ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 15, 1996 TAG: 9605150065
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
FDA approves at-home HIV test
WASHINGTON - A kit to collect blood at home for HIV testing was approved Tuesday by the Food and Drug Administration.
The kit will enable patients to take their blood sample at home, send it to a laboratory, then receive the results by telephone.
Direct Access Diagnostics of Bridgewater, N.J. developed the test kit and will market it under the name Confide HIV Testing Service.
``We are confident that this new home system can provide accurate results while assuring patient anonymity and appropriate counseling,'' said Dr. David A. Kessler, head of the FDA.
To conduct the test, a person puts a finger-stick blood sample on a test card and mails it in a protective envelope to a laboratory. The person can receive the results a week later by calling a toll-free number. - Associated Press
Dying boy will get his bear-hunt wish
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A terminally ill Minnesota boy will be granted his wish to hunt a Kodiak bear in Alaska despite protests from animal-rights activists, the Make-A-Wish Foundation board of directors decided Monday.
``We may suffer some retribution from those in the animal-rights community, but we feel we have a commitment to this child, and we are going to stick by it,'' said Douglas Elmets, a director of the foundation.
- Associated Press
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