Inventing the AIDS Virus

Having read Peter Duesberg's book, I'm far more informed now than I used to be about the supposed link between HIV and AIDS. Like most people during the 80s and 90s, I just accepted what I read in the mainstream media at the time. The story was that  HIV=AIDS and if you were infected with HIV then it was a slow death sentence.

With the start of the new millennium, AIDS faded from prominence and was thanks to the miracle of anti-retroviral drugs like AZT. AIDS remained a problem in Africa and certain third world countries but in developed countries, HIV was on the back foot.  Thanks to these drugs, HIV-positive celebrities like Magic Johnson have survived for decades. At least that was my impression.

Now it would seem that Magic Johnson has survived by NOT taking AZT, even though publicly he claims to still be taking his anti-retroviral medication. Peter Duesberg makes it clear that people who take AZT or similar drugs do not survive for decades. He claims it is the drug treatment that kills them and not HIV. I'm inclined to agree.

In WhatsApp, I wrote a message to a friend in which I attempted to convey to him the core message of the book. I've reproduced it here:

Government money for research is much sought after and in the United States this amounts to billions of dollars. It was only with the polio virus that virologists managed to attract large grants from governments. After that, they were desperate to keep the funds flowing and so “the war on cancer” was rolled out in the 60s and the improbable search for a cancer virus was launched. The search for such a non-existent virus fizzled out in the 70s and virologists were in a real panic. They needed a new virus and for a time the swine flu fiasco during Ford’s presidency looked like it might fit the bill. Pandemic fears were stoked by the mass media and vaccinations were rushed out that killed some and sickened many. It was much ado about nothing however, and things were looking very bad for the virus hunters. Soon they would be using their own money, not the taxpayers’, for their hunting. HIV changed all that. HIV, a harmless passenger virus, was promoted as the latest scourge of humanity and grim predictions were made of massive death tolls as the virus spread into the heterosexual population and triggered an AIDS pandemic. Suddenly the virologists were awash with Government funds, HIV PCR testing became rampant and toxic drugs like AZT were rushed to market. This was the great scam of the 80s and 90s but the anticipated AIDS pandemic failed to materialise and again the virus hunters needed new viruses. Ebola and bird flu were briefly trialed but with Covid-19 the virologists really hit the jackpot. The money is pouring forth once again but only to researchers who tow the party line. My point is that the virologists and especially the retro-virologists have cleverly managed to attract the lion’s share to research funds over the past few decades and they want that to continue. The money has meant that any pretence of good science has been abandoned and most scientists whose careers rely on research funding have enough sense not to go against the flow. Any scientists that do, and there are a few, will be shunned by their colleagues and barred from publishing to any of the major scientific journals. Hence my contempt for journals like The Lancet, The New England Journal of Medicine and their ilk. It’s all about money and has nothing to do with health. While most scientists are well-meaning, they have no control over the direction of their research. The administrators of various labs decide this and the money will stop if they sanction studies that conflict with the agreed narrative. 

On page 123 of the book, he writes about the papilloma virus before the most-maligned vaccine on the planet, Gardasil, was shamelessly unleashed upon adolescent girls in 2006:

Nevertheless, the virus hunters continue to push for the virus-cervical cancer hypothesis, which today remains one of the most popular and widely accepted among scientists. To help rationalise away some of the paradoxes, they have even revived herpes simplex virus-2 as a cofactor for the papilloma virus-two zeroes that hardly add up. Yet the biotechnology company Digene Diagnostics, based in Maryland, has won government endorsement for its papilloma virus test. Already widely in use, the test is now recommended by medical research authorities for some seven million American women each year, although only thirteen thousand cervical cancers appear each year in this country. The test costs $30 to $150 per person. Given that a woman who tests negative today may become infected tomorrow, there is no upper limit to testing. Many research laboratories are also kept in business with NIH grants to study endlessly every detail of the papilloma virus, and thus scientists would be the last to reevaluate this virus hypothesis. Unfortunately for tens of thousands of women each year, the ongoing media publicity and the tests can have devastating psychological consequences, not to mention the damage from preventive treatments for women who may have little more than harmless warts. 

To quote from the source of all wisdom, Wikipedia states that: 

The vaccine was approved for medical use in the United States in 2006,[19][20] initially for use in females aged 9–26. In 2007, the Advisory Committee on Immunisation Practices (ACIP) recommended gardasil for routine vaccination of girls aged 11 and 12 years. As of August 2009, vaccination was recommended for both males and females before adolescence and the beginning of potential sexual activity. By 2011, the vaccine had been approved in 120 other countries. In 2014, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a nine-valent version, Gardasil 9, to protect against infection with the strains covered by the first generation of Gardasil as well as five other HPV strains responsible for 20% of cervical cancers (types 31, 33, 45, 52, and 58). In 2018, the FDA approved expanded use of Gardasil 9 for individuals aged 27 through 45 years old. 

