First Man Believed Cured Of AIDS Says He’s Still Cured

July 24, 2012 3:04 PM

Timothy Ray Brown, known as the “Berlin Patient” and the only person to have been cured of AIDS, holds a press conference to announce the launch of the Timothy Ray Brown Foundation at the Westin City Center hotel on July 24, 2012 in Washington, DC. “I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy,” Brown said of the treatment process that eventually cured him. Planned to launch during the International AIDS Conference being held in Washington, the foundation will work to focus efforts on finding a cure for HIV and AIDS.
(Photo by T.J. Kirkpatrick/Getty Images)

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WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — Timothy Ray Brown, the first person believed to have been cured of AIDS, says reports he still has the HIV virus are false.

Timothy Ray Brown, also known as the “Berlin patient,” says doctors have told him he’s “cured of AIDS and will remain cured.”

Brown had a blood stem cell transplant in 2007 to treat leukemia, using a donor with a rare gene mutation that provides natural resistance to HIV. Doctors declared him “cured” soon after.

But researchers in California recently found traces of HIV in his tissues. Brown says any remnants of the virus still in his body are dead and can’t replicate.

Brown addressed the media in the U.S. for the first time Tuesday, appearing frail but energetic. He announced the formation of a new AIDS foundation in his name.

(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)