NATION : Panel Held Back AIDS Finding
- Share via
NEW YORK — A federal panel waited five months before announcing its finding that steroids can halve the death rate from the pneumonia that is the leading killer of people with AIDS, it was reported today.
The panel withheld the announcement until Oct. 10 because members could not agree on how to word their statement, the New York Times said.
Part of the reason they could not agree, said panel Vice Chairman Dr. Paul Meier, was that the findings had not yet been accepted at a prestigious medical journal, and they feared that an early announcement would jeopardize publication.
Many medical journals have a policy of not publishing studies that have been reported in the popular press. The journals say the policy is aimed at ensuring that studies are subjected to scrutiny by disinterested scientists.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
