BIGGER APOLOGY IS NEEDED

Former President Clinton has recently acknowledged that "I was wrong" for
not heeding the masses of scientific evidence and legalizing
needle-exchange programs (July 12).

But there are 17,000 individuals to whom Mr. Clinton really owes an
apology. We have estimated in the British medical journal, The Lancet, that
up to 17,000 HIV infections in the U.S. could have been prevented by needle
exchanges during Mr. Clinton's terms. What would a now-contrite Mr. Clinton
say were he forced to face those drug users, their partners and their
babies who were unnecessarily infected on his watch because clean needles
were not available?

Peter Lurie, M.D. -- Deputy Director Public Citizen's Health Research Group

Ernest Drucker, Ph.D. -- Professor of Epidemiology and Social Medicine,
Montefiore Medical Center Washington