OSCAR SKAGGS

Editor -- I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences to Boz and
Carmella Skaggs on the death of their son, Oscar. I also want to express my
gratitude for the family's request that memorial contributions be sent to
the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinics, Inc.

As the medical director of the clinic, I am constantly amazed and
disheartened by the seemingly endless number of young men and women, many
younger than Oscar, whom we see and treat daily for heroin addiction.
Overdoses, abscesses and HIV plague today's addicts, as well as the new
epidemic that is sweeping injection drug users -- Hepatitis C. Half of the
city's addicts under 25 are infected with this deadly disease.

Oscar is described as a vibrant, sensitive young man, with his whole life
ahead of him. As a physician who is in daily contact with young adults, and
a father of three children, I share the deep pain and loss that Oscar's
parents, family and friends are living.

Donations received in Oscar's name to the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical
Clinic will provide totally free, nonjudgmental, quality health care for
those in need, as we have been doing since 1967. Oscar Skaggs' memory and
the generosity of his family will help us continue to provide these services.

JOSEPH ELSON, M.D.
Medical Director Haight-Ashbury Free Clinics, Inc.