109 Questions for Robert Gallo and other
"HIV/AIDS" experts:
1.
If "HIV" testing is so accurate, then why did JAMA (Journal of the
American Medical Association) publish an article a month ago that claimed that:
“Viral
load is only able to predict progression to disease in 4% to 6% of
HIV-positives studied, challenging much of the basis for current AIDS science
and treatment policy?”
(Rodriquez B, Sethi AK,
Cheruvu VK, et al. Predictive value of plasma HIV RNA level on rate of CD4
T-cell decline in untreated HIV infection. JAMA 296
(12):1498-506, 2006; Cohen J. Study says HIV blood levels don't predict immune
decline. Science 313(5795):1868, 2006). What implications does this JAMA report
have for the defendant?
"A
nationwide team of orthodox AIDS researchers led by doctors Benigno Rodriguez
and Michael Lederman of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland are
disputing the value of viral load tests-a standard used since 1996 to assess
health, predict progression to disease, and grant approval to new AIDS drugs
after their study of 2,800 HIV positives concluded viral load measures failed
in more than 90% of cases to predict or explain immune status…”“Viral load is
only able to predict progression to disease in 4% to 6% of HIV-positives
studied, challenging much of the basis for current AIDS science and treatment
policy”
2.
If "HIV" is isolatable as an exogenous unique retrovirus, why would a
hepatitis B vaccine (Lee, D, Eby W, Molinaro, G. HIV false positivity after
Hepatitis B vaccination. Lancet 339: 1060, 1992), or flu vaccine (Simonsen L,
Buffington J, Shapiro CN, et al. Multiple false reactions in viral antibody
screening assays after influenza vaccination. Am J Epidemiol 141:1089-1096,1995; Christian, P. Erickson, Todd McNiff, Jeffrey D.
Klausner. Influenza Vaccination and False Positive HIV Results New England
Journal of Medicine,Number 13 , Volume 354:1422-1423, March 30, 2006)
cause about 2% false
positives? Do you know if the defendant had any vaccines before he was
"HIV" tested, and could prior vaccines account for his being
"HIV-positive?
A related question is, if the Center For Biologics Evaluation and
Research Advisory Committee on Vaccines and Related Biological Products claimed
in November, 1998, in a chapter regarding the Update On Reverse Transcriptase
Activity In Chicken Cell Derived Vaccines, by Dr. Arifa Khan (pages 13-15),
that:
"Initially
Boni et al. (1996) published that low level reverse transcriptase activity was
detected in ALL chicken cell derived vaccines using a highly sensitive
PCR-based reverse transcriptase assay called PERT, which can detect one to ten
virions which was reported to the WHO, and then additional studies were done by
several laboratories in Europe, as well as the U.S., including the NIBSC, the
CDC, as well as labs in the FDA to confirm this initial finding. However, after
further work, it was discovered that this reverse transcriptase activity could
be eliminated by treatment of extracts with DNAase, and that using Alu-based
EAV sequence integration studies, that no integration of anything derived from
the chicken cell supernatants was detected in Human PBMC cells."
Were/are "HIV" culture extracts also treated with DNAase
to test if reverse transcriptase activity is eliminated by DNAase treatment? A
related question is, if reverse transcriptase activity is present in all
chicken cell-derived vaccines, as the report from Khan and others (and
confirmed in several European and CDC laboratories indicate are present in all
chicken cell-derived vaccines), then is it possible that anyone injected with
measles or other vaccines derived from chicken cell-derived vaccine preparation
procedures, might also test positive for reverse transcriptase activity due to
reason that have yet to be elucidated? Was the defendant ever a recipient of a
chicken cell-derived vaccine or related product? If reverse transcriptase
activity was used to detect "HIV" in "HIV" cultures during
the early 1980's, and if reverse transcriptase is specific for "HIV,"
then why do market magazines concerning biotechnology stocks claim that reverse
transcriptase can be found in a plethora of normal
(non-"HIV"-associated) contexts (Pachez M. No need to be phased. Shares, 28-32, 2001. Papadopulos-Eleopulos E, Turner VF,
Papadimitriou J, Page B, Causer D, Alfonso H, Mhlongo S, Miller T, Maniotis A,
Fiala C. A critique of the Montagnier evidence for the
HIV/AIDS hypothesis. Med Hypotheses 63(4):597-601, 2004)?
3.
Why did the Red Cross report that even after repeated testing using different
test kits, that low-risk populations, such as blood donors (or military
recruits) will typically yield 12 (PCR) positive or 2 (ELISA) positive results
out of 37,000,000 samples, leaving potentially 10 out of 12 false positives,
depending on which test kit you believe (Stramer et al. “Detection of HIV-1 and
HCV Infections among Antibody-Negative Blood Donors by Nucleic
Acid–Amplification Testing. New England
Journal of Medicine, Volume 351:760-768, August 19, Number 8, 2004)? Is it possible that the defendant is among
these 10 out of 12 false positives, as is the woman to whom he supposedly
transmitted "HIV?"
4.
If the components of "HIV" have been isolated and are unique to
"HIV," why did Barre-Sinoussi (one of Luc Montagnier’s original group
from whom Dr. Gallo hijacked LAV, later to be called “HIV”) come out of the
closet, and say at the Toronto International AIDS festival last August that:
“It is not clear if therapeutic vaccines might
be useful, since 15 trials to date have not demonstrated definitive evidence of
improved outcomes.”
5.
Phase III trials are supposed to test the efficacy of a medical intervention
against the best current treatment in place. If the components of
"HIV" have been isolated and are immunogenic in humans, as components of an
exogenous virus would be expected to be, then why did you (Robert Gallo) say in
2004 after the failure of the AIDSVAX "HIV" trial that "a sound
rationale is needed for Phase III HIV vaccine trials?" Weren't the Phase I
and II trials based on a sound rationale? Do "HIV/AIDS" experts
advocate progressing to phase III trials even when Phase II trials are an
unmitigated failure as was the case of AIDSVAX? (Gallo and
Others. A sound Rationale needed for Phase III HIV vaccine trials.
Science, Vol 303 16
January, 2004).
6.
If the “HIV" is an exogenous virus with a unique identity, why did a group
of AIDS researchers in The Department of Microbiology, University of Minnesota
publish in The Journal of Virology, that “HIV” gene sequences can be detected
in non-infected humans, chimps, and monkeys?
