Dr. Anthony Fauci has fielded criticism throughout his career, but some of his fiercest adversaries later became his closest pals. One of those was the late Larry Kramer, the fiery founder of the activist organization AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power, better known as ACT UP.
Fauci became director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1984, at the same time that the AIDS epidemic was raging. By the time then-President Ronald Reagan first used the word “AIDS” in a press conference on Sept. 17, 1985, there were already 15,000 reported cases of AIDS in the United States and more than 8,000 deaths due to HIV.
Fauci recounts his journey with AIDS research in his new memoir On Call: A Doctor’s Journey in Public Service. The gay male community, which was far and away the hardest hit by the epidemic, were vocally outraged that the federal government was not moving quickly enough in developing …