AIDS Agency Raided in Orlando; AZT Seized

On March 7 the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) raided the Orlando, Florida, office of Trans-Aid and the home of its founder and director, Alfredo Martinez-Garcia. AZT and other medications were seized. No criminal charges have been filed. In the week after the raid, the Florida AIDS Legal Defense and Education Fund received 75 calls, mostly from AIDS service organizations and PWA groups afraid that they, too, might be raided.

Background

Alfredo Martinez-Garcia started Trans-Aid Support Services, Inc. in March 1988 after his lover died of AIDS. Alfredo, as he is commonly known, is well known in the Orlando area and elsewhere for his AIDS service work.

The target of the raid appears to be the widespread practice of giving away unused expensive medications left by someone who has died, or by someone who has decided to discontinue use of medicines they have purchased, to other patients who have prescriptions for the drugs but are unable to afford them. It is usually illegal for anyone except certain medical professionals to distribute prescription drugs, even by giving them away without charge. Until now, however, law enforcement authorities have not sought out such cases. The Orlando raid has raised fears that this policy might be changing -- possibly under pressure of an AIDS hysteria in Florida which started after it was learned that a dentist there may have transmitted HIV to patients.

According to an affidavit by the FDLE on which the search warrant was based, the Florida investigation of Trans-Aid goes back at least to July 1989; it was apparently begun by the Inspector General's office of Florida's Health and Rehabilitative Services. By January 1991 the FDLE had become involved. Agents with electronic monitoring visited Trans-Aid, and an informant posing as a person with AIDS, and using a fictitious file of blood-test results, began calling Alfredo and asking for drugs. According to law-enforcement officials quoted in the Orlando Sentinel, the informant received AZT twice and another drug once during the three-month investigation by FDLE.

Comment

The Florida Legal Defense and Education Fund has scheduled a March 19 meeting in Tallahassee between State officials and AIDS service organizations. Almost all AIDS organizations have clients who obtain AZT through friends or through patients' networks because they could not afford the drug otherwise. There are widespread fears that trying to police this activity would damage the bonds between State agencies, non-government agencies, and patients -- as well as raising class and access issues, and wasting resources needed elsewhere. Many feel that with the health-care system desperately needing reform, self-help efforts like Trans-Aid should be encouraged, not squelched.

In the current case, there is some question among lawyers and others involved as to whether it would be best to organize a high-profile public defense of Alfredo and Trans-Aid, or to focus on a low-key effort to develop a compromise -- for example, an arrangement for a physician to visit Trans-Aid periodically to distribute free drugs to patients with prescriptions for them. One physician has already volunteered to do so.

Certainly Alfredo and Trans-Aid deserve community support. For at least three years Alfredo has dedicated his life to serving the AIDS community, so he should have our support when he needs it. Also, it is important to establish that a legitimate AIDS organization will receive an effective legal defense, and public defense if appropriate. To avoid the development of politically motivated prosecutions, officials must know that forays against such groups will be difficult, expensive, unpopular, and unprofitable. We hope this case will be settled quickly, however, without the need for a national cause celebre, which would consume community resources which could better be focused elsewhere.

Trans-Aid does need money for legal defense; how much is needed depends on whether criminal charges are filed. Alfredo cannot personally afford the legal assistance needed even to seek return of his personal prescriptions, which were seized with the other medications.

Persons who want to contribute can send a check to Trans- Aid, 4618 Canna Drive, Orlando, FL 32809; Trans-Aid is a non- profit organization. Because future needs are uncertain, persons may want to call Alfredo first, to be better informed about the current situation. He can be reached at Trans-Aid, 407/839-0945 (day), or 407/352-2352 (evenings).