“HIV-like
sequences exist in normal in human, chimpanzee, and rhesus monkey DNAs:
"Endogenous retrovirus-related sequences exist within the normal genomic
DNA of all eukaryotes…Herein we describe the first report of the presence of
nucleotide sequences related to HIV-1 in human, chimpanzee, and rhesus monkey
DNAs from normal uninfected individuals." (Horwitz MS, Boyce-Jacino MT, Faras AJ. Novel human endogenous
sequences related to human immunodeficiency virus type 1. (J
Virol. Apr;66
(4):2170-9, 1992).
7.
If "HIV" is a new virus, and if the "HIV" tests are
specific, then why did the Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory
immunology publish an article that showed that goats and cows test positive for
"HIV" but do not develop AIDS? (Willman et al.,
Heterophile Antibodies to Bovine and Caprine Proteins Causing False-Positive
Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 and Other. Enzyme-Linked
Immunosorbent Assay Results. Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory
Immunology, p. 615-616, Vol. 6, No. 4, July 1999).
8.
What disease(s) do the following symptoms specify?
"Then
the adjacent lymph glands become swollen and rubbery, a condition known as
regional lymphadenopathy.”
“Thereafter,
the disease “matures” for up to six months" and can become characterized
by a “macular” (spotty) roseola-like rash and other skin symptoms. The regional
lymphadenopathy becomes generalized and affects the body’s whole lymphatic
system; it is a “valuable diagnostic finding” and one of the most
characteristic aspects of the early disease; the lymph nodes are “painless,”
“enlarged,” “rubbery,” “non-tender,” and “freely moveable.”
“The
patient will complain of rashes, fever, itching, sore throat, headache,
malaise, vertigo, sweating, insomnia, nausea, prostration, weight loss, loss of
hair, or aching in the bones and joints. Some have hypertension, kidney
disease, swollen liver, or swollen spleen; others have a
subacute meningitis with cranial nerve involvement. The thymus-dependent
parts of the lymphatic system deteriorate, and there is consequent decrease in
the numbers of T-lymphocytes. The T-helper cells are particularly affected by
this: there is a decline in their number and the ratio with the T-suppressor
cells is reversed."
"At
this stage, such conditions as infectious mononucleosis, iritis,
neruoretinitis, lichen planus, cancer, nephritis, dementia, lymphomas,
psoriasis and other skin eruptions, and even drug reaction… are confused with
this stage."
"Consequently,
a long-term effect of syphilis is loss of, or decline in, the system of
immunity, and lowering of the individuals capacity to defend himself against
other infectious conditions For this reason secondary syphilis is called the
great imitator” (AIDS and Syphilis-The Hidden Link, by Harris
L. Coulter, North Atlantic Books, 1987).
9. Have other medical reasons for the defendant
testing positive been excluded, including prior receipt of hemodialysis,
transfusions, gamma globulin, or immune globulin (as prophylaxis against
infections), TB or cryptic forms of that great imitator, syphilis,
malnourishment, herpes simplex I and II, arthritis, systemic lupus
erythematosus, scleroderma, connective tissue disease, dermatomyostitis,
malaria, hemophilia, hepatitis, alcoholic hepatitis, primary billiary
cirrhosis, hyperbilirubinemia, hypergammaglobulinemia, leprocy, lipemic serum,
malaria, malignant neoplasms, mycobacteriaum avium, Q-fever with associated
hepatitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, visceral leishmaniasis, renal
failure, Stevens-Johnson syndrome, high levels of circulating immune complexes
and ERS rates (erythrocyte sedimentation rates or “sticky blood” known to be
high among Africans and other populations), free ribonucleoproteins, T-cell
leukocyte antibodies, HLA antibodies (to Class I and II leukocyte antigens),
p18, p24, p55, p12, p32, p51, p66, or gp160, gp41, gp120 antigens that may be
present in fluids obtained from patients who have warts?
10.
Patient 1, according to Montagnier, from whom he acquired the "HIV"
(LAV) isolate (that Gallo was later accused by The French, The Dingell
Commission, and The Office of Scientific Integrity at the NIH of stealing from
the Pasteur group), was said to have had herpes, 2 cases of gonorrhea, 1 case
of syphilis, cytomegalovirus, and Epstein-Barr virus. Do you think this patient
1 was a good source of your "HIV" isolate? Was the first Abbott Labs
patented test kit designed around this isolate? Why did Gallo obtain the
"LAV" isolate from the Montagnier group, and claim that he had
discovered it?
(From John Crewdson: Gallo Case, Truth Termed A Casualty Report:
Science Subverted in AIDS Dispute; Chicago Tribune (CT) - SUNDAY, January 1,
1992 from the Dingell Report):
“The violence to principles of responsible, ethical science was
just as profound. At a crucial point early in the (Gallo laboratory's) HIV
research, international politics and the technocrats committed to those
politics virtually took over that research, claiming the laboratory's putative
accomplishments as accomplishments of the United
States administration and by
extension, the United States
itself.”
“Once done, the (Gallo laboratory's) interests became the
government's interests; defending the (Gallo laboratory) scientists'
reputations and claimed accomplishments became necessary for defending the
honor of the United States.
The defense thus became a consuming effort for significant portions of the U.S.
government.”
“The result was a costly, prolonged defense of the indefensible in
which the (Gallo laboratory's) “science” became an integral element of the U.S.
government's public relations/advocacy efforts. The consequences for HIV
research were severely damaging, leading, in part, to a corpus of scientific
papers polluted with systematic exaggerations and outright falsehoods of
unprecedented proportions.”
11.
In 1956 Dr. Etienne de Harven was the first to show electron microscope images
of the Friend virus in murine (mouse) leukemia, and in 1960, to coin the word
"budding" to describe steps of virus assembly on cell surfaces. He
also delivered a speech at the 12th World AIDS Conference in Geneva
(June 28-July 3) at the session entitled, "HIV-testing: Open Questions
about Specificity."
Why did Dr. Etienne de Harven, who is now an emeritus Professor of
Pathology, University of Toronto and who worked out the ultrastructure of
retroviruses throughout his professional career of 25 years at the Sloan
Kettering Institute in New York and 13 years at the University of Toronto,
vociferously object to the standards used to claim that "HIV" viral
particles had been convincingly isolated?"
"First
the antibody.
