04/08/2008
Casualties of Care
New York magazine takes a look at the dark journey of "near-legendary" AIDS doctor Ramon Torres and others like him who saw the worst of it:
"Torres is one of the untold casualties of the epidemic’s aftershocks. In the decade since AIDS moved from a mostly deadly plague to a largely manageable condition, a surprising number of the frontline veterans of the most difficult years in the fight against the disease have seemed to lose their bearings. Many health-care professionals talk today of feelings of emptiness and disillusionment in the wake of the epidemic’s taming. Some have moved out of the field altogether. For others, drug addiction replaced drug research."
Another AIDS Casualty [new york magazine]
Posted 12:57 PM EST by Andy Towle in AIDS/HIV, New York, News | Permalink
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Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Posted by: Tropico | Apr 8, 2008 1:13:05 PM
Right right, TROPICO, really sad about Dr. Torres. But, hell, maybe he can still come back--start his life again. The Epidemic destroyed people in so many other ways besides sickness & death.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Apr 8, 2008 1:38:43 PM
I'M NO DOCTOR TORRES, NOT EVEN CLOSE, BUT WHEN I WAS DOING VOLUNTEER WORK WITH AIDS PATIENTS AT HOPKINS AND OTHER HOSPITALS, I GOT BURNT-OUT FAST...SO MANY PEOPLE DYING IN SUCH A SHORT AMOUNT OF TIME...EMOTIONALLY, I JUST COULDN'T TAKE IT...I WAS DRAINED AT THE END OF THE DAY...I DON'T KNOW HOW SOMEONE LIKE DOCTOR TORRES COULD DO IT FOR SO LONG...IN A COUPLE YEARS TIME I WAS TOAST.
Posted by: CLIFF | Apr 8, 2008 1:50:39 PM
What a heartbreaking story.
Posted by: Tweety | Apr 8, 2008 2:06:51 PM
Last time I checked drug use was illegal...why does he think he above the law. Sorry but someone especially in the medical profession knows what that shit will do to you, yet he not only put himself at risk but really at all the patients he was allegedly healing. And sure it's terrible to see the pain and suffering of other, but you know what?... if you can't drive a car, then you don't, because either you will kill yourself or someone in your way. He had a fucked up god complex thinking that he was some kind of saviour, when in reality, there were hundreds of people around the country administering the same kind of compassionate care that he was.
It's unbelievable that a known drug addict, that makes good contributions, can rest on their laurels and expect to coast through life like that. And he actually got HIV himself? Funny how we all jump down the throats of politicians a la Spitzer when he gets busted for the very things he went after, yet Dr. Torres is canonized as some sort of demi-god. He was extremely irresponsible and continues to even spin more horrors with the tone he takes in his interview,
Posted by: Peter | Apr 8, 2008 2:42:12 PM
Last time I checked drug use was illegal...why does he think he above the law. Sorry but someone especially in the medical profession knows what that shit will do to you, yet he not only put himself at risk but really at all the patients he was allegedly healing. And sure it's terrible to see the pain and suffering of other, but you know what?... if you can't drive a car, then you don't, because either you will kill yourself or someone in your way. He had a fucked up god complex thinking that he was some kind of saviour, when in reality, there were hundreds of people around the country administering the same kind of compassionate care that he was.
It's unbelievable that a known drug addict, that makes good contributions, can rest on their laurels and expect to coast through life like that. And he actually got HIV himself? Funny how we all jump down the throats of politicians a la Spitzer when he gets busted for the very things he went after, yet Dr. Torres is canonized as some sort of demi-god. He was extremely irresponsible and continues to even spin more horrors with the tone he takes in his interview,
Posted by: Peter | Apr 8, 2008 2:43:55 PM
Wow, Peter, that's some kind of vitriol you're expressing there.
You'd think some kind of compassion towards somebody who did the kind of work Dr. Torres did when nobody else wanted to do it would be warranted.
Or perhaps some compassion for the fact that he's a human being who was trying to help others, and got caught up in disease. Drug addiction and its subsequent mental and physical downward spiral are difficult.
The point of the article wasn't just to talk about Dr. Torres, but also to shed some light on the PTSD that lots of people who have lived with and cared for folks with HIV are STILL dealing with.
And if it was all that easy to just do the right thing, there wouldn't be any addiction problems to begin with, now would there?
Travis
Posted by: Travis | Apr 8, 2008 2:49:24 PM
Thanks, Travis.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | Apr 8, 2008 2:53:28 PM
Re Peter: Um.... Harsh much? Sounds personal to me - work it out man and try to remember your humanity in the process.
Posted by: Giovanni | Apr 8, 2008 2:55:50 PM
Dear Peter,
Drop dead.
Sincerely,
Will
Posted by: Will | Apr 8, 2008 3:55:29 PM
Thanks for sharing this story, Andy. I had to put my head in my hands for a few moments after reading this... remembering how horrifying the 80s were.
Posted by: kansastock | Apr 8, 2008 6:26:38 PM
We are all walking wounded, those of us who survived the AIDS epidemic of the 80's and 90's whether we are poz or neg, drug addicted or sober. I don't know of anyone who's living a care-free mid-life. Everyone I know including myself is struggling to make some sort of meaning out of why it happened, and why we are left to remember when everyone else is iether dead or forgets. I have so much more in common than I ever thought with my Vietnam-serving brother in-law. We are both dinosaurs with PTSD.
Posted by: Nick | Apr 8, 2008 7:18:21 PM
Wow - I remember Gabe Torres from back in 92-93... I had no idea this had happened. How sad.
Posted by: michael | Apr 8, 2008 8:01:29 PM
in the 80s i helped raise funds for a local AIDS group. throughout the 90s i volunteered at a hospice for terminally ill clients. that, as fortune would have it, prepared me for two years straight of caring for my father. he died one year ago this april 15th. he, in a way, paid his taxes to god. i am not making light of his death. he was a man with the largest of hearts and a great sense of humor. when he told a joke, he would be laughing so hard before and at the punchline that most of us wouldn't get it.
i know all about burn-out.
i can just hope that when april 15th rolls around soon, a gracious and humble god says thank you for taking care of this good man.
Posted by: nic | Apr 8, 2008 10:16:45 PM