18/05/97  

Organisers of a HIV/AIDS therapy trial are to complain to the NSW Ombudsman, it was revealed today, after being denied a fair hearing by a prisons department ethics committee. 

The KM1 Herbal Formula trial already has the support of the South-Eastern Sydney Area Health Service ethics committee, one of the busiest in the country for HIV/AIDS related trials, but this wasn't good enough for the NSW Department of Corrective Services Internal Ethics Committee. 

The trial's Director, Ms Jan Kneen-McDaid, said that the complaint would be on the grounds that the committee did not follow correct procedures and did not refer to expert advice on HIV/AIDS or complementary therapy in reaching its decision. "They have repeatedly argued that the formula isn't safe when the experts and the manufacturers say that it is. The herbs are already approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) for over the counter sale and the manufacturers have told them that they are safe for pregnant women - it is hard to see what other proof they require but then again they have never told us." 

Kneen-McDaid noted that prisoners have access to the new experimental drug therapies and tests and said, "it's hard not to conclude that it isn't simple prejudice that is blocking the approval of the trial". 

In a recent letter the Department's Commissioner, Leo Keliher, argued that there is "no adequate justification as to why the herbal trial needs to be undertaken on current inmates". 

Says Kneen-McDaid, "we see it as making the choice available to prisoners and because we're dealing with a life threatening illness it seems incredible that these people would deny prisoners that choice. It even goes against their own policy which is that prisoners should have access to the same level of care as the rest of us. It has become a human rights concern." 

"We call again for the Minister, Mr Bob Debus, to intervene in this matter." 

The trial has the support of HIV/AIDS agencies, scientific bodies, patient groups, many doctors and prisoner support groups. Among those who have written to the Minister is Dr. Don Smith, Director of the government's Community HIV Research Network. Smith wrote that he could "see no reason why [prisoners] .. should be excluded from an evaluation of this treatment". 

The KM1 Herbal Formula trial is of a four herb combination aimed at boosting the immune system. The trial has been running since last March following the approval of South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service Ethics Committee. Trial participants have come from all over Australia. The trial is uniquely community organised and run and has received limited financial support from HIV/AIDS agencies, gay & lesbian community bodies and complementary therapy companies.  

For further information please call Paul Canning on 0412 112 553 or Jan Kneen-McDaid on 041 8422 953