ELISA, then Western Blot tests were hastily developed
(at sizable financial profit eagerly split between the Pasteur Institute and
the US). "Seropositivity" became synonymous
with the disease itself, plunging an entire generation into behavioral panic,
and exposing hundreds of thousands of people to 'preventive' antiviral AZT
therapy which actually hastened the appearance of severe or lethal
immunodeficiency syndrome. Appropriate controls were apparently never carried
out or were never published. Still, back in 1993 it became clear that the
so-called HIV antibody tests badly lacked specificity, (Papadopulos-Eleopulos
E, Turner VF and Papadimitnou JM, 1993. Is a positive Western Blot proof of HIV
infection? Bio/Technology 11:696-707) cross-reactivity being
observed with patients suffering from a long list of pathological conditions
including malaria, leprosy, auto-immune diseases and many more."
"Secondly,
'viral proteins'.
Several proteins have been identified as 'HIV markers', most frequently because
they were identified in a variety of 1.16 bands. The case of the p24
"viral" antigen is a significant example and its lack of viral
specificity has been well documented. (Todak C, Klein E, Lange M et al., 1991. A clinical appraisal of the p24 antigen test. International Conference on AIDS, vol 1, Florence, Italy)."
"Third,
reverse transcription. If reverse transcriptase activity were a unique feature
of retroviruses, it could have been an interesting molecular marker.
Unfortunately, it has been shown that reverse transcriptase is found in the
uninfected cells of yeasts, insects and mammals (Varmus H, 1987. Reverse
transcription Sci. Am. 257:48-54) and "has nothing to do with retroviruses
as such." Moreover, K. Mullis himself does not support the use - to
amplify and quantify the "HIV genome" - which is being made of the
PCR methodology he developed, which is the current method of "measuring
the viral load" in AIDS patients."
"More
disturbing is the fact that some 'markers' are searched for in the 1.16
gradient sedimenting material which is the density
where intact virions are expected to be found, but not their molecular
fragments. If lysed retrovirus particles released molecular markers, the 1.16
samples should at least initially allow investigators to demonstrate virus
particles by EM. They don't. However after 15 years of most intensive HIV
research, two independent groups finally decided to explore by electron
microscopy the ultrastructural features of the material sedimenting at the 1.16
density. Working on "HIV-1 infected T-cell" cultures supernatants,
both groups found that it contains primarily cellular debris and cell membrane
vesicles which could definitely not be identified with HIV particles and rare
"virus-like" particles (Gluschankof P. Mondor I, Gelderblom HR, and
Sattentau QJ, 1997. Cell Membrane vesicles are a major contaminant of
gradient-ennched human immunodeficiency virus type-l preparations. Virology 230:125-133; Bess JW Jr., Gorelick WJ, Bosche WJ, Henderson LE, and Arthur LO,
1997.
Microvesicles are a source of contaminating cellular proteins found in purified
HIV-I preparations. Virology 230:134-144)."
"Still,
this is the type of sample in which "viral markers" are currently
identified and used to measure the effects of anti-viral drugs in current
clinical trials."
"In
conclusion, and after extensive reviewing of the current AIDS research
literature, the following statement appears inescapable: neither electron
microscopy nor molecular markers have so far permitted a scientifically sound
demonstration of retrovirus isolation directly from AIDS patients."
12.
A few years ago, a 3 1⁄2 year-old girl named Eliza Jane Scovill died 36
hours after being prescribed amoxicillin for the first time in her life.
Commenting on the tragic death, a prominent AIDS researcher named Dr. John
Moore of Cornell Medical College who spoke at last summer's Toronto
International AIDS conference at the AIDS and Responsible Journalism session,
strongly advocated that a Salem Witch Trial for Ms. Christine Maggiore, and her
partner Robin Scovill be intensively pursued by The State and the press,
because Ms. Maggiore inconsistently tested "HIV" positive 6 times
(inconclusive, positive, inconclusive, positive, negative, and positive-with no
2 tests in a row indicating she was positive). For this reason, and perhaps to
avoid stigmatization of her children, Ms. Maggiore did not want her daughter or
son tested for "HIV." From hospital records, it was learned that the
little girl had 10,800 lymphocytes/microliter at the
time of her hospital admission, which is far more than the average number of
lymphocytes in a normal blood sample. The WHO defines AIDS as a condition in
which a person exhibits 1000 or fewer lymphocytes/microliter, and the absolute
number of lymphocytes was obtained at the hospital upon admission, and
according to "AIDS experts," they are just as predictive of
AIDS-related death in children, if not more so than CD4/CD8 ratios. In a recent
study of 3917 children, it was reported that:
“For
children older than 2 years, the 12-month risk of death and AIDS increased
sharply at values less than 1500-2000 cells per microliter, with little trend
at higher values.” (Eliza Jane's count was 10,800
cells/microliter).
“Mortality
risk was substantially higher at thresholds of total lymphocyte count
recommended by WHO than at corresponding thresholds of
CD4-cell percentage. When the markers were compared at the threshold values at
which mortality risks were about equal, total lymphocyte count was as effective
as CD4-cell percentage for identifying children before death…” (HIV Paediatric Prognostic Markers Collaborative Study. Use
of total lymphocyte count for informing when to start antiretroviral therapy in
HIV-infected children: a meta-analysis of longitudinal data. (Lancet. Nov 26;366 (9500):1868-74,
2005).
Why has Dr. Moore, and many members of
the AIDS establishment since the death of Eliza Jane claimed that this little
girl died of AIDS when her lymphocyte count was 10,800 cells/microliter? Is Dr.
Moore correct in his assertion that AIDS is a disease of too many lymphocytes
rather than too few lymphocytes?
13.
Have you (Gallo or "HIV" expert) or anyone you work with ever written
a letter of apology to the kin of the dentist, Dr. David Acer, for his
committing suicide on the basis of mistaken charges that he spread “HIV” to his
patients, which the CDC later exonerated him of doing (after he committed
suicide), because the CDC could "find
no evidence the dentist's HIV-positive patients contracted their infections
from him because their virus' DNA did not match his, and also concluded the
dentist's patients did not contract the virus from one another -- in effect,
that unclean dental implements did not act as conduits." Ted Anthony.
STUDY: HIV not contracted from dentist. Associated Press, Thursday, December 1, 1994. ww2.aegis.org/news/ap/1994/AP941233.html
14.
Why have so many studies which begun even at the beginning of the AIDS era, and
that have followed exposure of health care workers to "HIV" through
sharps, or other injuries, found no transmission of AIDS (Hirsch MS, Wormser
GP, Schooley RT, Ho DD, Felsenstein D, Hopkins CC, Joline C, Duncanson F,
Sarngadharan MG, Saxinger C et al. Risk of nosocomial infection with human T-cell
lymphotropic virus III (HTLV-III).N Engl J Med. Jan 3;312(1):1-4, 1985)?
