David Rasnick: Recognized by the Scientific Community as a Certified Whack Job

State of denial

By Megan Scudellari

Nature Medicine

16, 248 (2010) 
doi:10.1038/nm0310-248a

Scientists regularly debate hypotheses and interpretations, sometimes feverishly. But in the public sphere, a different type of dissension is spreading through media outlets and online in an unprecedented way-one that challenges basic concepts held as undeniable truths by most researchers. 'Science denialism' is the rejection of the scientific consensus, often in favor of a radical and controversial point of view. Here, we list what we see as a few of today's most vocal denialists spreading ideas that counter the consensus in health fields.

-David Rasnick: A biochemist who studied protease inhibitors in the pharmaceutical industry, Rasnick is the former president of Rethinking AIDS, an activist group that calls for the reappraisal of the 'belief' that HIV causes AIDS. Rasnick was also a member of South African president Thabo Mbeki's AIDS Advisory Panel; as part of the panel, Rasnick argued that AIDS does not exist and suggested that HIV testing be outlawed and antiretroviral drugs no longer used in the country. Although not linking their findings to Rasnick, two studies have independently estimated that more than 330,000 lives were lost in South Africa between 2000 and 2005 because of the delayed use of antiretrovirals (J. Acquir. Immune Defic. Syndr. 49, 410-415, 2008; Afr. Aff. 107, 157-176, 2008).

CORRECTION posted by Nature Medicine (this may be a first. Correcting something crazy with something just as crazy)

In ‘State of Denial’ (Nat. Med. 16, 248 (2010)), we originally stated that David Rasnick denied the existence of AIDS while serving on an advisory panel. Contrary to a report produced by the panel, Rasnick says he did not question the existence of AIDS. Rather, he says that AIDS is not contagious and is not caused by HIV. The text should have read “Rasnick was also a member of South African president Thabo Mbeki’s AIDS Advisory Panel; as part of the panel, Rasnick suggested that HIV testing be outlawed and antiretroviral drugs no longer used in the country.” The error was corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article on 17 March 2010.

Duped by Denialists: Final Verdict on Editor of Medical Hypotheses Part III

 Implement peer review or resign, controversial journal’s editor told

Times Higher Education

10 March 2010

By Zoë Corbyn

Ultimatum spells end for Medical Hypotheses in its current form. Zoë Corbyn reports

The editor of the journal Medical Hypotheses has been given until 15 March either to implement changes to adopt a traditional peer-review system, or to resign.

He has also been told that even if he stays with the journal, his contract will not be renewed at the end of the year.

As Times Higher Education reported in January, publisher Elsevier is attempting to rein in its unorthodox journal, which publishes papers on the basis of how interesting or radical they are rather than using peer review, after it published a paper last July that denied the link between HIV and Aids.

The article prompted an outcry from Aids researchers, leading Elsevier to propose changes to both introduce peer review and exclude papers on certain controversial topics.

Duped by Denialists: Final Verdict on Editor of Medical Hypotheses Part II

Elsevier to Editor: Change Controversial Journal or Resign

Science

by Martin Enserink on March 8, 2010 7:37 PM 

The editor of the journal Medical Hypotheses—an oddity in the world of scientific publishing because it does not practice peer review—is about to lose his job over the publication last summer of a paper that says HIV does not cause AIDS. Publishing powerhouse Elsevier today told editor Bruce Charlton that it won't renew his contract, which expires at the end of 2010, and it asked that Charlton resign immediately or implement a series of changes in his editorial policy, including putting a system of peer review in place. Charlton, who teaches evolutionary psychology at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in the United Kingdom, says he will do neither, and some on the editorial advisory board say they may resign in protest if he is fired.

Duped by Denialists: Final Verdict on Editor of Medical Hypotheses

Journal Editor Faces Axe
by Jef  Akst
The Scientist
March 8 2010
Elsevier has asked the editor-in-chief of its only non-peer-reviewed journal, Medical Hypotheses, to either resign immediately or implement a series of changes, including a traditional peer-review system.

The journal's editor-in-chief Bruce Charlton told The Scientist that such changes are "vehemently opposed" by the editorial advisory board, as well as at least 150 scientists who have published in the journal. Elsevier has given him until next Monday (March 15) to respond, and he said he is still contemplating his decision.


