Harper’s has put the complete text of Out of Control online. It’s a hell of a read.
Money, politics, good science. Pick two.
Well, that’s appalling. Isn’t this a problem with pretty much all the drug trials we’ve got now, though? HIV isn’t the only disease we’re trying to stop with third-world test subjects…
This entire article is a bit unhinged.
With all other viral diseases, by the way, the presence of antibodies signals immunity from the disease. Why this is not the case with HIV has never been demonstrated.
I mean, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C are the first viral diseases that spring to mind in which antibodies coexist with active disease, I’m sure there are others. Lots of quotes in the article seem designed to appear very scary, but don’t make much sense (for example the whole section on why HIV doesn’t meet Koch’s postulates, or why HIV doesn’t cause the same disease in all people.)
Hepatic toxicity (as seen with the case discussed at the start of the article) shows up with many drugs that are used commonly - lamotrigine for one (used for bipolar disorder). Some small number of people who take the medication have the reaction, and that’s why their doctors keep a close eye on liver function tests, and watch closely for rashes. No medication is perfect, and you always have to balance the risks and benefits.
I can understand why the editors of Nature found it difficult to take Duesberg seriously…
Duesberg thinks that up to 75 percent of AIDS cases in the West can be attributed to drug toxicity. If toxic AIDS therapies were discontinued, he says, thousands of lives could be saved virtually overnight.
Off the cuff, I wonder if the article was written by someone without much medical background.