Magic Johnson -- Too Good to be True?

Magic Johnson -- Too Good to be True?

To be infected with HIV is to be HIV-positive, but only when the virus seriously damages the immune system, does one have AIDS. This distinction has been brought home by NBA star Magic Johnson, who tested HIV-positive and retired from LA Laker basketball in 1991, but has yet to develop AIDS. This may confuse some that his AIDS has been cured,

Graph showing HIV copies and CD4 counts over course of HIV infection. Image Source: Wikimedia

but there are no known cures for AIDS. The anti-HIV drugs and medications can only slow down the damage to the immune system. The New Mexico AIDS InfoNet advises its Internet visitors: "AIDS is different in every infected person. Some people die a few months after getting infected, while others live fairly normal lives for many years, even after they 'officially' have AIDS. A few HIV-positive people stay healthy for many years even without taking anti-HIV medications." Source: New Mexico AIDS InfoNet In a November 6, 1991 interview with USA Today, Magic Johnson described his life with HIV. The article pointed out that "a decade ago [1981], the typical length of time from infection to death was eight to 10 years. It was not until the mid-'90s that AIDS drug cocktails that suppress the virus came into wide use." "There's nothing experimental, nothing high-tech," Dr. Michael Mellman, Johnson's personal physician for the previous 20 years, said of Johnson's medication. "Anyone who can afford health care can afford what he's doing." Hattie Babbit, executive director of AIDS Action in Washington, cautioned in the same USA Today article that Magic Johnson's healthy appearance should not give the impression that drugs or drug cocktails are a cure, since anti-HIV drugs "do have side effects, and they tend to lose their effectiveness." Source: USA Today, "Ten years after 'it', Magic Johnson thriving" The HIV disease, i.e., HIV-positive condition, becomes AIDS or "full-blown AIDS," when the immune system becomes so damaged that you have less than 200 CD4+ cells (also known as "T-helper" cells) or if your CD4+ percentage is less than 14%. Source: New Mexico AIDS InfoNet Was Magic Johnson's 1991 success story too good to be true? More than a year later, on January 21, 2003, a story by Alex Polier from the Associated Press, "Magic Johnson Promotes HIV Drug: Ads are geared towards urban blacks," described a "robust-looking" Magic Johnson on billboards in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Philadelphia, Houston, Atlanta, and Newark, N.J. Johnson credited his health to a positive attitude in partnership with his physician, while consistently taking his medication. GlaxoSmithKline noted that a greater number of African-Americans are dying from AIDS than whites and has accordingly focused its marketing on the African-American community. Magic Johnson "takes a combination of GlaxoSmithKline and non-GlaxoSmithKline drugs, including Combivir®, the most commonly prescribed HIV drug and one of GlaxoSmithKline's best sellers." In 2001, with sales of more than $1.1 billion GlaxoSmithKline controlled about 50 percent of the market for anti-HIV drugs, competing against Crixivan® and Stocrin® made by Merck & Co., and Kaletra® and Norvir®, made by Abbott Laboratories. Among blacks ages 24 to 44, AIDS is the leading cause of death. Source: The Enquirer Combivir® is a combination of 300mg of Retrovir® (AZT) and 150mg of Epivir®, which is taken twice daily in conjunction with at least one other anti-HIV drug