Magic Johnson started combination antiretroviral therapy with David Ho in 1994. AZT was still part of his combo treatment as late as 2011. www.newsweek.com/magic-johnso...
December 15, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Magic Johnson started combination antiretroviral therapy with David Ho in 1994. AZT was still part of his combo treatment as late as 2011. www.newsweek.com/magic-johnso...
It's unfortunate that one badly-written abstract could spawn such a stupid and persistent HIV/AIDS denialist meme - thanks to a certain SF lawyer who doesn't understand scientific literature (and coincidentally was Duesberg's favourite attorney).
December 9, 2025 at 10:17 PM
It's unfortunate that one badly-written abstract could spawn such a stupid and persistent HIV/AIDS denialist meme - thanks to a certain SF lawyer who doesn't understand scientific literature (and coincidentally was Duesberg's favourite attorney).
If you read the 1993 paper (and no HIV/AIDS denialist ever has to my knowledge) it's obvious why there were no transmissions in the prospective study, while there were 70 transmissions in the crossectional: there was very little unprotected sex happening in the couples followed prospectively.
December 9, 2025 at 10:05 PM
If you read the 1993 paper (and no HIV/AIDS denialist ever has to my knowledge) it's obvious why there were no transmissions in the prospective study, while there were 70 transmissions in the crossectional: there was very little unprotected sex happening in the couples followed prospectively.
The abstract of the 1997 paper is a dog's breakfast, flipping between the two studies. In the text of the 1997 paper the prospective study is mentioned only in passing, and you are referred to the earlier paper for details.
December 9, 2025 at 10:01 PM
The abstract of the 1997 paper is a dog's breakfast, flipping between the two studies. In the text of the 1997 paper the prospective study is mentioned only in passing, and you are referred to the earlier paper for details.
A few years after starting the cross sectional study she also started a separate prospective study - to examine the effectiveness of safer sex interventions. It was in this different study that no transmissions occurred.
December 9, 2025 at 9:54 PM
A few years after starting the cross sectional study she also started a separate prospective study - to examine the effectiveness of safer sex interventions. It was in this different study that no transmissions occurred.
There is an unfortunate error in the first sentence of the abstract. Padian did conduct a 10 year study of heterosexual HIV transmission "to examine rates of and risk factors", but it was *cross-sectional* (retrospective), not prospective.
December 9, 2025 at 9:46 PM
There is an unfortunate error in the first sentence of the abstract. Padian did conduct a 10 year study of heterosexual HIV transmission "to examine rates of and risk factors", but it was *cross-sectional* (retrospective), not prospective.
He didn't write the AIDS chapters in "The Real Anthony Fauci" himself. These were contributed by denialists, principally Celia Farber and John Lauritsen, probably Neenyah Ostrom and possibly others. Which is why they are scientifically and historically rubbish and sometimes internally contradictory.
November 25, 2025 at 11:53 PM
He didn't write the AIDS chapters in "The Real Anthony Fauci" himself. These were contributed by denialists, principally Celia Farber and John Lauritsen, probably Neenyah Ostrom and possibly others. Which is why they are scientifically and historically rubbish and sometimes internally contradictory.
RFK probably doesn't deny HIV causes AIDS himself, although he equivocates on the issue. Rather, his promotion of AIDS denialist beliefs is more about pandering to a segment of his nutcase supporter base. It's about political ambition, not scientific understanding (of which he has none).
November 25, 2025 at 11:45 PM
RFK probably doesn't deny HIV causes AIDS himself, although he equivocates on the issue. Rather, his promotion of AIDS denialist beliefs is more about pandering to a segment of his nutcase supporter base. It's about political ambition, not scientific understanding (of which he has none).
*completes biiiiiiiig stretch* What's up dog?
April 25, 2025 at 7:30 AM
*completes biiiiiiiig stretch* What's up dog?
Tasmania 0%. Shhhh - don't tell them. Hobart is going to take off as an export hub.
April 3, 2025 at 9:08 AM
Tasmania 0%. Shhhh - don't tell them. Hobart is going to take off as an export hub.
What he *believes* is irrelevant. What matters to him is whether the false narratives he promotes are *useful* to him personally and politically. His book includes several chapters of unopposed long-discredited HIV/AIDS denialist lies and talking points: it's all about rage-baiting the ignorant.
January 31, 2025 at 11:52 PM
What he *believes* is irrelevant. What matters to him is whether the false narratives he promotes are *useful* to him personally and politically. His book includes several chapters of unopposed long-discredited HIV/AIDS denialist lies and talking points: it's all about rage-baiting the ignorant.
Good health care is expensive so all countries like yours and mine (Australia) socialise the costs so everyone can have affordable access. The US is unique in ceding control to middlemen who profit from excessive charges while denying care to those who need it.
January 30, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Good health care is expensive so all countries like yours and mine (Australia) socialise the costs so everyone can have affordable access. The US is unique in ceding control to middlemen who profit from excessive charges while denying care to those who need it.
The US's poor value for money in healthcare is because it is the ONLY industrialised country in the world to have rejected government-funded universal healthcare. You might think this is normal, but everybody outside the US knows you are crazy.
