaginal intercourse,” Koop said.
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