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Fall 2002

CFIDS News
Keeping you up to date on recent events across the nation and around the world

Ampligen maker loses defamation case
A defamation lawsuit brought by the makers of the potential CFIDS drug Ampligen against a securities trader/short-seller was the subject of a July Philadelphia Inquirer article. Author L. Stuart Ditzen chronicled trader Manuel Asensio’s charges of stock fraud against Hemispherx Biopharma (HEB), as well as his efforts to force down the price of its stock, which led Asensio and HEB to a Philadelphia courtroom in February.

HEB’s lawsuit sought $80 million from Asensio — the amount the company claims that Asensio’s “hostile-adversarial” attack cost the company.

According to the article, Asensio, known for his outrageous behavior, was repeatedly admonished by the judge for violating and disrespecting the rules of the court. Asensio was angered by the judge’s refusal to allow what he considered key evidence supporting his opinion that Ampligen’s inventor, William A. Carter, “is engaged in ‘one of the darkest medical stock scams in modern U.S. capital market history.’”

Despite the chaos Asensio caused in the courtroom, the jury voted 11–1 in Asensio’s favor on Feb. 22. The jury decided that Asensio hadn’t caused any harm. But the beginning of July the judge ordered a new trial, on the grounds that Asensio’s misconduct had gone too far.

Ampligen’s Phase III trial for the treatment of CFS continues. Over the past three years, 13 sites around the country have been involved in the study. Ultimately, 230 CFS subjects will be enrolled in the 64-week protocol, which is probably two years from completion.

Case definition update
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has led an international, multi-disciplinary group of researchers in exploring and recommending interim changes to the CFS case definition, last updated in 1994.

William C. Reeves, MD, lead CDC investigator for CFS, is the first author on a paper that offers clarification of ambiguities found in the ’94 definition and suggests measurement tools for assessing symptom severity and duration. The paper also more clearly identifies permanent and temporary medical and psychiatric exclusions that should be screened for before classifying a case as CFS.

Although the paper is intended to enhance patient selection for and comparability of CFS research studies, it offers recommendations that should be helpful to practicing clinicians when considering a CFS diagnosis. The measurement tools listed can also be useful in documenting functional impairment to support disability claims.

The paper has been submitted to the Annals of Internal Medicine. No publication date is yet available.

Lay speaker to discuss unique CFS, OI treatment
A young Missouri man who suffers from chronic fatigue and orthostatic intolerance (OI) has been asked to present his proposal for a treatment that may be useful against some types of CFIDS and OI at a major research symposium this fall.

D.M. Lindsay, who was forced to leave college prior to graduation because of his illness, is scheduled to speak at the American Autonomic Society’s 13th International Symposium on the Autonomic Nervous System in October. He will discuss his scientific abstract called, “Acute and Chronic Aspects of Dysautonomia Prompt Proposed Novel Pharmacological Treatment.”

Lindsay’s proposed treatment involves a novel combination of two drugs. One is currently used in treating OI. The other, while currently contraindicated, may be of possible benefit to a subset of sufferers, Lindsay says.

Lindsay hopes to find a credentialed collaborator interested in testing his proposed treatment in a clinical setting.