Where were you November 7 1991?I know precisely where I was.
My student Tricia Hunter and I had just finished collecting AIDS attitude and behavior surveys in the Chicago transit system. We had been conducting a behavioral surveillance study with a cross section of the city. That is, we were asking the good people of Chicago to fill out surveys as they waited for their train.
I came home that evening to find Magic Johnson on the news. Earvin Magic Johnson, arguably the most recognized face in professional basketball, announced his retirement after testing HIV+.
I was in Chicago. Michael Jordon’s Chicago. The Champion Chicago Bull’s Chicago.
Perhaps with the exception of LA, no city could have been more stunned by Magic’s announcement than Chicago.
It quickly became apparent that our behavioral surveillance research had ended. Everything that America was thinking about AIDS changed in that moment.
UPDATE: Magic addresses the 2009 National HIV/AIDS Conference in Atlanta
Johnson "acknowledged him being HIV positive has been good for the movement to stop the spread of HIV by being able to raise awareness, but it also has been a “curse.”
I was depressed. Not only had this great man fallen to the scourge of HIV, but my first study as a new faculty member at Loyola of Chicago was screwed.
It was the next day that we realized how we could document what would become known as the Magic Johnson Effect. We could test whether the power of celebrity could change the course of an epidemic.
Tricia and I continued data collection and observed huge changes in AIDS attitudes and behavior in Chicago. The most pronounced changes occurred among those who identified closest with Magic Johnson - young men, particularly African American men. We saw dramatic increases in HIV testing that still have not returned to levels pre-November 7 1991. Our results mirrored those of a few other researchers who were in similar positions to compare the world before and after Magic Johnson’s announcement.A few years later I had the opportunity to ask Magic Johnson for his autograph. He signed our article about the effect that his announcement had on Chicago men and women. Now how Geeky Cool is that?!
Magic said that he would need to start teaching again. And he has lived his promise.
Magic Johnson is literally a poster image for HIV treatments. He has been on antiretroviral drugs for at least 10 years. He has remained so healthy on antiretrovirals that many have mistakenly thought that Magic Johnson’s HIV infection is cured. Of course, he is not cured. But like countless others who receive HIV treatments, Magic Johnson is managing his HIV infection and he is thriving.
So what do the AIDS Deniers say about the successful treatment of Magic Johnson?
They deny it, of course.
Some AIDS Deniers say Magic is not HIV+.
Gary Null says that Magic Johnson is not HIV positive. “I got this call from Magic Johnson's top person asking would I help Magic Johnson. [We] had a long conversation. I sent him my protocols, by the way. Now, normally I don't go on the record with anyone I help. I've helped over 1300 very famous people, including members of the Royal Family, including people who are chair people of Committees in Congress and Senate….But Magic Johnson, I will go on the record and state that I would like Magic Johnson to have a blood chemistry test where I would tell what he would be tested for, Herpes 1, 2, and 6, and hepatitis. I would like to see, does Magic Johnson have herpes? Because if he has herpes, herpes will test you positive for the HIV virus.”
Some AIDS Deniers say Magic is HIV+ but he is lying about being treated.
“Magic Johnson presents a major problem for HIV dissenters, because he has stated in public that he takes his antiviral cocktail – the HAART regime – dutifully, and does not visibly suffer from fatty lumps and humps. Nor has he collapsed from kidney and liver damage, which dissenters claim is the fate of all who take these AIDS medicines, certainly within the many years that Magic has been taking his medicine after being diagnosed HIV positive. HIV dissenters like to solve the inconsistency with their counter-theory of the dangerous irrelevancy of anti-HIV drugs to AIDS by claiming that Magic has said privately he doesn’t touch the stuff.”
Other AIDS Deniers say Magic is being treated but not with AZT.
For example, Peter Duesberg alleges, Magic Johnson only took AZT briefly but then discontinued using it, and that is why he is healthy.
Magic Johnson has been on combination ‘drug cocktails’ that include AZT. He in fact has taken and promotes the drug Combivir that combines AZT with another antiretroviral. Magic Johnson is thriving on HIV treatments.
