New drugs can come with a price

As persons living with HIV/AIDS and growing older -- we are two of the subjects of the Feb. 5 Times article about growing older with HIV/AIDS -- we wish to make an important point concerning an article by Daniel Costello (“HIV treatment becoming profitable,” Feb. 21).

Pharmaceutical companies have made great inroads in treating HIV/AIDS itself, most significantly with once-a-day dosing. However, there are innumerable side effects of the medications. Aging only exacerbates those.

It is vital that those who may become infected understand that one pill a day will not remain the norm for very long. In fact, we still take just about as many medications a day as we ever did. It’s just that the majority of those medications are for co-conditions and side effects.

HIV/AIDS treatment may be becoming profitable for drug companies, but still remains no picnic for survivors.

Larry Gibson and Dennis Golay

Palm Springs