Shockingly, the use of Gardasil has only expanded since its introduction and can now be given to males and females aged 9 to 45 but the adolescents are especially targeted despite the tragic damage it is causing to adolescent girls.

On page 145 of the book, the swine flu debacle is summarised and serves as a reminder of what is happening today:

The swine flu program, on the other hand, collapsed and could not be salvaged. Millions of people received the vaccine starting in October, although many were not told of the possible side effects. Soon, reports of hundreds of cases of paralysis began pouring in, ultimately including at least six hundred cases and seventy-four deaths. The CDC attempted to classify the victims as having died of other diseases. Ultimately, the vaccine's side effects could no longer be hidden, and the expensive scandal cost David Spencer his job as CDC chief. Ironically, the swine flu epidemic itself never materialised; only the CDC's immunisation program caused sick- ness and death.

On page 211, he writes on the statistical chicanery regarding the reporting of AIDS cases and once again the parallels to the present day situation are clear:

The increasing numbers of new AIDS cases until 1993 have largely been products of the artificial AIDS definitions. Each alteration in that definition has added, not subtracted, diseases to the diagnostic list. Every time the CDC needs higher rates of new AIDS cases, it expands that definition once again, and more diseases are reclassified into the syndrome. With the stroke of a pen an illusion of the spread of AIDS is created, prominent officials explain the revisions as products of our growing scientific knowledge, and the lay public feels reassured that federal efforts are justified or perhaps even a little too slow.

One might ask how a doctor would distinguish between an AIDS-related tuberculosis and a traditional one. Clinically, the symptoms are identical, so the CDC has stipulated in its current definition that the tuberculosis must be renamed "AIDS" if anti-bodies against HIV are also found in the patient. In the absence of previous HIV infection, the disease is classified under its old name, in this case "tuberculosis," and treated accordingly. AIDS, therefore, can never be found apart from HIV infection-entirely by definition!

The book is essential reading for anyone who is trying to make sense of what is happening as regards COVID-19. 

ADDENDUM: it seems that new antiretroviral treatments are still being peddled to HIV positive individuals as this recent post from the FDA on January 21st 2021 attests:

FDA Approves First Extended-Release, Injectable Drug

 Regimen for Adults Living with HIV

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Cabenuva (cabotegravir and rilpivirine, injectable formulation) as a complete regimen for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection in adults to replace a current antiretroviral regimen in those who are virologically suppressed on a stable antiretroviral regimen with no history of treatment failure and with no known or suspected resistance to either cabotegravir or rilpivirine. This is the first FDA-approved injectable, complete regimen for HIV-infected adults that is administered once a month. 

The FDA also approved Vocabria (cabotegravir, tablet formulation), which should be taken in combination with oral rilpivirine (Edurant) for one month prior to starting treatment with Cabenuva to ensure the medications are well-tolerated before switching to the extended-release injectable formulation.

“Currently, the standard of care for patients with HIV includes patients taking daily pills to adequately manage their condition. This approval will allow some patients the option of receiving once-monthly injections in lieu of a daily oral treatment regimen,” said John Farley, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Office of Infectious Diseases in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “Having this treatment available for some patients provides an alternative for managing this chronic condition.”

The safety and efficacy of Cabenuva were established through two randomized, open-label, controlled clinical trials in 1,182 HIV-infected adults who were virologically suppressed (HIV-1 RNA less than 50 copies/milliliter) before initiation of treatment with Cabenuva. Patients in both trials continued to show virologic suppression at the conclusion of each study, and no clinically relevant change from baseline in CD4+ cell counts was observed. 

The most common adverse reactions with Cabenuva were injection site reactions, fever (pyrexia), fatigue, headache, musculoskeletal pain, nausea, sleep disorders, dizziness and rash. Cabenuva should not be used if there is a known previous hypersensitivity reaction to cabotegravir or rilpivirine, or in patients who are not virally suppressed (HIV-1 RNA greater than 50 copies/milliliter).

Cabenuva and Vocabria were granted Fast Track and Priority Review designation by the FDA. The FDA granted the approval of Cabenuva and Vocabria to ViiV Healthcare.

The FDA, an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, protects the public health by assuring the safety, effectiveness, and security of human and veterinary drugs, vaccines and other biological products for human use, and medical devices. The agency also is responsible for the safety and security of our nation’s food supply, cosmetics, dietary supplements, products that give off electronic radiation, and for regulating tobacco products.