HIV patients living average of 24 years

An American diagnosed with the AIDS virus can expect to live for about 24 years on average after contracting it, and the cost of health care over that time is more than $600,000, new research indicates.

Both life expectancy and the cost of care have risen from earlier estimates, mainly because of expensive and effective drug therapies.

The research found that the average annual cost of care is about $25,200 – nearly 40 percent higher than a commonly cited estimate from the late 1990s. The research also updates other studies from the 1990s, when life expectancy for HIV-infected people was closer to 10 years.

The study appears in the November edition of the journal Medical Care.

Honolulu

Trump condos sell out in hours

Celebrities and investors forked over $700 million in just a few hours to buy up more than 460 suites in Donald Trump’s luxury hotel-condominium project in Waikiki.

Sales contracts were signed and deposits put down Thursday for 464 hotel suites at the Trump International Hotel and Tower Waikiki Beach Walk, developers said. The sellout forced the cancellation of a planned second day of sales.

Developers said the sales set a record for the amount of residential property, both in dollar value and unit volume, sold in one development on a single day.

Trump featured the development on his TV reality series, “The Apprentice.” The Trump sale attracted celebrities including entertainer Don Ho, NBA players, pro golfers and a Japanese rap star, according to developers.

The average price for a suite was $1.5 million, a 500-square-foot studio for about $400,000, and a three-bedroom penthouse for more than $9 million.

Dallas

Woman released after killing kids

A woman who drowned her two children in 2003 was released Friday from a state psychiatric hospital after a judge agreed with doctors that she is now mentally stable.

Lisa Ann Diaz drowned her 3- and 5-year-old daughters by holding their heads under water in the bathtub of their home in the Dallas suburb of Plano. Authorities said Diaz had self-inflicted cuts and stab wounds that she later said were an attempt to commit suicide to be with her daughters.

Diaz, tried only in the older child’s death, was found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Diaz’s release prompted prosecutors to call for legal reforms that would allow juries in Texas to find a defendant guilty but mentally ill.

Washington

Military service, ALS may be linked

Military service, particularly in the Gulf War, may be linked to development of Lou Gehrig’s disease, the Institute of Medicine said Friday.

The evidence, however, is limited and inconsistent, the institute said.

The degenerative nerve disease, formally known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, gradually destroys the ability to control movement. Most victims die of respiratory failure within a few years.

According to the report, released as Veterans Day was being observed, five studies have been done on the subject.

Three indicated a higher rate of ALS among veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War, one found a link to veterans who served prior to that war and one found no link at all.

“The evidence base to answer the question of whether military service increases a person’s chances of developing ALS later in life is rather sparse, so we could not reach more definitive conclusions at this time,” said Richard T. Johnson, chairman of the committee that wrote the report.