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    Not Enough Day DrinkingAngela Helm
    3/07/19 1:10pm

    A 2011 report on the cost of organ and tissue transplants by the actuarial and consulting firm Milliman found an allogeneic bone marrow transplant typically costs $805,400 total.

    https://health.costhelper.com/bone-marrow-transplants.html#extres4

    So I’m going to go ahead and assume all US health insurance companies will label this treatment as experimental (and therefor not covered) for the foreseeable future. 

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      FlowerShatterSugarBudderDiamondsNot Enough Day Drinking
      3/07/19 1:28pm

      Not that but its more realistic to think of the virus being in remission.

      Stop the fucking “Cured” shit.

      Stop it now.

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      Stephan ZielinskiNot Enough Day Drinking
      3/07/19 1:45pm

      It wouldn’t be categorized as a treatment for HIV at all, experimental or not. It was a treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

      Final price of a bone marrow transplant varies wildly, and some insurance will cover it and some won’t. Even the ones that do typically have coinsurance charges—the insurance covers 50-90% of the price, with the patient still on the hook for the remaining 50% to 10%.  Modulo a possible out-of-pocket cap.

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    MwatuangiAngela Helm
    3/07/19 1:36pm

    This was definitely great news to hear, but yeah, I think not enough focus is also being placed on preventative measures, which are proven to be the best approach when it comes to mitigating it, and aside from obvious advancements in science like PrEP, those need to be prioritized as well. I feel it’s imperative that those with influence use those privileges they have now to further support these initiatives. We also have to begin a serious dialogue about HIV and the stigmas against those infected with it, because there’s a lot of misinformation about it in general pervasive throughout our community.

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      skefflesMwatuangi
      3/07/19 2:16pm
       We also have to begin a serious dialogue about HIV and the stigmas against those infected with it

      As long as that isn’t code for justifying failing to disclose to sexual partners, because they need to be able to make informed decisions about their sex life too.

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      Mwatuangiskeffles
      3/07/19 2:55pm

      And my point is proven. Not every person with HIV is some kind of deceptive schemer trying to manipulate people, so take that ignorant shyt somewhere else. 

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    skefflesAngela Helm
    3/07/19 2:13pm

    Always wear a condom if you are a guy, and if the man you are with won’t wear one then tell him to go somewhere else. That is what it means. That is what it meant in the 1980s, and that is what it means now. Don’t listen to anyone who says they are “cured” or that their viral load is undetectable, and especially not to anyone who claims it is manageable with medication. Don’t risk them choosing not to disclose their status either. They wear a condom, or they don’t get to have sex. Do not risk your health, especially with HIV, on anybody else’s say so.

    I’ve been to too many funerals of too many friends to believe anything else.

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      Foxstar loves Bashcraftskeffles
      3/07/19 4:55pm

      This.

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    VincentPriceLostHisLaughAngela Helm
    3/07/19 3:28pm

    I thought Dr. Sebi cured it already but he was murdered by the government. *eyeroll* It’s always really disheartening to know that some people can’t see the link between misinformation and HIV infection rates.

    It also shouldn’t be a secret that black folks get less of everything including adequate healthcare. Trying to make white healthcare providers acknowledge this, even gay men who are also at high risk, is daunting.

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      VincentPriceLostHisLaughVincentPriceLostHisLaugh
      3/07/19 3:36pm

      It’s always really disheartening to know that some people can’t see the link between misinformation and HIV infection rates

      Case in point, how some people in these comments think a bone marrow transplant is the treatment/cure and not that a mutated/”broken” CCR5 gene found in the bone marrow is what causes the disease to be unable to survive. Medications that make HIV+ people’s viral loads undetectable and immunization down the line for children may be what ends up stopping the disease altogether. I’m hopeful.

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    JonsLegionAngela Helm
    3/07/19 2:45pm

    I’ve known too many people lost to this horrible disease to not feel some soar in my soul at even this small glimpse of a “cure”, even small steps can lead to the finish line. But I think there will be lots of people justifiably side-eyeing this until it moves away from “bone marrow transplant” prices and down to something more manageable.

    In any rate, thanks for this.

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    BiturbowagonAngela Helm
    3/07/19 2:58pm

    Even if this is a cure, it’s a cure in the same sense that you can swat a mosquito with a hydrogen bomb. Yeah, it’s effective, but it’s disproportionate.

    Yes, this is very good news for persons with HIV who already need bone marrow transplants. However, I cannot imagine that bone marrow transplants will become the wave of the future for treating HIV, unless there is some huge advance in bone marrow transplant technology.

    The greater significance is what scientists can learn from this, to work on future cures and treatments.

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    BlockedpunchAngela Helm
    3/07/19 4:56pm

    It means very little at the moment?
    You need to have your entire immune system shutdown through chemotherapy, and your bone marrow replaced with a specific type that lacks a protein HIV requires to survive. And need to be able be a recipient of that bone marrow, while still needing to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of your life. And then monitored for the rest of your life because we’re not sure just how deep the infection goes into your tissues.

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      burner'downBlockedpunch
      3/08/19 7:03am

      And the process of (literally) nuking the immune system prior to the stem cell transplant isn’t exactly a walk in the park. It’s a last-choice treatment for leukemia and lymphoma for a fucking reason. That is cures HIV under very specific and insanely hard to engineer conditions is a happy accident.

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    AP BearAngela Helm
    3/07/19 8:59pm

    Yeah I agree the focus has to be on preventative measure. These “cures “ are very specific. The bone marrow used in them came from an HIV resistant person (part of a rare group of northern Europeans whose descendants survived the bubonic plague). Stem cell transplants have to be from people of a similar genetic makeup. So these donors won’t match with ANYONE who is not also northern European.

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    jcn-txctAngela Helm
    3/07/19 6:48pm

    Great news but like all great things, it will go to the people of wealth, then whites, eventually making its way to people of color.

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    ThirdAmendmentManAngela Helm
    3/07/19 3:55pm

    Yeah an allogeneic bone marrow transplant is a horrible treatment for HIV. Like 25-30% suffer from acute graft vs host disease, 1/3 of those cases life-threatening. Another 30% suffer from chronic GVHD.

    No insurance company would consider this for treatment of HIV. Nor should they.

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