111 Arrested During Protest Against AIDS Drug Delays
An estimated 500 people protesting government delays in approving AIDS drugs swarmed Wall Street today, blocking rush-hour traffic and telling harried commuters, “We’re fighting for your lives too.” A total of 111 demonstrators were arrested.
Protesters stretched a scarlet ribbon across Broadway near Wall Street chanting, “We’re dying of red tape.”
The demonstrators railed against what they called price gouging of AIDS drugs by pharmaceutical companies and demanded faster government approval of AIDS treatments and closer coordination of public and private efforts to combat the disease.
“Less money is being spent on a cure than on trying to keep the disease from entering the general population,” said Ron Goldberg, one of the organizers of the protest.
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