And the Band Played On 634 people were reported having AIDS, and of those, 260 had died. The "New York Times" wrote three stories in 1981 and three more stories in 1982 about AIDS, none on the front page. The Tylenol Crisis was a criminal act of product-tampering; Legionnaire's Disease was a public health emergency. Twenty-nine members of the American Legion died in 1976 at a convention in Philadelphia. The National Institute of Health spent $34,841 per death of Legionnaire's Disease. In contrast, the NIH spent $3,225 in 1981 and about $8,991 in 1982 for each person who died of AIDS. Shilts accused Ronald Reagan
1976 Philadelphia Legionnaires' disease outbreak which then spread it through the building. This finding prompted new regulations worldwide for climate control systems. Complicating the situation was a fear among the public that the original cluster of 14 cases, six of whom died within a few days of each other, represented an outbreak of swine flu. The total number of cases reached 211, and of those, 29 had died. At the time of the outbreak, epidemiological investigation protocols did not include active participation by both the laboratory specialists and investigators. No effective communication existed between scientists in the field interviewing patients, and those in the laboratory