Medicine & Health

Director of Harvard's International AIDS Center Jonathan Mann is also a member of The Global AIDS Policy Coalition which has just come out with it's first annual "AIDS in the World" report. Mann will talk with Terry about the findings in the report.

Psychologist Bernard Rimland is the director of the Autism Research Institute and is recognized by many as an authority on the treatment of autism and hyperactivity in children. He has first-hand experience: his son is autistic. Rimland was also an advisor on autism for the movie, "Rain Man." He wrote the forward to Donna Williams' autobiography.

Williams grew up in an abusive family; they didn't know she was autistic. Williams has been labeled "deaf," "retarded," and "crazy." She ran away from home at a young age, lived on the streets, and managed to put herself through college. When she was 25, she learned the word "autistic," and set out to articulate to others her experience living in "a world under glass." Her autobiography is called "Nobody Nowhere."

When Ursula Seinige started her surgical residency, not much about breast cancer was known. In the early 80s, more treatments were developed, like the modified radical mastectomy. Two and a half years ago, Seinige was diagnosed with breast cancer. She joins Fresh Air to discuss her own treatment, as well as her role in a support group she founded for survivors of the disease.

Lawyers Suzanne Goldberg and Mark Huvard. Both are contesting a recent federal court ruling which allows employers to slash insurance coverage for AIDS patients. Representatives of the American Medical Association, the Association of Retired Persons, and the American Bar Association have all written letters to the U.S. Solicitor General, stating that the ruling was wrong. The original plaintiff in the case has already died from AIDS complications.

In 1980, AIDS activist and former Jesuit seminarian Martin Delaney was suffering from life-threatening hepatitis. He treated it with drugs then unapproved in the U.S. In 1985, Delaney founded Project Inform--which gathers information and facilitates access to AIDS treatments. Delaney has helped bring Compound Q, an unapproved AIDS drug, out of China. His life and work are discussed extensively in Jonathon Kwitny's controversial new book, "Acceptable Risks."

Williams is a a writer and naturalist-in-residence at the Utah Museum of Natural History. Born a Utah Mormon, Williams has written several books about the environment and the West, such as "Coyote's Canyon" and "Earthly Messengers." Her most recent book, "Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place," concerns her mother's unsuccessful battle with cancer and the flooding of the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge by the rising Great Salt Lake waters.

Trish Riley, the executive director of the National Academy for State Health Policy, talks about health care reforms in light of the fact that 35 million Americans are lacking health insurance. National health insurance is also a big campaign issue on both sides of the presidential race. Riley's organization works with states on health care policy, and will talk about what various states are doing, and where the balance should be struck between national and state responsibilities.

Sean and Judy Barron. This son and mother have written a book together, "There's A Boy in Here," about Sean's escape from autism. Sean tells of the rigid rules he developed to control the world which had been terrifying to him since birth. Sean's parents refused to let him withdraw, and after years of interrupting his isolation, he gradually emerged. Sean has graduated from college and is pursuing a degree in occupational therapy.

Terry will talk to three people about the recent events revolving around RU-486, the abortion-inducing drug. The drug is in use in France and Britian but is illegal in the U.S. Two weeks ago, a pregnant woman, Leona Benten, tried to bring the drug into the country, but it was seized by authorities. The case is about to go before the Supreme Court. Today's guests include FDA spokesperson Gary Fendler, Simon Heller of the Center for Reproductive Law and Policy, and Leona Benten's physician, Dr. Louise Tyrer.