In addition to instituting a peer-review system, an external advisory board assembled by Elsevier also recommends that articles on controversial subjects, such as any that support racism, not be considered for publication.
Elsevier has also given Charlton notice that his contract will be "terminated" at the end of this year, Charlton said. "My understanding is that Elsevier will indeed appoint a new editor and make the changes while keeping the same title," he explained, a move that he considers "dishonest" and "unethical."

Next for Ahmadinejad: HIV Does Not Cause AIDS

Iranian president: 

9/11 was 'big lie'

March 7, 2010

Two days before his official trip to Afghanistan, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, a "big lie" intended to pave the way for the invasion of a war-torn nation, according to Iranian state media.

Ahmadinejad, known for his harsh rhetoric toward the West and Israel, said the attack on U.S. soil was a "scenario and a sophisticated intelligence measure," Iran's state-run Press TV reported Saturday.

The assault was a "big lie intended to serve as a pretext for fighting terrorism and setting the grounds for sending troops to Afghanistan," Press TV reported Ahmadinejad as saying.

It's not the first time Ahmadinejad has denied a historical tragedy. In the past, he has denied the existence of the Holocaust, which claimed the lives of some 6 million Jews during World War II, and suggested Israel should be "wiped off the map."

What's the Harm? Eliza Jane Scovill

One Nation Under God with Liberty and Stupidity for All

Despite what AIDS Denialists may say, AIDS Denialism has political ties. The reality is that Peter Duesberg attracts  champions of free speech and anti-censorship. That is because the folklore of Peter Duesberg centers on his being censored by science and defunded by the federal government, neither of which is true. Still, he has successfully cultivated the sympathies of the anti-government crowd. 


Those of us who follow AIDS Denialism are well aware of the connection between AIDS deniers and Libertarianism.  Former college math teacher Rebecca Culshaw came to us through the Lew Rockwell anti-government, anti-war, pro-capitalism website. Libertarian comedian Bill Maher (and by the way, I am a fan) came out in support of the late AIDS denier Christine Maggiore. Other AIDS Deniers like conservative columnist Tom Bethel and venture capitalist Robert Leppo also fall into the Libertarian camp. Of course there are the Clean Hands whistle blowing American Physicians and Surgeons people who publish AIDS deniers in their sham journal. Then you have David Rasnick who fears the NIH, CIA, FBI, DHS, IRS etc. to the point where he lives in exile in the Bahamas. There are several other examples from less known (and less significant) AIDS denier bloggers.

So it did not surprise me to see AIDS Denialists crawl out of the woodwork on former Libertarian Presidential Candidate and US Congressman Ron Paul’s website. It is an amusing read, with connections between Chinese viruses, Peter Duesberg, and natural cures.

New Aids like easily transmissible disease in China

Submitted by runforron on Thu, 06/04/2009 - 18:24

A new infectious disease is spreading in large areas of Mainland China. Symptoms are similar to AIDS but it spreads faster between family members, even via bodily fluids like saliva.

Need a Break from AIDS Denialism? How about some plain old HIV risk denial?

British women 'in denial' over growing HIV risk

Unprotected heterosexual sex is not seen as a danger to health, survey finds

By Amelia Hill, The Guardian / The Observer, Sunday 28 February 2010

British women are putting themselves at increasing risk of HIV infection,ccording to experts, with a new survey revealing that almost three-quarters have never been tested for the virus and a significant proportion admitting that nothing could persuade them to be examined. The poll of 1,000 adults in the UK has revealed that a false sense of security is seeing women neglecting to protect themselves against catching the virus.

Killing the AIDS Denialist's Montagnier Rant: In His Own (unedited) Words

Nobel Lecture

25 years after HIV discovery: Prospects for cure and vaccine

Luc Montagnier

World Foundation AIDS Research and Prevention, UNESCO, Paris, France

Published February 2010 in Virology 397 (2010) 248–254

The impressive advances of our scientific knowledge in the last century allow us to have a much better vision of our origin on earth and our situation in the Universe than our ancestors. Life has probably started on Earth around 3 and half billion of years ago and a genetic memory has early emerged, based on an extraordinary stable molecule, the DNA double helix, bearing a genetic code identical for all living organisms, from bacteria to men. We are thus the heirs of myriads of molecular inventions which have accumulated over millions–sometime billions–of years. The environmental pressure has of course both maintained these inventions and also modulated them over the generations, through death of the individuals and sexual reproduction. For the last 30,000 years, our biological constitution has not changed: a hypertrophic cortical brain, a larynx to speak and a hand to manipulate. But for the last 10,000 years, another memory has emerged, which makes our species quite different from the others: this is the cultural memory which transmits knowledge and societal organization from generation to next generation, through the use of language, writing and more recently virtual communication means.

