FDA and VA Plan Joint AIDS Study

ROCKVILLE, Maryland—Researchers at the Food and Drug Administration and the Veteran’s Administrations will join in an effort to determine whether HIV infection or certain drugs used to treat it cause avascular necrosis (AVN). The disorder, the destruction of bone cells due to a deficient blood supply, commonly affects people with AIDS. The epidemiologic study will focus on suspected AVN cases registered with the Veterans Health Administration’s centralized HIV Registry, which contains data on approximately 50,000 patients.