ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 4, 1996 TAG: 9606040067
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
Former 'Feud' host commits suicide
GLENDALE, Calif. - Former ``Family Feud'' host Ray Combs had tried for weeks to commit suicide, including banging his head against the wall, before hanging himself with bedsheets in a mental ward.
Combs, 40, a father of six, apparently was anguished over his pending divorce, police Sgt. Rick Young said Monday.
The host of ``The New Family Feud'' from 1988 to 1994, Combs was taken to Glendale Adventist Medical Center on Saturday with head injuries and was admitted for mental observation, Young said.
About 14 hours later, hospital staff found he had hanged himself in a closet. He left no note, and officials are not sure exactly when he died.
FDA says new AIDS tests now available
WASHINGTON - Two new tests for the AIDS virus became available to Americans on Monday: one to more easily detect infection and the other to predict how fast patients with the deadly disease will sicken.
The Food and Drug Administration called Epitope Inc.'s Orasure the first oral test that appears as reliable as the standard blood test to diagnose the HIV virus that causes AIDS.
Orasure uses a treated cotton pad to scrape a tissue sample from between the gum and cheek. The sample is tested for antibodies to HIV, and doctors predicted wide use by people at risk for HIV but who shunned blood tests.
Patients who already know they're infected can find out just how much HIV is floating in their blood with another test - Hoffman-La Roche's Amplicor, also approved Monday. Roche will offer baseline Amplicor testing for free to any HIV-infected patient for 60 days starting June 17. Later, the test will cost $150 to $200.
- Associated Press
LENGTH: Short : 42 lines KEYWORDS: FATALITYby CNB