The State - News from July 28, 1986

The governing council of the California Medical Assn. Council attacked the so-called LaRouche initiative on AIDS, claiming in a position paper that “no public health purpose would be served by this action.” The council, in a statement released during the weekend, said spread of AIDS would be prolonged if voters approve the measure, Proposition 64, which will be on the Nov. 4 ballot. Supporters of Lyndon LaRouche obtained the signatures needed to place the initiative on the ballot. “The Prevent AIDS Now Initiative, designed to quarantine and isolate people with AIDS or AIDS-related conditions and persons who test positive for HIV antibodies, is inappropriate,” the council, governing body of the 30,000-member CMA, said. “No public health purpose would be served by this action. All scientific and medical evidence indicates that the virus which causes AIDS is primarily spread through intimate sexual contact or through the exchange of blood or blood products, as in intravenous drug abuse. There is no evidence to indicate AIDS has been transmitted by any means of casual contact, whether in the home, schools, restaurants or the work place.”