Free Republic

Timothy Ray Brown, the first person to be cured of H.I.V., through an experimental bone marrow transplant that offered hope though not a realistic treatment for most people with the virus, died on Tuesday at his home in Palm Springs, Calif. He was 54. His partner, Tim Hoeffgen, said the cause was unrelated recurring leukemia. Mr. Brown had remained free of H.I.V., the virus that can lead to AIDS. “Timothy would like to be remembered as a man who gave hope to people around the world that a cure for H.I.V. is possible,” Mr. Hoeffgen said in an email. Mr....

Editor's note: Soon after this article was posted to AIDSmeds and POZ, the editorial staff discovered that the long-anonymous Berlin Patient has decided to come forward, for the first time ever, in a profile published in the December 9 issue of Stern magazine. He is 44-year-old Timothy Ray Brown. (Click here for an approximate English translation of the profile teaser posted to stern.de.) The “Berlin Patient”—a man living with HIV who underwent a transplant involving HIV-resistant stem cells in 2007 for the treatment of leukemia—has been classified as cured of his HIV, according to an update of the patient’s experience published online, ahead of print, on...