15.
If you are a cancer researcher, and you don't believe, for example, that the
deregulation of the p53 oncogene completely, or even
partially explains cancer, you are not considered a Holocaust denier, or worse
perhaps, a flat-earther, irresponsible, or criminal. Instead, other hypothesis are permitted,
tolerated, and even funded. Why is it that alternate hypotheses of AIDS
pathogenicity, such as the redox hypothesis of the Perth Group, the Multiple
Antigen Mediated Autoimmunity hypothesis advanced by Robert Root-Bernstein, the
illicit and pharmaceutical-drugs-AIDS hypothesis advanced by government
researcher Harry Haverkos and NAS member Peter Duesberg, not been pursued or funded
in 25 years? As a related question, why have the following letters and articles
from just one group of researchers (The Perth Group) been repeatedly rejected
from scientific journals? Are they poorly written? Are they filled with what
you would consider to be dangerous ideas?
Gallo's experiments and a plea for clarification
Perth Group reponse to Nature and its Durban Declaration
gp120 and HIV infection 8K
Commentary on the Ho and Wei Nature papers
Concerning TB in Africa
Commentary on AZT
Anti-HIV antibodies, ARVs and informed consent
HIV transmission from chimpanzees
A critical analysis of HIV serology does not affirm a retroviral
infection
A critical appraisal of the evidence for the existence of HIV
Commentary on the Gallo/Montagnier HIV as the cause of AIDS paper
Response to Declan Butler
Letter to Lancet in response to the WHO
Letter to NEJM July 2004
Letter to BMJ
Letter to Nature Medicine
Letter to Lancet
Letter to Structure
16.
How are the chimps who were injected with AIDS-patient
sera more than 20 years ago and who never developed any AIDS-indicator diseases
doing in their retirement community? (The New York Times, January 7, 2003 "For Retired Chimps, a Life of Leisure," by Sheryl Gay
Stolberg).
17.
Why does the CDC still maintain that the average course of "HIV/AIDS"
is from 5-10 years, while Dr. Bruce R. Schackman, chief of health policy at
Weill Cornell Medical College in New York and lead author of a paper appearing
in Medical Care in 2006, a journal published by the American Public Health
Association claim that "...patients
can live average 24 years, if they pay $385,000," while David Ho,
Daniel Douck, Ronald Desrosiers, have claimed that "HIV" destroys the
gut lymphoid tissue of "recently infected people," and essentially “wipes clean" the lymphoid tissue lining
the gut shortly after infection?
18.
When the FDA recalls defective "HIV" tests or statistics package
software, how long does it take the medical community to respond to the typical
recall? For instance, are testing labs
immediately provided with the lot numbers of defective testing merchandise in a
timely manner, and are patients who received these tests quickly notified about
the recall of the test they were subjected to? A few recent cases may here be illustrative:
Recall of HIV p24 Antigen Test Kit
Globus Media REcall HIV test
ORTHO Antibody to HBsAg ELISA Test FDA recall Ortho HBsAG System
Recall of Antibody to Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 p24
Antigen Test Kits
Recall lancets for HIV kit
FDA Recall of NucliSens HIV test kit
FDA Recall of HCV EIA 2.0 Test Kit
Market Withdrawal of HIV-1 - HCV Assay, FDA recall Procleix
FDA Recall HIV-1 - HIV-2 Plus O EIA
Testing Software
Recall of HIV Types 1 &2 (Synthetic Peptide)
FDA Recall of Amplicor HIV test kit
19.
Why did Dr. Alfred Hässig, Emeritus Professor in Immunology at the University
of Bern, former Director Swiss Red Cross blood banks: Director of the Swiss Red
Cross Transfusion Service, and President of the Board of Trustees of the
International Society of Blood Transfusion (who, with colleagues, formed the
Study Group for Nutrition and Immunity), claim the following:
“The
sentence of death accompanying the medical diagnosis of AIDS should be
abolished.” (Sunday Times (London) 3 April 1994).
“In
the virological research, so much money is invested, and the research people
want to stay in that area because if you deviate to research in other
directions probably other people come in and must be funded.” (Meditel 1992).
“Virologist
have nothing new to offer. They keep coming up with
excuses, they find constant growth and change in the virus structure, it
evades, attacks, strange things, but none of them has the courage to explain
properly how these things could possibly be so.” (Continuum Jan/Feb 1996)
“AZT
(anti-viral AIDS medicine) has, in countless cases, brought about the
inevitable and slow asphyxiation of the patient's body cells. The doctors
wrongly diagnose the fatal consequences of AZT medication as AIDS following a
prior HIV infection. Treatment with AZT and allied toxic substances may be
equivalent to joining a suicide squad with a time fuse.”
“It
is the duty of every doctor to preserve life at any cost -- and not death-curse
people based on any test so they are so frightened they kill themselves. I am
sad to say that these voodoo methods were practiced despite there never being
any proof that the detected antibodies are an indication of mortality in all
diagnosed people. I consider it medical malpractice to push patients into dying
by prophesying an early death. We are medical scientists, not prophets!”
Did
Dr. Hassig mean here when he said, “The
sentence of death accompanying the medical diagnosis of AIDS should be
abolished,”
that, with increased testing of all pregnant women and more aggressive
treatment regimens with AZT and other antiretrovirals, that AIDS might some day
be abolished? Or is he saying that the
AIDS establishment has mistakenly confused the side effects of AZT and other
antiretroviral treatments with the destruction imagined to be brought on by
“HIV,” before they appreciated that failed anticancer chemotherapy drugs like
AZT could “do all those bad things” to the human body?
20.
Why did Dr. Heinrich Kremer, MD, Medical Director of the Federal Clinics for
Juvenile and Young Adult Drug Offenders for five German counties, including
Berlin, Bremen, and Hamburg, and author of the book, 'The Silent Revolution of
the AIDS- and Cancer-Medicine.' From AIDS: DEATH BY PRESCRIPTION, Continuum, July/Aug. 1996 claim that:
“The
advertising drums are beaten hard all over the world today. The same doctors
are calling for obedient candidates for their experiments and holding out the
same promise of a cure who have poisoned countless
AIDS patients by administering the DNA blocker AZT for the past ten years in an
attempt to hunt down the phantom HIV virus.
