• 17
  • November
    2010

At 20 years of age, Tom Cosgrove has spent his whole life living with an infamous disease that doctors said would kill him when he was a toddler. But it didn't. Cosgrove is now the oldest person to be born with HIV in Rhode Island. But because he comes from what is known as the "HIV-baby generation," he faces different circumstances from those who contract HIV later in life through drug use or sexual intercourse.

The HIV-baby generation is made of those who were born in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when treatment of HIV was relatively primitive. Those of the HIV-baby generation have now entered their late teens and early twenties. They must follow a complex drug regimen with varying degrees of success and complication. Many of them must rely on Social Security Disability benefits for HIV/AIDS.

As the New York Times reports, Cosgrove and other HIV-positive people can experience any of the side effects listed below due to their medications (and the fact that they've dealt with their HIV-positive status their whole lives):

  • Insomnia
  • Diarrhea
  • Short-term memory loss
  • Diabetes
  • Liver and kidney impairment
  • Behavioral problems

Though HIV is now generally considered a chronic disease that can be managed, the Social Security Administration (SSA) grants Social Security Disability benefits on a case by case basis when it comes to HIV/AIDS.

The SSA website states, "Individuals with HIV infection who are asymptomatic, or who have less severe HIV manifestations, may be found not disabled."

That is what happened to Davi Morales, who was born with HIV. He lost his Social Security Disability benefits because he was determined able to work. Yet he suffers insomnia and diarrhea from his medication and has great difficulty holding down a job.

The author of the New York Times piece may refer to the disease as "manageable," but to the many people affected by chronic illness, especially one as difficult as HIV, that word does not do justice to its impact on their daily lives.

Sources:

As HIV Babies Come of Age, Problems Linger

Providing Medical Evidence for Individuals with HIV Infection