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Line 44: In 1985, promiscuous [[Dallas]] electrician and rodeo cowboy [[Ron Woodroof]] is diagnosed with [[HIV/AIDS]] and told that he has about 30 days to live. At first, he refuses to accept the diagnosis until he remembers having unprotected sex with a prostitute who was an [[drug injection|intravenous drug]] user. Woodroof's family and friends ostracize him, mistakenly assuming he contracted AIDS from gay sex (he is straight). He is fired from his job and evicted from his home. His doctor, Eve Saks, tells him an [[antiretroviral drug]] called [[zidovudine]] (AZT)—the only drug yet approved for testing in human [[clinical trials]] by the [[FDA]]—is thought to prolong the life of AIDS patients. Saks informs him that half of the trial patients receive the drug and the other half a [[placebo]] since this is the only way to determine if the drug works. Woodroof bribes a hospital worker to get him AZT, which, exacerbated by his [[cocaine]] and alcohol abuse, causes his health to deteriorate. Recuperating in the hospital, he meets Rayon, a drug-addicted, HIV-positive [[trans woman]] he is initially hostile toward. As his health worsens, he drives to a makeshift Mexican hospital to get more AZT. The facility is run by an American, Dr. Vass, whose medical license was revoked because his work with people with AIDS had violated US regulations. Vass warns Woodroof against AZT, telling him it is "poisonous." Instead, he prescribes a cocktail of drugs and nutritional supplements centered on [[Zalcitabine|ddC]] and the protein [[peptide T]], which are not yet approved for use in the United States by the FDA. Three months later, Woodroof finds his health much improved and realizes he could make money by importing the drugs and selling them to other HIV-positive patients. He is able to get the drugs over the border by masquerading as a priest with cancer and claiming they are for personal use. Dr. Saks starts to notice the adverse effects of AZT, but her supervisor, Dr. Sevard, tells her the trials cannot be discontinued. Woodroof starts selling the drugs in Dallas on the street, at [[gay nightclub]]s, and [[discotheque]] bars. He reluctantly partners with Rayon since she can bring in more customers. The pair establishes the Dallas Buyers Club, charging $400 per month for membership and giving away the drugs to members to circumvent the laws that made it illegal to sell the drugs. The club is extremely popular, and Woodroof gradually begins to respect Rayon as a friend. When Woodroof is hospitalized for a [[Myocardial infarction|heart attack]] caused by an overdose of recently acquired [[interferon]] from Japan, Dr. Sevard learns of the club and its alternative drugs and is angry that the buyers club is interfering with his trial. The FDA confiscates the interferon and threatens to have Woodroof arrested. Dr. Saks agrees that there are benefits to [[buyers club|clubs]] for HIV drugs but feels powerless to change anything. The process the FDA uses to research, test, and [[Approved drug#United States|approve drugs]] is considered flawed and part of the problem for people suffering from AIDS. At that time, the United States and the FDA were particularly conservative by international standards in testing and approving anti-AIDS drugs. They were hostile to imported drugs to the point they were made contraband.<ref name="cma">{{Cite journal |last=Singer |first=Merrill |date=1994-10-01 |title=Aids and the health crisis of the U.S. urban poor; the perspective of critical medical anthropology |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0277-9536%2894%2990205-4 |journal=Social Science & Medicine |language=en |volume=39 |issue=7 |pages=931–948 |doi=10.1016/0277-9536(94)90205-4 |pmid=7992126 |issn=0277-9536|citeseerx=10.1.1.454.7720 }}</ref> Dr. Saks and Woodroof begin a friendship. | |||