“The
same doctors are now trying to conjure up a substance from the test tube under
the magic name of 'protease inhibitor' and to market it as having a limitless
cure potential, although nobody in fact knows what long-term reactions this
molecule, which has never been tested on man, may cause in the living
organism.”
“The
victims and perpetrators have only recently come to realise that AZT (also
known as Zidovudine or Retrovir) has, in countless cases, brought about the
inevitable and slow asphyxiation of the patient's body cells, which are in
particular need of oxygen and hence the equally inevitable death by poisoning
of those persons who are stigmatized as HIV-positive or diagnosed as suffering
from “AIDS” and who trust their doctors. Despite that realization, new test
candidates are already being sought who will be voluntarily prepared, through
fear of death suggested by the medical profession, not only to swallow AZT in
combination with allied toxic substances, but in addition to take an inhibitor
which has an incalculable impact on cell metabolism.”
“A
guarantee of success is secured in advance, as with AZT, because any fatal
'secondary effects' of the mixture are described as an outcome of the phantom
HIV infection. These are the selfsame laboratory doctors and clinical
practitioners who for years abused the confidence of anxious AIDS patients with
the assertion that AZT would reliably, and with total certainty, prevent the
proliferation of their 'phantom' HIV.”
Is Dr. Kramer is saying here that “beating of the advertising
drums” for the use of AZT and HAART, must be non-ceasing, and unabashedly
banged yet ever louder for the use of AZT and now other antiretrovirals?
21.
Why did Dr. Michael Lange, MD, Head of AIDS Programme, St. Lukes Hospital,
New York, claim that:
“We
do not know the pathogenesis of this disease. And we were very early forced
into a very dogmatic view: namely, that somehow HIV kills the T-cells.”
(Spin April 1991).
“I
was very upset…The cause of AIDS was discovered by government fiat...I had been
working with the Pasteur Institute for six months, but then that [Gallo]
announcement was made at the press conference. As far as I’m concerned, from
that point on AIDS research turned into seedy, criminal politics, and it
remained that way.” (Spin, June, 1992).
“I
was far from convinced by the data they had then and I’m still not convinced.
We were all forced into a very dogmatic and simplistic view of what caused
AIDS. Today, I think even the greatest proponents of HIV no longer believe that
it does all that damage to the immune system by itself. There have to be other
factors involved. And because of the HIV hypothesis, there’s been little or no
research done on what those other factors may be.”
(Spin June 1992).
“I
personally do not prescribe AZT unless a patient insists. I have continued to
find that patients survive longer without it.” (Spin, April 1991).
A related issue is why is Dr. Michael Lange, MD, Head of AIDS
Programme, St. Lukes Hospital, New York, being quoted in Spin Magazine,
Continuum, Synapse or other popular magazines, rather than in The New England
Journal of Medicine, Science, Nature, JAMA, or other high profile science or
medical journals? Same question regarding Dr. Hassig, Dr. Kramer, and other
high profile directors involved directly on the front lines of AIDS?
22.
Why did Dr. Donald Abrams, Professor of Medicine, San Francisco General
Hospital, and one of the first AIDS physicians, claim that (Synapse Vol 4,
pages 1 and 5 (1996):
"In contrast with many of my colleagues,
I am not necessarily a cheerleader for anti-retroviral therapy. I have been one
of the people who's questioned, from the beginning,
whether or not we're really making an impact with HIV drugs and, if we are
making an impact, if it's going in the right direction."I have a large
population of people who have chosen not to take any antiretrovirals. They've
watched all of their friends go on the antiviral bandwagon and die, so they've
chose to remain naive [to therapy]. More and more, however, are now succumbing
to pressure that protease inhibitors are 'it.'
We are in the middle of the honeymoon period, and whether or not this is
going to be an enduring marriage is unclear to me at this time."
23.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" or "life
extending" when a report in The New England Journal of Medicine by The Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study Group reported that:
"AZT disproportionately harmed Blacks and Hispanics, and provided
no benefit to the quelling of advancing immune suppression in Caucasians"
(JD Hamilton et. al. and the Veterans Affairs Cooperative Study Group. A controlled trial of early versus late treatment with zidovudine
in symptomatic human immunodifficiency virus infection" New England
Journal of Medicine, 326: 437-434, 1992)?
24.
Although there were many problems with record keeping, and the Boston Arm of
the trail was supposed to be thrown out, the 1987 Fischl AZT trial won AZT FDA
approval after 4 months when the trial was terminated for "compassionate
reasons." Why are antiretrovirals still called "life-saving" or
"life extending" when there was little, if any difference between the
outcome of either AZT treated versus AZT-untreated groups after 1 year, and,
and despite the fact that The Concorde study (that was much larger, longer, and
better designed trial than The Fischl trial) concluded:
"The
results of Concorde do not encourage the early use of zidovudine in
symptom-free HIV-infected adults. They also call into question the uncritical
use of CD4 cell counts as a surrogate endpoint for assessment of benefit from
long-term antiretroviral therapy" (Seligmann et al.,
Concorde: MRC/ANRS randomised double-blind controlled trial of immediate and
deferred zidovudine in symptom-free HIV infection. Concorde
Coordinating Committee. Lancet, Apr 9;343(8902):871-81,
1994)?
25.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" and "life
extending" when it has been more than 7 years since it was published in
The Journal, AIDS, that children born to ZDV-treated mothers:
"are
more likely to have a rapid course of HIV-1 infection compared with children
born to untreated mothers, as disease progression and immunological
deterioration are significantly more rapid and the risk of death is actually
increased during the first 3 years of life"
(de Martino et al., Rapid disease progression in HIV-1 perinatally infected
children born to mothers receiving zidovudine monotherapy during pregnancy.
(AIDS. 13 (8): 927-933, May
28, 1999. The Italian Register for HIV
Infection in Children. AIDS, 13:927-933, 1999)?
“Results: Comparison of HIV-1-infected
children whose mothers were treated with ZDV with children whose mothers were
not treated showed that the former group (AZT
group) had a higher probability of developing severe disease [57.3% (95% CI 40.9-74.3) versus 37.2% (95% CI 30.0-45.4);
log-rank test 7.83, P=0.005; adjusted hazard ratio 1.8 (95% CI 1.1-3.1)] or severe immune suppression [53.9% (95% CI 36.3-73.5) versus 37.5% (95% CI 30.0-46.2);
log-rank test 5.58, P=0.018; adjusted hazard ratio 2.4, (95% CI: 1.3-4.3)] and a lower survival [72.2% (95% CI 50.4-85.7) versus 81.0% (95% CI 73.7-86.5); log-rank test
4.23, P=0.039; adjusted hazard ratio of death 1.9 (95% CI 1.1-3.6)]..“
Why did these authors conclude that:
"Findings
may suggest a need to hasten HIV-1 diagnosis in infants of ZDV-treated mothers
and undertake an aggressive antiretroviral therapy in those found to be
infected."
