[Dean's World] Celia Farber: When Pariahs Have Good Ideas: Court Awards $2.5 Million In Damages, Vindicating Duesberg's Case That AIDS Drugs Can Cause "AIDS"

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Posted by Celia Farber:
When Pariahs Have Good Ideas: Court Awards $2.5 Million In Damages, Vindicating Duesberg's Case That AIDS Drugs Can Cause "AIDS"
http://www.deanesmay.com/posts/1197555826.shtml


   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Dec. 12, 2007
   Verdict Of $2.5 Million Over False-Positive HIV Diagnosis Brings up
   Basic Problems With AIDS Testing and Treatment, Say Scientists
   CHICAGO, Dec. 12, 2007--A lawsuit decided today against the University
   of Massachusetts Medical Center over consequences of an allegedly
   false-positive HIV antibody test exposes basic problems with the test
   and treatments for all persons taking them, according to a
   high-ranking medical researcher who has advised the plaintiffâs lawyer
   on the case. The verdict, issued today, awarded $2.5 million to the
   plaintiff. The complaint by Audrey Serrano, 45, in court hearings this
   week in Worcester, Mass., focused on the absence of a âconfirmatoryâ
   Western Blot test in her records. However, Andrew Maniotis, Ph.D.,
   research assistant professor in the Department of Pathology,
   University of Illinois-Chicago School of Medicine, contends that,
   though the reliability of all HIV testing was not on trial in court
   here, the case history opens questions about it. And, because Serrano
   developed illnesses commonly defined as âAIDS-related conditionsâ only
   after taking HIV medications known as âhighly active antiretroviral
   therapyâ (HAART), the drugs themselves appear to have caused âAIDS.â
   Rethinking AIDS (RA) has been asking such questions since its founding
   in 1991. Etienne de Harven, M.D., president of RA, says, âIt is urgent
   that we open a public debate on the highly suspect reliability of all
   HIV testing. Moreover, I fully share Dr. Maniotis' concern about the
   safety of HIV drugs.â Further resources are online at the groupâs Web
   site, www.rethinkingaids.com. Rodney Richards, Ph.D., worked on the
   development of antibody (ELISA) and genetic âviral loadâ tests for
   Amgen and holds some related patents. âThe diagnosis of being HIV
   positive is based on arbitrary combinations of tests, none of which
   are approved for diagnosing HIV,â he says. âIn fact there is no test
   for HIV. Itâs just an illusion.â Raising issues of informed consent
   for all persons submitting to HIV antibody testing, the test kits
   themselves contain disclaimers that doctors rarely, if ever, share
   with patients. For example, Abbott Laboratoriesâ ELISA test kit,
   typically used as a preliminary test, warns: âELISA testing alone
   cannot be used to diagnose AIDS.â Confirmation of an ELISA result with
   a Western Blot test is currently required as a âstandard of care.â
   Epitopeâs Western Blot package insert reads: âDo not use this kit as
   the sole basis for HIV infection.â âThis is somewhat more concerning,
   since the Western Blot is supposed to be a highly accurate test, used
   to confirm that an ELISA is not a false positive,â says Dr. Maniotis.
   âMoreover, the peer-reviewed literature gives substantial evidence
   that the virus âHIVâ has never been isolated in purified form free of
   contaminating cellular debris in order to generate the so-called
   âspecific viral antigensâ used in the test kits.â Serrano, now
   acknowledged to have always tested HIV negative and therefore not to
   have been at risk for developing AIDS, nevertheless suffered from
   several AIDS-defining illnesses, including wasting, herpes, and oral
   thrush, while taking HAART. She also suffered from other health
   problems, including constant diarrhea (AIDS-defining under the African
   definition), muscle wasting, profound fatigue, non-specific skin
   lesions, oral thrush, herpes outbreaks, severe nosebleeds, constant
   gynecological bleeding and pain from ovarian cysts, fibrocystic breast
   lesions, hyperplastic pituitary lesions, and severe heart and
   respiratory difficulties. Labels for HAART drugs actually list these
   conditions as possible side effects, suggesting that the drugs
   themselves cause AIDS-related conditions, Maniotis says. Serranoâs
   experience is, sadly, not unique. Dr. Maniotis chose to investigate
   her case because, he says, âit is typical of many cases reviewed and,
   as it illustrates so clearly the development of AIDS-related
   conditions in a woman testing HIV negative who was healthy before she
   took HAART, strongly suggests that profound paradigm shifts are
   urgently needed to avoid more human rights violations.â Drs. Maniotis
   and Richards are available for immediate media interviews and talk
   show appearances: Andrew Maniotis, Ph.D. Chicago, Ill., U.S. (Central
   time zone) 312-996-4838 office 773-960-9084 mobile amanioti at uic.edu
   Rodney Richards, Ph.D. Illinois/Colorado, U.S. (Central and Mountain
   time zones) 303-909-4175 mobile drmrsearch at yahoo.com Dr. de Harven,
   president of RA, can be reached at: Etienne de Harven, M.D. Saint
   Cézaire, France [GMT +1 hour] +33-4 93 60 28 39 phone
   pitou.deharven at tele2.fr

   Media Contacts: David Crowe Calgary, Alberta, Canada (Mountain time
   zone) +1-403-289-6609 (office) +1-403-861-2225 (mobile)
   david.crowe at aras.ab.ca Elizabeth Ely Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S. (Eastern
   time zone) +1-718-704-9672 (mobile) elyelizabeth at verizon.net E-mail:
   press at rethinkingaids.com Web site: www.rethinkingaids.com Rethinking
   AIDS: The Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV/AIDS
   Hypothesis (âRAâ or âthe Groupâ) was formed in 1991 to express the
   concerns of a growing number of renowned scientists and medical
   doctors about HIV research and the resulting human rights abuses. In
   1995, by a letter published in Science, the Group called for a
   thorough reappraisal of the existing evidence for and against the
   HIV/AIDS hypothesis and recommended that critical epidemiological
   studies be undertaken. Among RAâs founders and key members are Harvard
   microbiologist Dr. Charles Thomas; 1993 Nobel laureate for chemistry
   Dr. Kary Mullis; Nature Biotechnology co-founder Dr. Harvey Bialy;
   University of California at Berkeley molecular biologist Dr. Peter
   Duesberg and the late Yale mathematician Dr. Serge Lang, both members
   of the National Academy of Sciences; professor of medical physics at
   the Royal Perth Hospital in Western Australia Dr. Eleni Papadopulos;
   and Glasgow University professor emeritus of public health and World
   Health Organization consultant Dr. Gordon Stewart. The Groupâs current
   president, Dr. Etienne de Harven, is a professor emeritus of pathology
   at the University of Toronto and a former cancer researcher at
   Sloan-Kettering Institute, New York (1956-1981). He produced the first
   electron microscopic studies of a retrovirus (the murine Friend
   leukemia virus) and was director of the Electron Microscopy Laboratory
   at the Banting Institute, Department of Pathology, University of
   Toronto. ###