Other people with HIV who have refused treatment have not fared so well. Fellow Los Angelean Christine Maggiore refused treatment and died of AIDS-related complications at age 52. Maggiore's AIDS Denial was even impermeable to the Magic Johnson Effect. Now that is what you call denial!
Happy 50th Birthday Mr. Johnson!!
Wishing you many, many more!
I would like to see, does Magic Johnson have herpes? Because if he has herpes, herpes will test you positive for the HIV virus.”
ReplyDeleteSeroprevalence of various herpesviruses in healthy American adults:
HHV1 (herpes simplex type 1) about 80%
HHV2 (herpes simplex type 2) about 15-20%
HHV6 about 85%
Seroprevalence of HIV in the US: about 0.35%
Null is not only a wanker, but an ignorant wanker.
I remember some denialists on Aetiology trying to use Magic Johnson as proof that HIV doesn't cause AIDS. Apparently they either didn't know he takes his meds or were just in denial.
ReplyDelete"Magic Johnson is literally a poster image for HIV treatments. He has been on antiretroviral drugs for at least 10 years."
ReplyDeleteHe's been POZ for almost 18 years. I wonder just how long he has actually been on HIV meds?
I am going on 15 years of HIV Meds and I also have normal liver enzymes, no humps or bumps and have never had a side effect worse than nauseau and overall malaise. From all the people I have talked to on meds, I am the norm and not the exception.
Too bad those who are the exceptions can't chenge their meds instead of stopping them.
JTD
Maybe he meant another type of herpes virus.
ReplyDeleteEpstein Barr Virus - ~20%
Herpes Zoster - ~20% (+ the ~81% of children between 19-35 months that are vaccinated against it and thus have antibodies to it)
Cytomegalovirus - ~50%
Maybe it was to HHV8 that Null referred with his absolute statement that herpes will give you a false positive! Except that is just as unfounded as the other herpes viruses. So why isn't everyone in the US testing positive?
Maybe the first AIDS Denial regarding Magic came from those who said he must have gotten HIV from a man. Remember the rumors about Arsenio Hall and Magic? That was as sick as the rest of this denialism.
ReplyDeleteSo Henry Bauer would say Magic tested HIV+ because he is black.
ReplyDeleteAnd Duesberg says that he has never really taken AZT for very long so that is why he is not dead.
Am I missing anything?
My theory (well hypothesis actually) is that Magic Johnson is an undercover reptilian alien sent by big pharma to herd the sheeple into compliance with their meds so they won't realize that 9/11 was planned by George Bush on behalf of the pro-round-earther government to cover the hoax that is the holocaust. Sadly I think that hypothesis probably has more supporting evidence for it than those of denialists.
ReplyDeleteTrey, sorry for my delayed response.
ReplyDeleteYes, you have it right. Henry Bauer says that people from Africa and African heritage have so many antibodies that their immune systems are actually different, causing HIV antibody tests to go as nuts an AIDS Denier and deliver false positive results.
The quote from Duesberg says it all.
The hypothesis that Poodlestomper claims is his own sounds unmistakably like David Rasnick. Although toned down slightly from Lucifer’s usual conspiracies, it shares all of the elements. Shame on you Poodlestomper!
AIDS Deniers go to any length to maintain their denial. The Magic Johnson examples are mild compared to the lexicon gymnastics we saw when Christine Maggiore died.
My brother was on AZT monotherapy from 1987 to 1996 and went on lower dose cocktail in 1997. He died 2 years later in 1999. 10-15 thousand people continue to die every year of this disease, how come everyone seems to have forgotten that fact?
ReplyDeleteI understand that the drugs are better today, but have we totally forgotten that people still die of this. Too much sunshine and rainbows, not realistic. Sorry.
Anonymous
ReplyDeleteYou are right.
No fun a games about HIV/AIDS. The treatment situation is hugely better than it was for your brother. But still no cure. What this site is about are the AIDS Deniers who say HIV is harmless and the drugs are so toxic they cause AIDS. Sounds nutty because it is. I wrote a book about AIDS Denial and this blog extends from that. Thanks for commenting...
Henry Bauer says that people from Africa and African heritage have so many antibodies that their immune systems are actually different, causing HIV antibody tests to go as nuts an AIDS Denier and deliver false positive results.