Mass Delusion in San Francisco

This week I attended the Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Illnesses (CROI). There were over 5000 scientists from around the world at CROI, all sharing the mass delusion that HIV causes AIDS. These poor suckers have obviously not been persuaded by Peter Duesberg and his cronies that all retroviruses are harmless. It was apparent that these people are conspiring to keep the status quo. They obviously have everything to lose by telling the truth. There was not one single session on Loch Ness Monsters, UFOs, CIA conspiracies, Aneuploidy, or leaky guts.  And they call themselves scientists!

Want to see for yourself? All of the major sessions are available for webcast. 

Also check out POZ Magazine’s coverage and Thebody.com’s coverage.

A most interesting time was spent having lunch with one of Peter Duesberg's old graduate teaching assistants. I kid you not. Old stories from this former student confirm the Duesberg chapter of Denying AIDS. 

Here is the Big Story from CROI….

Researchers: Antiretroviral Drugs May Prevent HIV Infection (San Francisco)

2/19/2010, 8:11 p.m. EST David Brown The Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO-The antiretroviral drugs that revolutionized the care of people with AIDS are on the threshold of a new life-as tools to prevent infection in individuals and brake the epidemic in populations as a whole.

Studies are under way testing whether periodic use of the drugs, either as pills or as vaginal or rectal gels, can prevent transmission of HIV in high-risk sexual encounters. At the same time, it's becoming clear that the incidence of HIV infection declines over time in places where most infected people know their status and are on treatment, and thus are less likely to pass the virus to others.

AIDS Denialists Meet the Press

A few weeks ago Pride Chigwedere and Max Essex of Harvard University published a paper in the journal I edit, AIDS and Behavior. The article offered their perspective on AIDS Denialist Peter Duesberg and his outrageous comments about the impact of HIV treatments on South Africa's AIDS epidemic. The article is available free online and I posted excerpts on this blog.

The article gained some press coverage in the US and Europe.
Here are a few samples... 

Call for AIDS denialists to be held accountable

USA Today, January 19, 2010

AIDS denialists refute that HIV causes AIDS, that antiretroviral drugs are useful, and lastly, that millions of people worldwide have died from AIDS. AIDS denialists represent a growing movement that has considerable visibility on the Internet. Despite their views, it is estimated that from 2000 to 2005, at least 330,000 South Africans died prematurely and 35,000 babies were infected with HIV as a result of former president Thabo Mbeki's decision to withhold antiretroviral drugs, based on advice from American AIDS denialists.

Kill a Child Lately? Not to Worry, Call Dr. Al-Bayati

I am sure you are familiar with ‘Dr.’ Mohammed Ali AL-Bayati.

You know, the 'pathologist/toxicologist' who wrote the reinterpretation of three year old Elisa Jane Scovill's autopsy report (Eliza Jane was AIDS denialist Christine Maggiore's baby). When the LA Coroner concluded that Eliza Jane died of AIDS, it was Al-Bayati who  re-examined the records and said she died of antibiotic poisoning. His conclusions were used in Maggiore's case against the LA coroner. More importantly, Al-Bayati provided Maggiore with what she needed to hear - that she was not responsible for her baby's death.

  

Last year when Christine Maggiore died of complications from AIDS (disseminated herpes and pneumonia), Al-Bayati did it again. He re-examined the official records and concluded that  Maggiore died of – yes that is right – antibiotic poisoning.

Something you may not know about Al-Bayati is that he is a longtime associate of AIDS Denialist Professor Peter Duesberg. They go way back. Al-Bayati would have examined the blood and tissues of the mice in Duesberg’s failed NIH grant from the 1990's that would have tested poppers as the cause of AIDS. Tax payers would have paid Al-Bayati over $93,000 for his expertise. If Duesberg would have gotten that grant the total costs that would have gone to Al-Bayati's Institute of Toxicology and Environmental Health would have been $281,050.

  

A less known fact is that Al-Bayati is a hired gun for the defense of a lot of people accused of killing children - not just those who withhold HIV treatments. One such case involves the story of Matthew Watson, a man charged with the death of his 7 week old baby.  Defense attorney Jesse Quackenbush (seriously, that is his name) hired Al-Bayati to re-examine the medical records.