PageA2 œ‘!l ^Inrthtnb ffibscrüer Maj'II, 2005 P hoto bv M ark W ashington / T he P or i i . and O bserver Dr. Ram Yogev, director o f the pediatric HIV/AIDS program at Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago, examines a former foster child who is now adopted. (AP photo) AIDS DrugsTested on Foster Kids Care exposes vulnerable children (A P ) - T o gain access to hun­ dreds o f H IV -infected foster chil­ dren, federally funded researchers prom ised in w riting to provide an independent advocate to safeguard the k id s’ w ell-being as they tested potent A ID S drugs. But m ost o f the tim e, that special protection never m aterialized, an A ssociated Press review has found. T he research funded by the N a­ tional Institutes o f H ealth spanned the country. It was most widespread in the 1990s as foster care agencies sought treatm ents for their HIV- infected children that w eren’t yet available in the m arketplace. T he practice ensured that foster children - mostly poor or m inority - received care from w orld-class re­ searchers at governm ent expense, slow ing their rate o f death and ex­ tending their lives. But it also ex­ posed a vulnerable population to the risks o f medical research and drugs that were know n to have serious side effects in adults and for w hich the safety for children was unknown. The research was conducted in at least seven states - Illinois, L o u i­ siana, M aryland, N ew Y ork, North Carolina, C olorado and Texas - and involved m ore than four dozen dif­ ferent studies. T he foster children ranged from infants to late teens, according to interview s and gov­ ernm ent records. Several studies that enlisted fo s­ ter children reported that patients suffered side effects such as rashes, vom iting and sharp drops in infec­ tion-fighting blood cells, and one rep o rted a “d istu rb in g ” h ig h e r death rate am ong children w ho took higher doses o f a drug, records show . Some fosterchildren died during studies, but state or city agencies said they could find no records that any deaths w ere directly caused by experim ental treatm ents. Those w ho m ade the decisions say the research gave foster kids access to drugs they o th erw ise couldn’t get. A nd they say they protected the ch ild ren ’s interest by carefully explaining risks and ben­ efits to state guardians, foster par­ ents and the children them selves. Police Shooting Tragedy Recalled Kendra James, the unarmed African American woman killed by police while trying to flee a traffic stop, was remembered Thursday. Among the group marking the two-year anniversary o f the tragedy on the North Skidmore 1-5 overpass was Perlia Bell (from left), a mother whose daughter was killed by gun violence; community activist Vesia Loving and Huey Martin. The local activism following James' death brought about some policy changes in the Portland Police Bureau. Insurgents Increase Fight on U.S. Forces Violent attacks spiral in Iraq (A P) - U.S. forces hunting down follow ers o f Iraq’s m ost w anted terrorist pushed into a law less region near the Syrian border T u esd ay afte r m eetin g u n e x ­ pected resistance from insurgents hidden in rem ote desert outposts along the southern banks o f the Euphrates River. M arines fought house-to-house M onday against dozens o f well- arm ed insurgents firing at them from b a lc o n ie s , ro o fto p s an d s a n d ­ bagged bunkers in the border town o f O beidi and surrounding villages, the Los A ngeles Tim es reported. A s m any as 100 m ilitants have been killed since O peration M ata­ dor, one o f the largest A m erican There's a better way to get money from your home: An injured child is rushed to a hospital-Tuesday, after a car bomb exploded in central Baghdad, killing at least seven people and wounding 16. (AP photo) offensives in Iraq in six m onths, began Saturday night in Q aim , 200 m iles w est o f Baghdad, the m ilitary said. At least three U.S. M arines have been killed in the offensive, w hich involves m ore than 1,000 M arines, sailors and soldiers backed by h e­ licopter gunships and fighter jets. A Los A ngeles T im es reporter em bedded w ith U.S. forces said 20 A m erican troops w ere w ounded, but the U .S. m ilitary could not im ­ a Home Equity Line of Credit from U.S. Bank. 3 ■ m ediately confirm that. G unm en, m eanw hile, kidnapped the g o v ern o r o f Ira q ’s w estern A nbar province T uesday and told his fam ily he w ould be released w hen U.S. forces w ithdraw from Q aim , relatives said. T he o ffen siv e co m es am id a surge o f m ilitant attacks across Iraq, often targeting security forces and civilians. T w o car bom bs killed seven in Baghdad on T uesday. ■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■M M M M N M H M M Chemical Blast Injures Three T h re e p eo p le su ffe re d m in o r in ju rie s in an early m o rn in g e x ­ p lo sio n M onday at a ch em ical p lan t n ea r th e C o lu m b ia R iv er in n orth P o rtlan d . T h e e x p lo s io n a t L a c a m a s L a b o ra to rie s In c. o c c u rre d at ab o u t 4 :1 5 a.m . sen d in g sh o ck w av es and a loud b o o m th ro u g h ad jac en t n eig h b o rh o o d s. In v es­ tig ato rs su sp ect a 5 0 0 -g allo n tank cau sed the blast. T h e p la n t m ak es in te rm ed ia te c h e m ic a ls fo r p h a rm a c e u tic a l c o m p an ie s. 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