ReplyDeleteAnd for some inexplicable reason the seroprevalence (false positive or otherwise) went from almost zero to about 30% in South Africa (antenatal clinics) in the space of fifteen years.
Self-consistency is not a feature of denialism.
Weather or not you agree with Duesberg and whomever you call "denialists".......there is a strange money trail involved with this health problem...and I think that, allot of scientists (researching other illnesses) are resentful that their funding has been yanked for research on this health problem.
ReplyDeleteI do not trust the FDA or the drug companies. I hope they
develop good drugs that help people without poisoning them. So far, drugs developed for HIV and Cancer are deadly. 50% of cancer patients will die from the treatment alone. Even the AMA has confirmed this fact....and for them to admit that is a HUGE step OUT of denial.
I also find it odd, how angry people are over these few so called "denialists" there are only a few. There really are so many things worth being angry about like, how much the AMA affects our health care, what their motives are.....or how about, how the FDA is operating.
Get real and get angry about something that is true and has been in front of your faces for decades. And remember to question everything, especially government.
"And remember to question everything, especially government."
ReplyDeleteIt is always good to question. it is also good to keep an open mind but not so open that your brain falls out. You say you "So far, drugs developed for HIV and Cancer are deadly." Have you questioned this? Have you compared, for example, the death rates of people with a certain cancer who were treated with chemo vs. people with the same cancer that remained untreated? Please post the results (since I'm sure you wouldn't make such a claim with out questioning it). No one is saying they are perfect or without some side effects, but the question is to the benefits outweigh the risks?
Look at Hodgkin’s lymphoma for example. Treated (chemo and radiation), a person has a 90% chance of recovery, untreated you have about a 2% chance. Daniel Hauser was a recent public story related to this. Which would you rather have? If the treatment alone should result in a 50% death rate in patients. why do 90% recover? Perhaps you have misunderstood the statistic you claim. Perhaps you could include a reference to this figure?
Poodlestomper
ReplyDeleteThis Anonymous comment is a great example of how the paranoia of AIDS Deniers overtakes all logic and rationality. Their extremist ideas are just outrageous. Cancer therapies don’t work? No genetic basis for cancer? Antiretrovirals are toxic poisons?
How anyone takes these people seriously is beyond me.
when your healthy with hiv and this can last several years for some you might be prone to call the drugs toxic and deadly but when your tcells fall flat and your lymph nodes swell you better run for hiv drugs because there is no other way. I know.
ReplyDeleteHe has totally changed peoples perception of what it is to have HIV. People thought you were doomed to a short, painful life before Magic.
ReplyDeleteSeth,
ReplyDeleteMany gay men in the 80s and 90s saw the problems associated with AZT and other drugs that our doctors tried to give us ... and the ones who took that horrible drug died within a matter of 1-3 years ... for those who were strong enough to reject the drugs and live a somewhat healthy life, continue to live with HIV even after 15-25 years ... for me, it's been 18 years ... and for some of my friends, it's been longer.
So I suppose one question to ask the author is how do you know he takes his retrovirals? Do you administer them? And is it possible he may fabricate, especially in light he received over 60 million dollars from Abbott?
ReplyDeleteChristine Maggiore's autopsy was put online a few weeks ago. She did not die from anything AIDS related.... No matter what the loonies hope for. She died from ANTIBIOTIC treatment. Mohammad El Bayati has finished the in depth examination of the autopsy samples, and wrote an understandable repaort. This report is posted on the Memorial Wall page for Christine. You can find it at
ReplyDeletehttp://www.christinemaggiorememorial.com/
The Toxicology and Pathology report is linked on the middle right of the opening page.
Please stop the horrible lies that are spread to further the myth that HIV or AIDS had anything to do with her death.
Also - AZT is the Thalidamide of our time. Some lawyers need to go after that one, and get it banned a second time.
Anonymous
ReplyDeleteThis is a really old post.
Hopefully you are working your way through all of my posts. It could help you understand the reality of AIDS Denialism.
