Activists and LGBTQ Groups Say These Facebook Ads Spread Dangerous Misinformation About HIV Drugs

Advocacy groups are urging Facebook to remove advertisements that they say unfairly infer that the HIV/AIDS prevention Truvada PrEP (pre-exposure prophylaxis) is dangerous, an allegation they say could endanger the people who are most at risk of contracting the disease. More than 50 HIV/AIDs, LGBTQ and public health advocacy groups released a letter on Monday asking Facebook and Instagram to remove the ads from their platforms. The ads referred specifically to “Truvada PrEP” (the brand name for one of the medications, dtenofovir disoproxil fumarate, used as PrEP) and in some cases more generically to “PrEP.” There is another PrEPdrug, Descovy (tenofovir alafenamide), which was approved in 2019. Common side effects for Truvada include stomachaches, headaches and weight loss in some patients, according to Gilead, the biotechnology company that makes both drugs. Descovy has similar side effects, although adverse reactions may be somewhat less likely, Gilead claims. For HIV negative people, PrEP can reduce the risk of infection during sex by 99% when used daily, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In their letter, advocates say that law firms have been targeting the ads toward members of the LGBTQ community, seeking clients who have had more serious side effects from Truvada PrEP, such as damage to their kidneys and loss of bone density. The letter argues that the ads have caused “significant harm to public health...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized health LGBTQ onetime Source Type: news