AIDS Activists Protest Drug Price at N.Y. Exchange
Five activists chained themselves to a banister at the New York Stock Exchange today to protest the high cost of AZT, a drug used to treat AIDS.
Three of the five, members of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, were described as having the acquired immune deficiency syndrome or an AIDS-related complex.
According to Sharon Gamsin, vice president for media relations at the exchange, the incident occurred at the start of trading, 9:30 a.m.
The five, dressed as floor traders and wearing fake brokerage firm IDs, chained themselves to a banister of a balcony overlooking the exchange floor.
There, they unfurled a banner that read “SELL WELLCOME”--a reference to Burroughs Wellcome, manufacturer of AZT--and set off miniature fog horns.
Gamsin said the five were removed by guards and turned over to police. “We will file charges against them,” she said.
She noted that Burroughs Wellcome is traded over the counter, not on the New York Stock Exchange.
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