#descovy

I’ll just say one thing. “Don’t ever get rid of that crop top” I actually SCREAMED at this point. It was so unexpected!

It was a beautifull chapter Roc. It did not disappoint me at all (I’m the James lover anon), i loved the way you conveyed james paranoia and what he thinks when he loses some control over himself in a way. I also loved the way you described everything unspoken, THE FINAL TENSION I felt it all!

Plus: I like the way you “advertise” safe sex

Hi James lover anon 💕

Thank you so much, I’m glad you enjoyed it! This and ch13 (the one with James’ memories) were the hardest two to write. Focusing on James’ internal turmoil whilst including his feelings about Regulus and also the progress he’s making is very hard on me. It’s draining mentally and emotionally and it never feels quite good enough. So makes me super happy when it gets appreciated, thank you so much dear 😊

And yes, safe sex! Although Regulus does not need to take the PrEP, I don’t think many people have heard about it and I wanted to include it in the story. It would be more relevant for the Marauders, their risk as injecting drug users is much higher than Regulus’, but I wanted to show it from the sexual point of view.

I posted the chapter extremely sleep deprived so my end notes explanation was a bit poor. I updated it now, but here it is too, for people who may be interested:

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved a new drug, Descovy, for prevention of infection with H.I.V., only the second drug approved for this purpose.

The first, Truvada, has become a mainstay of government efforts to turn back the H.I.V. epidemic. But the F.D.A.’s approval of Descovy explicitly excludes “individuals who have receptive vaginal sex,” which may include cisgender women and many transgender men, and does not outline a plan for making the drug available to them.

The drug’s maker, Gilead Sciences, tested it only “in men and transgender women,” the F.D.A. noted. Some activists and scientists said the approval sets a dangerous precedent by allowing companies to dodge the expensive trials needed to test medicines in cisgender women and other groups at risk of H.I.V. infection.

Such an exclusion “should be unacceptable in these days and times,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, chief of infectious diseases at Massachusetts General Hospital.

It’s important to test the drug specifically in cisgender women and some transgender men, she added, because Descovy may work differently in the vagina than in rectal tissues.

Thanks to a national program called Ready, Set, PrEP, people who don’t have insurance for prescription drugs can now get free pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), the daily pill to prevent contracting HIV. However, the cost of related clinic visits and lab work may vary depending on the person’s income.

CVS Health, Walgreens and Rite Aid are participating in the federal program. This means that by March 30, 2020, PrEP medication can be picked up at their more than 21,000 pharmacies.

FDA backs Gilead's HIV prevention drug Descovy for use as PrEP

An FDA advisory panel on Wednesday voted in favor of Gilead Sciences Inc's combination drug to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV infection in men and transgender women who have sex with men.

Called Ready, Set, PrEP, the federal program will provide patients at risk of contracting HIV one of the two pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) drugs. Those medications can reduce the chances of getting HIV through sex by more than 90%.

The medications, Truvada and Descovy, are made possible in part by a donation from the drugs' manufacturer, Gilead Sciences. That would cover the drugs for up to 200,000 uninsured individuals each year for the next 11 years. The federal government, however, is paying the drugmaker for several months to distribute the medications.

Health care providers overseeing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use among men who have sex with men (MSM) are far from meeting guidelines for routine sexually transmitted infection (STI) testing in this population, aidsmap reports.

Testing rates are notably poor in the South, where STIs are the most prevalent.