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DRUG
HOLIDAYS -
OR WHY EVEN THE HIV/AIDS ORTHODOXY ISN'T ALL BAD
To the African AIDS panel from Peter Duesberg June 25, 2000
The
dilemma for the HIV-AIDS orthodoxy is that they have to chose between
two kinds of evils:
| (i) |
the
hypothetically fatal HIV, and |
| (ii)
|
the
biochemical inevitability of fatal DNA chain termination by
anti-HIV drugs. |
In the words
of Kendall Smith from the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center,
"Right now, the disease is life-threatening [he did not say HIV],
on one hand, and the drugs that we have so far have life-threatening
toxicities, on the other hand. It puts us between a rock and a hard
place." (Christensen, 2000).
Until
recently all those who question the HIV/AIDS hypothesis had every
right to blame the proponents of this hypothesis for disregarding
the fatal biochemical toxicity of DNA chain terminators like AZT,
in view of the hypothetically fatal HIV. But this is no longer true.
In the face of the inevitable toxicity of anti-HIV drugs (Duesberg
& Rasnick, 1998; Christensen, 2000), the HIV-AIDS orthodoxy is now
softening its stand. According to Science News, AIDS doctors do
now implement "drug holidays" for all those HIV-positives suffering
"from the nasty side effects and the rigors of the treatment" (Christensen,
2000). Thus even mainstream, Durban Declaration-signing AIDS doctors
now recommend "drug holidays" to their patients to recover from
their prescriptions.
This
is a very promising development, one that could unite us all at
last! Certainly neither side of the AIDS debate would consider insulin-holidays
for diabetes patients, or dialysis holidays for kidney patients.
Therefore the recommended anti-HIV drug holidays are a significant
step away from the "hit hard and early" days of the International
AIDS conference in Vancouver in 1996.
Perhaps
we could all agree at our next meeting in Johannesburg to extend
drug holidays for all HIV-positives and AIDS patients for a very,
very long time.
References
Christensen, D., (2000): Taking a break; Can interrupting their
treatment benefit HIV-infected people? Science News 157: 248-249.
Duesberg, P. H. & D. Rasnick, (1998): The AIDS dilemma: drug diseases
blamed on a passenger virus. Genetica 104: 85-132.
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