Were these claims plagued with
typographical errors? Shouldn't the report have read:
"Children
born to ZDV-treated mothers are more likely to have a slow course of HIV-1 infection compared with children born
to untreated mothers, as disease progression and immunological deterioration
are significantly more reduced
and the risk of death is actually decreased
during the first 3 years of life,”
and not:
“Children born to ZDV-treated mothers “are
more likely to have a rapid course of HIV-1 infection compared with
children born to untreated mothers, as disease progression and
immunological deterioration are
significantly more rapid and the risk of death is actually increased during the first 3
years of life?”
26.Why
are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" and "life
extending" when it has come to National attention that research directors
such as Edmond Tramont, who was/is still the government's chief of AIDS
research, rewrite safety reports on a U.S.-funded drug studies of nevirapine
(the controversial HIVNET 012 clinical trial) to change its conclusions and
delete negative information, and later order that research resumed over the
objections of his staff and trial safety officer, Jonathan Fishbein, who was
fired because he blew the whistle on this dangerous study, and even after the company withdrew its trial in the U.S.
because of reports of excessive toxicity? How often do AIDS
researcher change scientific data to conform to political or financial
pressures?
27.
Why are antiretrovirals called life-saving when Lockman et al. with Max Essex
just reported last month (1/2007) in the New England Journal of Medicine that
nevirapine increased drug resistant "HIV" progression to AIDS over
controls by 41.7 % in women
(euphemistically called virological failure or drug resistant "HIV"),
and that a single dose of nevirapine (one each to mother and infant) as
compared with placebo, was associated with significantly
higher rates of virologic failure and
smaller CD4+percentage increases in response to subsequent nevirapine-based
antiretroviral treatment?"
“Nevirapine
remains central to the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of human
immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) and to combination antiretroviral
treatment throughout much of the developing world. Nevirapine administered as
one dose to the mother and one to the newborn reduces mother-to-child
transmission of HIV-1 by 41 to 47%, and well over 875,000 women and infants have received a single dose of
nevirapine. A single dose of nevirapine is the cornerstone of the regimen
recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to prevent mother-to-child
transmission among women without access to antiretroviral treatment and among
those not meeting treatment criteria.
However, nevirapine resistance is detected (with the use of standard genotyping
techniques) in 20 to 69% of women and 33 to 87% of infants after exposure to a
single, peripartum dose of nevirapine.
Among 60 women starting antiretroviral treatment within 6 months after
receiving placebo or a single dose of nevirapine, no women in the placebo group
and 41.7% in the nevirapine group had virologic failure (P<0.001). Women
who had received a single dose of nevirapine had significantly higher rates of
virologic failure on subsequent nevirapine-based antiretroviral treatment than
did women who had received placebo. This apparently deleterious effect of a
single dose of nevirapine was concentrated in women who initiated
antiretroviral treatment within 6 months after receiving a single dose of
nevirapine…Among the 30 HIV-infected
infants, a single dose of nevirapine (one each to mother and infant) as
compared with placebo was associated with significantly higher rates of
virologic failure and smaller CD4+percentage increases in response to
subsequent nevirapine-based antiretroviral treatment”
(Lockman S. et al., Response to
Antiretroviral Therapy after a Single, Peripartum Dose of Nevirapine. The New
England Journal of Medicine 356 january 11, 2007).
A related question is, if "HIV" has 10 genes that are
essential for its pathogenicity, and if it is constantly mutating any
nucleotide comprising any of these 10 genes, how does "HIV" maintain
its biological identity or its pathogenicity?
28.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" or "life
extending" when it was published in The Journal of Virology that severe
toxicity of saquinovir and other protease inhibitors are frequently observed in
patients receiving this class of drugs (Estaquier et al., Effects of
Antiretroviral Drugs on Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1-Induced CD4+ T-Cell
Death Journal of Virology, June, p. 5966-5973, Vol. 76, No. 12, 2002)?
29.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" or "life
extending" when Mark Harrington, a member of The Treatment Action Group
(TAG-a radical group in favor of drugging everybody with antiretrovirals) summoned
"the power of prayer" over
"HIV" mutability, and discussed "The Chinese Menu Approach" in a description of a meeting he
attended on developments regarding anti-retrovirals that included AIDS leaders
such as Marc Wainberg, Director, McGill AIDS Centre,
and this summer's Chair of The Toronto International AIDS Conference-who
possesses several "HIV" drug patents such as lamivudine (3TC), and
grants from GlaxoSmithKlein, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Boehringer-Ingelheim.
Also present at the meeting was Emilio Emini, Tufts
University's John Coffin, Roche's Noel Roberts, the CDC's Harold Jaffe,
Chiron's David Chernoff, the ACTG's Robert ("Chip") Schooley and John
Mellors (developer and champion of the viral load tests now known to be
invalid), as well as treatment activist Dawn Averitt-Doherty of Atlanta-based
Woman's Information Service and Exchange (WISE)?
"During the coffee break, I (Harrington) joined three
activists outside to share nicotine and despair. What was the point of quitting
smoking if we were still all passengers on the speeding train heading for the
cliff? The Birmingham resistance data were wrenching. Our fears of
multiple cross-resistance, from November 1995's 3TC
and saquinavir FDA approval hearings, reared their ugly heads. Several months of
post-Vancouver euphoria crumbled in a moment as it became clear that many of
those who developed resistance to ritonavir and indirovine-as thousands clearly
would-might have no protease inhibiting options ahead of them. Today's
resistance news made for a toxic cocktail. As I left the auditorium I bumped
into Emilio Emini."
"Harrington: So what do you do if you fail Crixivan?"
"Emini: [sighs] We don't know what
to do."
"Harrington: Take two new nucleosides and nevirapine?"
"Emini:
Yeah. And pray."
"No
one had yet assessed the healing effects of prayer on viral load. This was what
we'd come to. I rushed into the lobby of the Interior Department and ran into a
colleague, who was wild with fear and disappointment."
