Daniel Meyer, MD, has been caring for people living with HIV for decades. He’s encouraged by the emergence of long-acting injectables to treat the virus. “This is the future for HIV treatment,” says Meyer. “And I think patients also appreciate the fact that they have another option.”

He should know. As the medical director for comprehensive health services, infectious diseases and LGBTQ health at Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Pennsylvania, Meyer speaks from experience. His medical training came at a pivotal time. For example, in 1995, during his residency, the first multidrug treatment, known as “the cocktail,” was introduced. That gives Meyer, who now leads one of the largest HIV specialty clinics in Pennsylvania, an uncommon historical perspective. 

“In our office, we have about 1,000 people living with HIV. I would say we probably have 25% of them [about 500 people] on injectables,” he says. “It’s a big number,” Meyer notes. Those additional 500 injections per month are a novel burden for the nurses involved. “It’s important that you are trained to do it correctly,” he emphasizes.

Meyer has some thoughts about the pain some people report at the injection site: “Reducing that several days of pain pharmaceutically would be optimal.“ But, he notes, ”The more people get into the treatment course, that pain usually diminishes. Usually, the first several sets are the most painful, and then over time. it diminishes.”

The good news is that Meyer’s predominantly Latino clients, many on long-acting injectables, are living longer and healthier lives, something that would have been inconceivable at the start of his career. 

“The bulk of our patients are over 50, which reflects the goal of reducing infections so that the population will age to deal with geriatric things,” he explains. “I have an 80-year-old guy who has been HIV positive for about 35 years. Imagine!”