Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV-AIDS Hypothesis
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The Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV/AIDS Hypothesis is a group of AIDS dissidents (that is, people who do not accept the scientific consensus that HIV is the cause of AIDS). The Group came into existence with an open letter to the scientific community. The letter, dated June 6, 1991, was submitted to the editors of Nature, Science, The Lancet and The New England Journal of Medicine. It stated, in part:
It is widely believed by the general public that a retrovirus called HIV causes the group diseases called AIDS. Many biochemical scientists now question this hypothesis. We propose that a thorough reappraisal of the existing evidence for and against this hypothesis be conducted by a suitable independent group. We further propose that critical epidemiological studies be devised and undertaken.
All of the journals to which the letter was submitted refused to publish it. However, in 1995 a similar letter was published in Science, again arguing that the causative role of HIV in AIDS was unproven, and requesting an "independent" audit of the Centers for Disease Control records on the AIDS epidemic.[1]
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[edit] Signatories
Signatories of the letter included:
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- Eleen Baumann
- Tom Bethell
- Harvey Bialy
- Peter Duesberg
- Celia Farber
- Charles Geshekter
- Phillip Johnson
- Robert Maver
- Russell Schoch
- Gordon Stewart
- Richard Strohman
- Charles A. Thomas Jr.
The signatories are a fairly diverse group; Celia Farber is a journalist and activist; Harvey Bialy, Peter Duesberg, and Richard Strohman are scientists; others, such as Tom Bethell and Phillip Johnson, promote a wide range of pseudoscientific views such as global warming skepticism and intelligent design.
[edit] Response from scientific community
The so-called "dissident" views expressed in the Group's letters have been examined and roundly rejected by the scientific community; there is scientific consensus regarding the causative role of HIV in AIDS.[2][3][4]
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Baumann E, Bethell T, Bialy H, Duesberg PH, Farber C, Geshekter CL, Johnson PE, Maver RW, Schoch R, Stewart GT, Strohman RC, Thomas CA Jr. (1995). "AIDS proposal. Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV/AIDS Hypothesis". Science 267 (5200): 945-946. PubMed.
- ^ "The Evidence that HIV causes AIDS". A fact sheet from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Accessed 11 Feb 2007.
- ^ "The Controversy over HIV and AIDS". A series of articles in Science examining the claims of AIDS dissenters. Accessed 11 Feb 2007.
- ^ "The Relationship Between the Human Immunodeficiency Virus and the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome", from the National Institutes of Health. Accessed 11 Feb 2007.