"Sometimes the gap between how the researchers felt and how
we felt became an abyss. They were excited about the endless possibilities
opened up by the research advances of 1996; we were terrified about the limited
treatment options facing people who had exhausted most of the current arsenal
of antiretroviral therapy. What to do with those whose viral load refused to go
undetectable? What to do with those who added a protease inhibitor to a failing
two-drug regimen and appeared doomed to develop resistance, most of
it-especially with ritonavir and indinovir-cross-resistant to all other
protease inhibitors? What to do with those who jumped aboard last year's
bandwagon, AZT+3TC, and now appeared likely to have developed 3TC resistance
and, with it, cross-resistance to ddI, ddC and possibly 1592? The Chinese menu approach to antiretroviral
treatment suddenly looked much less appetizing, and
much less nourishing" (TAGline/Volume
4 Issue 2 February 1997).
30.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" or "life
extending" when a registry has been established to monitor adverse fetal
outcomes born to women exposed to the AIDS drug, efavirenz" (FDAMedWatch 6/10/2005)?
31.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" and "life
extending" when Olivero OA et al., in “3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine (AZT)
transplacental perfusion kinetics and DNA incorporation in normal human
placentas perfused with AZT” (Mutat Res Fundam Mol Mech Mutagen. Jul 16;428(1-2):41-7, 1999),
reported that:
“Incorporation
of ZDV into DNA was detected in most of the samples from ZDV-exposed adults and
infants. Therefore, the biologic significance of ZDV-DNA damage and potential
subsequent events, such as mutagenicity, should be further investigated in
large cohorts of HIV-positive individuals?”
32.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" and "life
extending" when Lallemant et al., in an article entitled, "A trial of
shortened zidovudine regimens to prevent mother-to- child transmission of human
immunodeficiency virus type 1" (NEJM. 2000 Oct 5;343(14):982-91) reported
that:
“[Table
3 shows that congenital abnormalities occurred in 7% of infants when both
mother and child had the long course of AZT (long-long), and only 1% when both
had the short course (short-short). Neutropenia and leukopenia occurred in 7%
of infants on the long-long course and 2% on short-short. Infections or other
HIV-related events occurred in 43% on long-long and 33% on short-short.
Neonatal or other obstetrical events occurred in 22% on long-long and only 14%
on short-short. Number of deaths, severe anemia were similar (although severe
anemia occurred significantly less (0%/1%) in the long-short and short-long
treatment arms). Mothers who received the long AZT treatment had a higher rate
of stillbirth (8% vs. 4%), severe anemia (7% vs 4%), infection or other HIV
events (20% vs 17%), events related to pregnancy or delivery (24% vs 17%) than
mothers who received the short course, although fewer died" (3% vs 8%)?
33.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" and "life
extending" when Kuhn L et al. in "Disease Progression and Early Viral
Dynamics in Human Immunodeficiency Virus Infected Children Exposed to
Zidovudine during Prenatal and Perinatal Periods" (Journal of Infectious
Diseases, 2000 July;182:104-11) reported that:
“In
a multicenter observational cohort study of 325 HIV-infected children born
during 1986-1997, clinical progression was compared among infected children
exposed or unexposed to Zdv [AZT] during prenatal and perinatal periods. Zdv
exposure was associated with 1.8-fold (95% confidence interval, 1.02-3.11)
increased risk of progressing to AIDS or death after adjusting for year of
birth, maternal CD4 cell count, maternal AIDS diagnosis, and subsequent
antiretroviral therapy of the child. Mean
log10 viral copies at 712 weeks were higher among Zdv-exposed children"
(P = .004)?
34.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" and "life
extending" when Newschaffer et al. in “Prenatal Zidovudine Use and
Congenital Anomalies in a Medicaid Population. JAIDS.
2000 Jul 1;24(3):249-256) reported that:
“Children
of study women who were prescribed ZDV [AZT] had increased adjusted odds of any
anomaly (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.55; 95% CI, 1.01-2.29) [i.e. more than
one-and-one-half times the risk of a birth anomaly than the HIV+ population
being studied in general"]?
35.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" and "life
extending" when de Souza RS et al., in an article entitled, "Effect
of prenatal zidovudine on disease progression in perinatally HIV-1-infected
infants" ( JAIDS. 2000 Jun 1;24(2):154-161) reported that:
“After adjusting for prematurity and maternal
clinical characteristics, RPD [rapid disease progression] was three times more likely to occur in infants born to [mothers]
treated [with AZT] compared with findings in untreated mothers" (RR=2.8; p
= .021)?
36.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" and "life
extending" when Kumar et al., in “Zidovudine Use in Pregnancy: A Report on
104 Cases and the Occurrence of Birth Defects” (JAIDS.;7:1034-9, 1994) reported that:
“In
reviewing the frequency of birth defects in this population [of HIV+ women
taking AZT during pregnancy] we noted eight birth defects (10%) out of 80 live
births?”
These
included:
1. Two male infants with the "minor abnormalities" of
"low-set ears, retrognathia [a mis-aligned jaw], prominent epicanthal
folds [i.e., unexpected skin flaps above the eye, which can be a sign of mental
retardation], hirsutism [abnormal hairiness], triangular facies with blue
sclera [a triangular-shaped face with abnormally blue eyes], hyperpigmented
skin macules, and prominent sacral dimple [a pronounced indentation at the
bottom of the spinal cord]."
2. A female infant was born with extra fingers on both hands (the
report doesn't say how many "extra digits" grew on each hand).
"There was no similar family history," Kumar and co-workers noted.
3. One child was diagnosed as having "fetal alcohol
syndrome," although there was no evidence that the mother consumed
alcohol.
4. A male infant was born with a serious congenital heart defect
("asymptomatic atrial septal defect") and "pectus
excavaatum," a depression or actual hole in the chest. This child died at
the age of five months.
5. A male infant was born with an abnormally small brain
(microencephaly) and chorioretinitis (a condition that rapidly results in
blindness, due to lesions on the retina).
6. Another male infant was born with the same type of hole in his
chest as the previously described child ("pectus excavatum").
7. A female was born with albinism (no pigmentation) and
congenital ptosis, a condition in which the upper eyelid droops uncontrollably
(which interferes with eyesight) because of nerve damage.
