Buy the Bag is a Big Success and You’re the First to Get the Inside Scoop on 2012 Event Dates!

Recently featured in the New York Times Style Section, HW’s Buy the Bag is a big success! Haven’t checked us out yet? We are happy to announce the buzzed about all-you-can-stuff shopping sales event will continue after February. Housing Works wishes all of our subscribers a very Happy New Year with this inside exclusive on unpublished upcoming sales dates. So print me out and mark your calendars—advance Power Hour tickets go on sale at NOON the Monday prior to each sale.

March 3, 10, 17th, 24th, 31st
April 7th and 14th

Posted on January 19, 2012 at 4:10 pm

Underground Market for HIV Meds: The New “War on Drugs?”

Could the underground sales of HIV medications could become a new extension of the “War on Drugs?”

This week, three different news stories ran in NYC press about the underground market of HIV drugs being sold, mostly to reach shores outside of the US where the demand is even greater.

City Limits ran a feature story on the issue, explaining that a new bill is being considered this session in Albany, that would increase the penalty for selling prescription drugs in the underground market. They write that if the bill becomes law, “first degree ‘criminal diversion of prescription medications and prescriptions’ moves from a C felony (with likely maximum jail time of five to 15 years) to a B felony, …

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Posted on January 18, 2012 at 6:04 pm

Big PhRMA Backs SOPA Bill

What does an internet piracy bill have to do with drug companies? The controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) was endorsed by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), the chief “Big Pharma” lobbyist representing 47 pharmaceutical companies, many of whom produce AIDS drugs.

Though PhRMA has released no official statement on their rationale for supporting the bill, free speech and health care advocates are speculating that drug companies are concerned about competition from online drug retailers, particularly in Canada and India that are promising drugs for American citizens at much lower costs than what can be purchased in the US. They are also likely to argue they’re protecting the safety of the public by preventing people for paying for …

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Posted on January 18, 2012 at 2:20 pm

New Study Details Southern US HIV Epidemic

Just days before the South Carolina Republican Primary (and weeks after Republican Presidential candidates threw people with HIV under the bus), the Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative released a report on the AIDS epidemic in the Southern States.

• 8 out of 10 states with the highest rates of new HIV infections are in the targeted Southern states.
• 35% of new HIV infections were in the targeted states, which contain only 22% of the US population.
• Six of the 10 states with the highest HIV prevalence rates are targeted Southern states.
• The Southern states account for 8 of the 10 states with the highest HIV death rates (deaths per 100,000 population). All nine targeted Southern states …

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  Posted on January 18, 2012 at 11:16 am

• January at Housing Works Bookstore Cafe: Occupy 2012, Broadway, Poetry, Longreads with New York Mag

  Someday, it will snow, and it will feel like winter but you won’t hibernate, however tempting it is to hide out until spring, because there’s so much great stuff happening at the bookstore this month. We just added The State of the Occupation Address, a discussion of what Occupy has done and where it will go in 2012. Also this month: a night of music and poetry with Well&Often Press, an evening behind the Broadway curtain with actors Wicked green to living legend; plus we’re giving you a peek at our February lineup, including a new monthly event, Adult Education, and Valentine’s Day week awesomeness. Don’t forget Storytime and Singalong for Kids, every Wednesday at 11AM, and the Slush Pile, our Friday night happy hour. …

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  Posted on January 17, 2012 at 7:24 pm

• Maryland Senator Seeks to Make HIV Transmission a Felony

  

  The longest serving Maryland State Senator Norman Stone Jr. has introduced a bill that would make HIV transmission a felony charge in the state, according to Think Progress.

  I would like to remind Senator Stone of Shanika Pretlow. Pretlow was a 26 year old Baltimore resident who was murdered by a man she’d had unprotected sex with in 2005. The man said he killed Pretlow because he contracted HIV from her. An autopsy showed she was HIV negative at the time she was murdered.

  Even if she was HIV-positive, she did not deserve murder, and similarly, imprisonment for HIV transmission is not a public health solution. Further stigma and discrimination will only lead to more violence, and …

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  Posted on January 17, 2012 at 5:45 pm

• ADAP Watch: AIDS Drug Wait List Hits 4,717

  

  As of January 12, the wait list to receive lifesaving AIDS medication through the nation’s AIDS Drug Assistance Programs had hit 4,717 people across 12 states.

  The number of people waiting to receive medication through state-run AIDS drug programs has increased more than 5,000 percent since August 2009, according to the National Alliance of State and Territorial AIDS Directors. The federal government has reacted with little urgency, however, allotting just $25 million in additional dollars to the program for FY 2012.

  To help readers keep tabs on the growing ADAP crisis, we are now posting the ADAP Watch—the document that tracks increasing cuts to the program—each week, and including it …

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  Posted on January 17, 2012 at 3:06 pm