Jackson Free Press

CHARLESTON, W.Va. (March 3) - A McDowell County police chief was accused in a federal lawsuit Thursday of stopping a would-be rescuer from performing CPR on a gay heart attack victim because he assumed the ailing man had HIV and posed a health risk.

The lawsuit accuses Bowman of pulling off Green's friend, Billy Snead, as Snead was performing chest compressions on the man. Snead was a passenger in Green's pickup truck when Green collapsed; Snead had managed to pull over the vehicle.

Snead said in an interview that he didn't realize at first it was Bowman giving the order and continued working on his friend. Bowman repeated his command to get away, saying that Green was HIV positive, then grabbed Snead by the shoulders and told him to sit on the curb, Snead said. The American Civil Liberties Union sued on behalf of his mother.

"He was a police officer so I got out the way. I assumed he would help. I didn't want to be a hindrance," Snead said. "He also told the ambulance drivers that he was HIV positive and to be careful."
Rose Saxe, a lawyer with the ACLU's AIDS Project, said Bowman's alleged actions contributed to Green's death and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, equal protection laws and due process rights.

Saxe said Green's death was "tragically senseless" because he did not have the AIDS virus, but added that he should have received lifesaving care even if he was HIV-positive.

"He was simply a gay man in Welch, West Virginia. And because of that we can only assume that Chief Bowman assumed he had HIV and it was unsafe to even touch him," Saxe said.

When asked if he knew if Green was gay, Bowman would not answer and referred questions to McDowell County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Danny Barie, who also represents the city of Welch.

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/article.adp?id=20060302235009990010&_ccc=5&cid=842

Previous Comments

ID

105126

Comment

Wow. This is a powerful story. I think for me the question I would have to ask at this point---not knowing all the facts, of course---is did this man not give CPR (if that is the case) because the victim was GAY or poetentially HIV POSITIVE? Makes you wonder what you would do in that situation. I know we WANT to think it wouldn't matter, but...

Author

c a webb

Date

2006-03-03T11:01:37-06:00

ID

105127

Comment

It doesn't help that Sen. Bill Frist, M.D. went on the record as saying (despite medical evidence to the contrary, and absolutely no medical evidence to the affirmative) that HIV can be transmitted by saliva--because he didn't want to disagree with a well-funded fundamentalist abstinence education program that made that claim. Even I know that the HIV virus is not found in saliva in sufficient qualities so as to allow for a reasonable likelihood of seroconversion. I wouldn't go around deep-kissing HIV-positive people at random, if only because of the possibility of blood transfer via gingivitis or mouth cuts, but I certainly wouldn't be afraid to perform CPR. People who believe the likes of Bill Frist have every reason to be hesitant, and subsequently, people die for no good reason. That's the human cost of pseudoscience and superstition. This is a sad case, and if this account turns out to be accurate it's more evidence, I think, of the police chief's poor education vis-a-vis HIV-AIDS issues than homophobia. We can fix this by making the American Red Cross' HIV-AIDS one-day training course mandatory for police chiefs. It's a baby step, but at least it's a step. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-03-03T16:20:38-06:00

ID

105128

Comment

BTW- I have no trouble believing that the police chief honestly thought the man had HIV-AIDS. In small town communities, folks tend to assume that all gay men have AIDS. That's even more stupid than believing that HIV-AIDS can be transmitted by saliva, but such is life. I once ran into a cat online who claimed that he practiced casual sex with white women, but wouldn't sleep with black women because they were statistically more likely to be HIV-positive. (Their loss, I'm sure. *rolling eyes*) AIDS-phobia allows for the manifestation of all kinds of disgusting prejudices. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-03-03T16:24:11-06:00

ID

105129

Comment

Tom, agreed, man. I work quite a bit with HIV/AIDS organizations such as Building Bridges and Southern AIDS Commission--- not because I am positive myself but because I know people who are. I lost an old boss in December 2005 from complications with HIV. The irony to me is that if this article is true, people will take "precautions" in those situations, but will still sleep with countless partners---- protected or not. This world we live in continues to amaze me.

Author

c a webb

Date

2006-03-04T15:27:29-06:00

ID

105130

Comment

C.A., I'm constantly astounded at how much you do for this community. Hats off to you, my friend. Do you know Robin Webb or Shannan Reaze, by any chance? They've done some very promising work for the Mississippi Campaign to End AIDS. Good folks. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-03-04T15:45:42-06:00

ID

105131

Comment

Tom, honestly I haven't heard of the MS Campaign to End AIDS. It sounds great! As for the two people you mentioned, i'm not familiar with Robin Webb (not by name) but Reaze I am. You do a great deal for the community as well, Tom. I was blown away by your site and the extent that your voice has reached beyond the borders of MS. I think we just do what we're supposed to. I don't do it because it makes me look good. (Nothing can do that. ) We have to make a difference. That's part of our purpose. With all the advances that have been made in our understanding of HIV/AIDS, that's what makes stories such as this so sad.

Author

c a webb

Date

2006-03-04T18:09:10-06:00

ID

105132

Comment

How sad. I remember attending an AIDS seminar in college, and the lecturer said that it would take an ocean of saliva to contract HIV that way because the amount of the virus in saliva is so miniscule. Does anyone else have information to back me up on this?

Author

LatashaWillis

Date

2006-03-06T18:54:09-06:00

ID

105133

Comment

L.W., You're exactly right. There are confirmed ways to transmit the disease: saliva is not said to be one of them. In the classes I have taken the most potent ways are semen, blood, vaginal secretions and tragically breast milk.

Author

c a webb

Date

2006-03-06T20:19:48-06:00

ID

105134

Comment

L.W., another thing I think it is good to mention is that it is easy to contract other STDs through saliva, such as herpes so precautions should be taken. But there are devices that are supposed to be made available to medical officials to deal with situations such as this.

Author

c a webb

Date

2006-03-06T20:24:30-06:00

ID

105135

Comment

The American Red Cross has a page on this specific issue. Bottom line: - You can't get HIV-AIDS from saliva. Period. - You can get HIV-AIDS from blood present in saliva as the result of gingivitis, mouth sores, or chapped lips, but the chances of this happening are extremely slim. In all of HIV-AIDS literature, there has only been one documented case of HIV-AIDS transmission through open-mouth kissing--and that was in a case where copious bleeding of the gums and mucous membranes was present. - Churches that practice open communion welcome parishioners with HIV-AIDS to the common cup. Cheers, TH

Author

Tom Head

Date

2006-03-06T20:28:47-06:00