January 30, 2025 at 8:27 AM
The US's poor value for money in healthcare is because it is the ONLY industrialised country in the world to have rejected government-funded universal healthcare. You might think this is normal, but everybody outside the US knows you are crazy.
Yes, all four. 1, 2, and 4 are self evident. Understanding 3 requires a deeper dive into RFK Jnr's history and aspirations. For example, why is he resurrecting long-discredited HIV/AIDS denialist tropes from decades ago?
January 28, 2025 at 8:55 AM
Yes, all four. 1, 2, and 4 are self evident. Understanding 3 requires a deeper dive into RFK Jnr's history and aspirations. For example, why is he resurrecting long-discredited HIV/AIDS denialist tropes from decades ago?
Always thought that Penelope Keith would've made a great Dr Who.
January 27, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Always thought that Penelope Keith would've made a great Dr Who.
Hating Fauci is not the primary purpose. The main purpose is to rage-bait a constituency of the ignorant and terminally online who have no understanding of the issues under contention. Students of mid 20th century European history recognise what they're doing, and where this ultimately leads.
January 27, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Hating Fauci is not the primary purpose. The main purpose is to rage-bait a constituency of the ignorant and terminally online who have no understanding of the issues under contention. Students of mid 20th century European history recognise what they're doing, and where this ultimately leads.
The revival of this discredited conspiracy theory by people like RFK Jr and his main source Celia Farber in 2025 for their own political gain is staggering, as is their manipulation of ill informed mobs with no knowledge of the facts other than RFK Jr's book of lies.
January 27, 2025 at 1:58 AM
The revival of this discredited conspiracy theory by people like RFK Jr and his main source Celia Farber in 2025 for their own political gain is staggering, as is their manipulation of ill informed mobs with no knowledge of the facts other than RFK Jr's book of lies.
AZT monotherapy was a mediocre treatment for AIDS that added a few months to survival at best. But combined with 3TC and a third antiviral its effect was near miraculous. The idea that AIDS deaths in the 80s and early 90s were caused by AZT rather than HIV was an invention of the HIV/AIDS Denialists
January 27, 2025 at 1:52 AM
AZT monotherapy was a mediocre treatment for AIDS that added a few months to survival at best. But combined with 3TC and a third antiviral its effect was near miraculous. The idea that AIDS deaths in the 80s and early 90s were caused by AZT rather than HIV was an invention of the HIV/AIDS Denialists
Joe Rogan is stupid. Defamation lawsuits are a poor remedy against blatant lies. RFK Jr, a tort lawyer by profession, was careful to formulate his lies so courts would construe them as "opinions" - which are protected by the 1A, or to attribute them to other people.
January 16, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Joe Rogan is stupid. Defamation lawsuits are a poor remedy against blatant lies. RFK Jr, a tort lawyer by profession, was careful to formulate his lies so courts would construe them as "opinions" - which are protected by the 1A, or to attribute them to other people.
Important decisions often need to be made before we have enough information. But once we have that info we need to honestly assess both the good and the bad of those decisions so we don't make the same mistakes or worse later. That's difficult in the current excessively polarised political landscape
January 14, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Important decisions often need to be made before we have enough information. But once we have that info we need to honestly assess both the good and the bad of those decisions so we don't make the same mistakes or worse later. That's difficult in the current excessively polarised political landscape
I was a young gay male in the 80s. More recently I've been a bit of a nerd about the history of HIV/AIDS denialism. It kinda died out a decade ago, but seems to have recently made a resurgence associated with RFK Jr's nomination and his book on Fauci.
January 14, 2025 at 6:12 AM
I was a young gay male in the 80s. More recently I've been a bit of a nerd about the history of HIV/AIDS denialism. It kinda died out a decade ago, but seems to have recently made a resurgence associated with RFK Jr's nomination and his book on Fauci.
Fauci wrote an editorial in the same issue as the Oleske report, and he did, in fact, consider vertical transmission as a possibility. But no on knew for sure: it was very early days.
January 14, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Fauci wrote an editorial in the same issue as the Oleske report, and he did, in fact, consider vertical transmission as a possibility. But no on knew for sure: it was very early days.
All 8 kids had the onset in the first year of life, so I don't think long latency was an issue. Although HIV had yet to be identified, the cause was thought to have a similar epidemiology to HBV - which makes the oversight even stranger given the importance of perinatal transmission in that virus.
January 14, 2025 at 2:09 AM
All 8 kids had the onset in the first year of life, so I don't think long latency was an issue. Although HIV had yet to be identified, the cause was thought to have a similar epidemiology to HBV - which makes the oversight even stranger given the importance of perinatal transmission in that virus.
In hindsight it's strange that the authors of the study did not consider perinatal transmission as a possible cause of the children's AIDS, given that all the mothers were in known risk groups. But not a lot was known about the disease at the time.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6834633/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6834633/
Immune deficiency syndrome in children - PubMed
The present epidemic of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) was originally described in homosexual men and subsequently in intravenous drug abusers, Haitians, and hemophiliacs. Profound defects...
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
January 13, 2025 at 5:26 AM
In hindsight it's strange that the authors of the study did not consider perinatal transmission as a possible cause of the children's AIDS, given that all the mothers were in known risk groups. But not a lot was known about the disease at the time.
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6834633/
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6834633/