Boehringer Ingelheim Launches Patient History Card To Help HIV-Positive Inmates Monitor Treatment

Pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim yesterday announced the launch of its Patient History Card, a foldable, wallet-sized card designed to be carried at all times to assist HIV-positive inmates in managing their medical care both in and out of correctional facilities, according to a Boehringer Ingelheim release. "The card enables patients to record current medication, viral loads, CD4+ T cell counts, weight by date, past HIV medications, drug allergies, hepatitis status, vaccinations and other information that is critical to the effective management of the their health," David Wohl, assistant professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina and one of the card's designers, said. The fact that most HIV-positive inmates move in and out of correctional facilities interrupts their care and increases the risk of developing drug resistance, according to the release. "The resulting drug resistance not only decreases a patient's own treatment options, but can impact the community at large should the resistant virus be spread to others," Dr. Karl Brown, infectious diseases supervisor at Rikers Island Correctional Facility, said. In an effort to maintain privacy, the cards -- which can be ordered free-of-charge by telephone by any U.S. correctional facility -- do not contain patient names or the terms "HIV" or "AIDS" (Boehringer Ingelheim release, 6/12).