UCLA Drops Fees for AIDS Drug Test : Research: The medical school will now screen patients for experimental studies at no charge. The school was hit by a wave of criticism over its $260 consulation fee.

UCLA Medical School, responding to criticism from physicians and AIDS activists over its policy to charge fees to screen patients for experimental AIDS drug studies, has scrapped the billing practice and will offer the services free.

Medical school officials Thursday rescinded the longstanding policy of charging a $260 consultation fee for evaluating study candidates after the practice was reported in The Times on Wednesday. Federal health officials said they believed that UCLA, one of 46 sites across the nation chosen to participate in the government-subsidized research program, was the only medical facility charging fees to screen AIDS patients for the drug studies.

“It was something we have really not thought about directly until our attention was focused on it,” said Dr. Esther Hays, associate dean of the UCLA Medical School. “We feel very strongly that we want to contribute to the well-being of these (patients), and after discussing it, it was decided that this would be the fairest way to handle it.”

The research program, sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is designed to study promising new AIDS drugs, such as AZT and DDI. The clinical trials, conducted at academic medical centers across the country, are the nation’s largest source of experimental AIDS care, with a 1989 budget of about $57 million.

UCLA’s policy to charge fees to screen patients for the studies came under fire because the general policy for the clinical trials is that the patients receive the experimental drugs free in return for their willingness to test the effects of unproven drugs. AIDS activists also said that the university’s screening fee could exclude some low-income people who would otherwise be eligible for the study.

However, clinical-trial officials at UCLA said they billed for the screenings because they are part of a larger medical evaluation designed to give AIDS patients numerous treatment options, such as why they should continue taking AZT.

“I’m very pleased that UCLA has reversed its decision,” said Dr. Neil Schram, former chairman of the Los Angeles City/County AIDS Task Force. “UCLA has recognized that their fee was a deterrent for some people, and they’ve removed one of the barriers for ensuring the success of the clinical trials.”

Activists from the AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power said they were concerned that the university might begin charging fees for lab tests and other medical treatment after patients are selected for the studies. However, Hays said the school’s policy to pay for all medical costs related to the experimental drug treatment studies would not change.