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. 

Andrew Wakefield is Accountable for Vaccine-Autism Hysteria - Wake up call to AIDS Denialist quacks

UPDATE: Wakefield's quack paper is retracted by Lancet. Can he try to republish it in Medical Veritas?

MMR doctor 'failed to act in interests of children'

General Medical Council finds Andrew Wakefield, who linked MMR with autism, failed in duties as responsible consultant
Published in the Guardian Newspaper

Dr Andrew Wakefield,  at the centre of the MMR controversy, "failed in his duties as a responsible consultant" and showed a "callous disregard" for the suffering of children involved in his research, the General Medical Council (GMC) has ruled.

Wakefield also acted dishonestly and was misleading and irresponsible in the way he described research that was later published in the Lancet medical journal, the GMC said. He had gone against the interests of children in his care, and his conduct brought the medical profession "into disrepute" after he took blood samples from youngsters at his son's birthday party in return for payments of £5.

Still Crazy After All These Years: The Challenge of AIDS Denialism for Science

Still Crazy After All These Years: 
The Challenge of AIDS Denialism for Science
By Nicoli Nattrass
AIDS and Society Research Unit, University of Cape Town

Published in AIDS and Behavior

In his new book, Denying AIDS, Seth Kalichman observes that people are surprised by the persistence of AIDS denialists:‘‘Are they still around?’’ he is often asked. And it is a good question. Given the large body of scientific and clinical evidence on HIV disease and treatment(expertly summarized by Chigwedere and Essex in this issue of AIDS and Behavior) it is indeed strange that Peter Duesberg and his followers still claim HIV is harmless and that antiretrovirals cause rather than treat AIDS. While such dissident views were intellectually respectable in the 1980s when HIV science was new, they make little sense today. Thus Joseph Sonnabend, a doctor who treated some of the earliest AIDS cases in New York and was well known for arguing that environmental factors may be more important than a virus in driving AIDS, was quick to change his mind once antiretroviral treatment was shown to act against HIV and transform the health of his patients. Peter Duesberg, by contrast, refused to accept the evidence, thereby earning the label ‘denialist’ rather than ‘dissident’.

Duesberg may be pathologically contrarian in this respect, but he has an enduring appeal. Kalichman argues that this is in large part because his claim that HIV is harmless reinforces the normal process of denial most people undergo when faced with traumatizing information—such as a positive HIV test result.

Did Publishing AIDS Pseudoscience Kill the Journal Medical Hypthoses?

Publisher attempts to rein in radical medical journal

23 January 2010

By Zoë Corbyn


UPDATE: The Scientist Magazine updates the Medical Hypotheses fiasco. 

Editor rejects proposal to have submissions peer reviewed. Zoë Corbyn reports

The publisher of Medical Hypotheses has proposed that the irreverent journal should be revamped as an orthodox peer-review publication.

In a letter to the editor, Elsevier proposes a “revised and more focused aim and scope” for the journal and a “peer-review process for all submitted articles”.

To achieve this, it suggests a “review of editorial board membership” and development of a “wide pool of reviewers”.

“We would plan a relaunch once these changes have been implemented,” Elsevier says in the letter seen by Times Higher Education.