37.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" and "life
extending" when Panther et al. published a paper entitled, "Genital
tract human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) shedding and inflammation and
HIV-1 env diversity in perinatal HIV-1 transmission"
( Journal of Infectious
Diseases 2000 Feb;181:555-63) claiming
that:
“All women [in this study] received oral
zidovudine [AZT] prior to delivery and/or intravenous zidovudine at
delivery...Of 42 subjects...24 had a CVL [cervicovaginal lavage] taken...Of
these 24 women, 7 transmitted HIV-1 to their infants and 17 did not...In the
CVL samples, 41% yielded culturable HIV-1, 67% were PCR positive for proviral
HIV-1 DNA, 30% were positive for cell-free HIV-1 RNA and 45% were positive for
cell-associated HIV-1 RNA. Peripheral
CD4 cell counts did not correlate with levels of HIV-1 in the CVL by DNA or RNA
PCR or by amount of genital tract inflammation...Although all subjects in
our study received zidovudine therapy in the third trimester, the high rate
(29%) of HIV-1 perinatal transmission in this data set does not agree with the
largest prospective, randomized study addressing this question, ACTG 076 [in
fact, this rate is higher than the transmission rate in the placebo arm of ACTG
076]?”
38.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" and "life
extending" when Smith et al. in, "Timing of perinatal human immunodeficiency
virus type 1 infection and rate of neurodevelopment" (Pediatr Infect Dis
J. 2000;19:862-71) reported that:
“Infants
with early positive HIV-1 cultures demonstrated a notable decrement in neurodevelopmental functioning within the
first 30 months of life. They achieved motor developmental scores that were
increasingly and significantly discrepant [worse]
both from the average and from scores achieved by late HIV-1-positive children
over the course of the study period. Those children with early HIV-1-positive
cultures also demonstrated a trend toward a similar decline in mental
functioning over time...The mothers of infants with early [HIV] positive
cultures were more likely to receive ZDV [AZT] treatment during pregnancy, and
their infants were more likely to receive ZDV treatment prophylactically during
the first 6 weeks of life...Because antiretroviral therapy has been shown to
improve neurodevelopmental function in children whose CNS has been affected by
the HIV-1 virus...Infants with early HIV-1 culture positivity should be treated
with multiple drugs with well-established CNS penetration to reduce the
likelihood that resistance will develop in the CNS compartment?"
Why did the authors of this study, for some reason, ignore the
fact that early positive HIV-1 cultures equate with infants who have been on
AZT the longest, and advance the idea that hitting the infants aggressively
with multiple drugs will block "HIV's" destruction of brain tissue.
Why do they conclude this?
39.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" and "life
extending" when Blanche et al. in "Persistent mitochondrial
dysfunction and perinatal exposure to antiretroviral nucleoside
analogues," (Lancet, 1999 Sep 25) conclude that:
“We analysed observations of a trial of
tolerance of combined zidovudine [AZT] and lamivudine and preliminary results
of a continuing retrospective analysis of clinical and biological symptoms of
mitochondrial dysfunction in children born to HIV-1-infected women in France....Findings: Eight children had mitochondrial
dysfunction. Five, of whom two died,
presented with delayed neurological symptoms and three were symptom-free but
had severe biological or neurological abnormalities. Four of these children
had been exposed to combined zidovudine and lamivudine, and four to zidovudine
alone. No child was infected with
HIV-1..."
" Our
findings support the hypothesis of a link between mitochondrial dysfunction and
the perinatal administration of prophylactic nucleoside analogues. Current
recommendations for zidovudine monotherapy should however be maintained[!].
Further assessment of the toxic effects of these drugs is required!”
40.
Why are antiretrovirals called "life-saving" and "life
extending" when Neenyah Ostrom (07/12/2000) reviewed the Blanche
study in the following way:
"The
French study, led by Stephane Blanche at the Necker Hospital in Paris, was published in The Lancet. Of 1,754
mother-child pairs exposed to AZT during the mother's pregnancy (or just after
birth, for the child), Blanche and colleagues discovered eight children whose
mitochondria didn't function properly. The mitochondria are our cells' energy
producing organelles; if they malfunction, neurological development is delayed,
and the result can be fatal. Four of the children with mitochondrial
dysfunction had been exposed to a combination of AZT and another anti-HIV drug,
lamivudine; the other four had been exposed to AZT alone. "No child was infected with HIV-1," Blanche and
co-workers pointed out."
"Five
of the eight children developed "delayed" neurological symptoms
(meaning they weren't present at birth, but became obvious later); two of these
children died. The other three children "were symptom-free but had severe
biological or neurological abnormalities," according to the French scientists."
"One
of the two children with neurological symptoms who
died, Patient A, was partially blind. When Patient A was 4 months old, an MRI
showed that the child had demyelinating lesions in the brainstem (a primitive
part of the brain that controls basic life functions). Over time, these lesions
-- which were really just areas of dead brain tissue -- spread throughout the
child's brain. Patient A's growth was "abnormal," according to the
doctors, and the child vomited frequently. At 13 months of age, Patient A died
from heart and lung disorders."
"Patient
B died at the age of 11 months. At 4 months old, Patient B developed epilepsy
as well as suffering severe deterioration of cognitive and motor abilities.
This child, too, was found to have "diffuse demyelinating lesions
associated with massive cortical necrosis," that is, widespread brain
tissue death."
"The
other children who developed symptoms of mitochondrial dysfunction had
seizures, heart dysfunction, brain lesions (one child with, and one without,
brain tissue death), blindness associated with a too-small head
("microencephaly" a problem identified earlier in babies treated in
utero with AZT), and numerous biochemical abnormalities (including abnormal
liver and pancreatic enzyme levels, among others).
"In
their discussion of how AZT probably contributed to the illness and deaths of
these children, Blanche and colleagues noted that researchers at the US
National Cancer Institute have demonstrated that AZT crosses the placenta from
mother to fetus. In monkey fetuses, AZT is incorporated into the mitochondrial
DNA. Fetal monkeys dosed with AZT for periods of time and with doses similar to
those used for pregnant women developed mitochondrial dysfunction after birth,
Blanche and co-workers pointed out. They added, 'The experimental [monkey]
model does not show whether the toxic effects are reversible after birth. Also,
it gives no insight into the possible clinical impact of this type of
dysfunction throughout a tissue, especially a long time after the drug is
stopped…. As with other drug-induced toxic effects in mitochondria, these
lasting abnormalities may be associated with a symptomless constitutional
dysfunction.' In other words: Many more children exposed to AZT in utero may
have mutations in their mitochondria that we don't detect because they don't
immediately produce identifiable symptoms. The type of mitochondrial illness
observed in these eight children (out of 1,754 French children treated with
AZT) was found in only 21 children out of 12 million studied in the