"We work very closely with other Cambridge organizations... to provide comprehensive service to HIV-positive patients," says MAP Director Dianne Perlmutter.

Perlmutter stresses the importance of support groups, substance abuse counseling and family counseling to the clinic's holistic medical approach.

"We like to think of it as serving the whole family," Perlmutter says.

Physicians deal with patients individually and on a personal basis, Perlmutter says.

"[Physicians] work in partnership with patients to determine what care is best," she says. "They evaluate the pros and cons of a given medication and whether the patient is in a position to take them."

But recent controversy over new HIV-management drugs has put physicians--and their control over prescriptions--in the spotlight.

The drugs--protease inhibitors--are designed to be taken according to a strict schedule and can potentially strengthen the HIV-virus if taken sporadically.

"It's one of the most hopeful developments in a long time," says Perlmutter, "but if individuals take the drug and don't continue, there's the danger that if you start and stop you will develop a more resistant strain of the virus."

Prejudice or Fear?

Another issue for many HIV-positive individuals involves discrimination--in housing, employment and even health-care services.

"There does tend to be discrimination on the part of landlords," says Jeffrey Chatlos, a staff attorney at the Health Law Institute of the Justice Research Center (JRI), an organization devoted to the legal and mental care of HIV-positive individuals in the Boston area.

"I don't know if it's prejudice or fear on the part of the landlord, but [in the case of Section 8 vouchers] it's ridiculous," he says. "The rent's going to be there."

Chatlos explains that most of the cases the institute handles involve family law and issues such as estate planning, probate and health proxy.

"It's important to have someone you trust making medical decisions for you," Chatlos says.

"That way, when the crisis hits, you're prepared."