LOS ANGELES—Dr. R. Scott Hitt, an AIDS specialist and the first openly gay person to head a presidential advisory board, has died. He was 49. Hitt died Nov. 8 of colon cancer at his home in West Hollywood, Calif.

Hitt was chairman of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV and AIDS during President Clinton’s administration in the 1990s. When Clinton released a set of goals in December 1996 that called for a cure, a vaccine and a guarantee of quality care for AIDS patients, Hitt pressed for more measures to stem the rapid spread of the disease among intravenous drug users.

He criticized the Clinton administration for its reluctance to fund needle exchange programs, which he said were proven to prevent the spread of HIV.

He continued practicing as an AIDS doctor until he was accused in 2000 of sexually molesting two male patients. Hitt acknowledged touching one patient inappropriately and “crossing a boundary” with another patient. He said he was diagnosed with colon cancer a year earlier and, after undergoing three surgeries and chemotherapy, his judgment was “impaired.” He later gave up his medical license after a drug arrest.