NIH memo questioned AIDS data

WASHINGTON AIDS researcher Robert C. Gallo and his NationalInstitutes of Health laboratory may have made incorrect statements ona patent application filed seven years ago for the AIDS blood test,according to an internal NIH memorandum.

The unsigned memo, details of which were reported in the ChicagoTribune on Sunday, is based on an ongoing NIH investigation intopossible improprieties during discovery of the AIDS virus anddevelopment of an AIDS blood-test kit at Gallo's NIH laboratory in1983 and 1984.

NIH officials said, however, the document is an unreviewed draftand does not reflect the final position of the Health and HumanServices Department, which is …