Christine Maggiore died of AIDS. There is really no refuting that. The autopsy you refer to is not the autopsy. It is a sham from Rethinking AIDS Al Bayati. Please read on. You will find more than a couple posts on my blog about him. He is as disgusting as AIDS Denialists come.
If nothing else, you should see these people for what they are and what they have done.
Seth and so are u. u are just as disgusting!!!!!!!!!!the meds are poisonous and you know it too
ReplyDeleteI think that the arguments of the denialists are scientific more solid than official version.Please warn me when they isolate the virus in the blood or in some cell and I will change my opinion
ReplyDeletethey isolated the virus in 1983. Montagnier got the Nobel for it. Are we in 1982 or what?
Deletethey didn't.
Deletemy child is aids person what can she and i do make her health all the med fot lst 10 -15 years
ReplyDeleteshe is always in out of the hospital. Is there not any real txtment for this horrible disease. she was given blood tranfusion and have been sick w/ this illness due too aids
All you AIDS Propagandists can go to HELL!
ReplyDeleteAs with almost all diseases ,your health determines on how the disease effects you that's why its hard for a doctor to tell you how long you got unless your organs are shutting down,amino acids I think are the key along with proper high protein diet,there's nine amino acids that we can't get from our diet ,so Im one person that believes proper diet exercise and the supplements one can live longer and healthier without prescription medication ,if you know someone with diabetes who can control there sugar without injections,or someone with rheumatoid arthritis,hiv,etc...they can have their life back . Remember digestion is a major key in living healthier once something goes wrong here any infection in our body can reek havoc on our organs toxins start enter our blood stream eventually making its way throughout the body, amino acids that we have to supplement with ultimately rid our bodies from toxins Im a believer ,and if you or someone you know is still sick or not living that great of a life or is left in pain while being treated by a doctor something is wrong ,don't settle for this start living again just like your health took a complete turn over night spin it right back around the other way good luck
ReplyDeleteAs with almost all diseases ,your health determines on how the disease effects you that's why its hard for a doctor to tell you how long you got unless your organs are shutting down,amino acids I think are the key along with proper high protein diet,there's nine amino acids that we can't get from our diet ,so Im one person that believes proper diet exercise and the supplements one can live longer and healthier without prescription medication ,if you know someone with diabetes who can control there sugar without injections,or someone with rheumatoid arthritis,hiv,etc...they can have their life back . Remember digestion is a major key in living healthier once something goes wrong here any infection in our body can reek havoc on our organs toxins start enter our blood stream eventually making its way throughout the body, amino acids that we have to supplement with ultimately rid our bodies from toxins Im a believer ,and if you or someone you know is still sick or not living that great of a life or is left in pain while being treated by a doctor something is wrong ,don't settle for this start living again just like your health took a complete turn over night spin it right back around the other way good luck
ReplyDeleteAs with almost all diseases ,your health determines on how the disease effects you that's why its hard for a doctor to tell you how long you got unless your organs are shutting down,amino acids I think are the key along with proper high protein diet,there's nine amino acids that we can't get from our diet ,so Im one person that believes proper diet exercise and the supplements one can live longer and healthier without prescription medication ,if you know someone with diabetes who can control there sugar without injections,or someone with rheumatoid arthritis,hiv,etc...they can have their life back . Remember digestion is a major key in living healthier once something goes wrong here any infection in our body can reek havoc on our organs toxins start enter our blood stream eventually making its way throughout the body, amino acids that we have to supplement with ultimately rid our bodies from toxins Im a believer ,and if you or someone you know is still sick or not living that great of a life or is left in pain while being treated by a doctor something is wrong ,don't settle for this start living again just like your health took a complete turn over night spin it right back around the other way good luck
ReplyDeletewow.........people.......all i can say is that i have been gay my whole life and got infected 12 years ago.......and actually made me a healthier person........because i love myself and i would love to be here for the next 40 years at least........friends and family past away in the last 12 years and no one had hiv......i have it and im still here.......just be sincere to yourself......believe in god and try to find the best treatment for you.....and dont forget to be nice to your partners and let them know that you have hiv.......and please practice safe sex.....i love you all........dr nist......in naples florida is one of the best doctors in united states.......
ReplyDelete