AIDS medicine is rationed.(PUERTO RICO)

0 Comments | Caribbean Update, April, 2007

The US has halted payments to clinics that treat AIDS patients, forcing hundreds of poor people to go without free medicine in a US territory with an AIDS rate nearly double that of the mainland, reports AP (March 7,2007). Local officials blame the FBI, saying agents investigating fraud seized documents clinics needed to get reimbursement for drugs and services.

The FBI denies it is responsible. Patient advocates blame the San Juan city government and other island agencies, saying the problem is a result of mismanagement in a program that has a history of corruption. The 21 clinics, which are privately run under the administration of the San Juan city government, say they stopped receiving reimbursement from the US in late 2006, but the rationing and cutbacks...