Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives
Encyclopedia
Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives (formerly HEAL, Health Education AIDS Liaison) is a 501(c) non-profit organization of AIDS denialists (people who deny that HIV
is the cause of AIDS
). The organization's stated mission is to "present information that raises questions about the accuracy of HIV tests, the safety and effectiveness of AIDS drug treatments, and the validity of most common assumptions about HIV and AIDS." The organization's founder, the late Christine Maggiore
, estimated shortly before her AIDS-related death in 2008 that the organization had assisted about 50 HIV-positive mothers in developing legal strategies to avoid having their children tested
or treated for HIV.A Mother's Denial, A Daughter's Death, L.A. Times series on Eliza Jane Scovill's death, accessed 8 Sept 2006.
, who had tested HIV-positive in 1992. Although Maggiore was initially active in the AIDS community, providing AIDS and HIV education through AIDS Project Los Angeles, she later came to question her diagnosis. Ultimately, she came to believe that HIV was not the cause of AIDS, and formed Alive & Well to expound her views.
Maggiore became a controversial figure following the death of her 3-year-old daughter, Eliza Jane Scovill. Eliza Jane was never tested for HIV and died on May 16, 2005 of Pneumocystis pneumonia in the setting of advanced AIDS
. Maggiore did not believe that Eliza Jane had AIDS, and attributed her death to an allergic reaction to amoxicillin
. Mohammed Al-Bayati, a board member of Alive & Well and a veterinary toxicologist, issued his own report arguing that a drug reaction, not AIDS, was responsible for Eliza Jane's death. Eliza Jane's death was the subject of reports by ABC Primetime Live
and the Los Angeles Times
; several independent medical experts contacted by these programs agreed unequivocally that Eliza Jane had died of complications of AIDS.
On December 29, 2008, Christine Maggiore died at the age of 52. She was under a doctor's care and was being treated for pneumonia. A doctor familiar with the family suggests that anti-HIV drugs could have prevented her death, but Maggiore's fellow AIDS denialists state that her pneumonia was not related to AIDS and that she died as a result of an alternative medicine
treatment.
, Peter Duesberg
, Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos
, and David Rasnick
.
Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives encourages the use of alternative therapies for HIV-positive people in place of mainstream treatments. Examples of treatments advanced by Alive & Well as substitutes for antiretroviral therapy include herbal and nutritional therapy, naturopathic medicine
, homeopathy
, therapeutic enema
s, acupuncture
, and "imagery".
Scientists and AIDS activists have decried the activities of Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives and other AIDS denialist organizations, arguing that by persuading people to forgo proven treatments they are causing unnecessary and preventable deaths. Speaking at the XVI International AIDS Conference, leading HIV/AIDS researcher John Moore stated:
Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives encourages people to "get involved" by passing out literature, donating copies of Christine Maggiore's book "What If Everything You Knew About AIDS Was Wrong?", contacting radio and television shows, writing to newspapers and magazines, and starting their own discussion groups.
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
is the cause of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
). The organization's stated mission is to "present information that raises questions about the accuracy of HIV tests, the safety and effectiveness of AIDS drug treatments, and the validity of most common assumptions about HIV and AIDS." The organization's founder, the late Christine Maggiore
Christine Maggiore
Christine Joy Maggiore was an HIV-positive activist who promoted the view that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. She was the founder of Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives, an organization which questions the link between HIV and AIDS and encourages HIV-positive pregnant women to avoid anti-HIV medication...
, estimated shortly before her AIDS-related death in 2008 that the organization had assisted about 50 HIV-positive mothers in developing legal strategies to avoid having their children tested
HIV test
HIV tests are used to detect the presence of the human immunodeficiency virus , the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , in serum, saliva, or urine. Such tests may detect antibodies, antigens, or RNA.- Terminology :...
or treated for HIV.A Mother's Denial, A Daughter's Death, L.A. Times series on Eliza Jane Scovill's death, accessed 8 Sept 2006.
Founding
Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives was founded in 1995 by the late Christine MaggioreChristine Maggiore
Christine Joy Maggiore was an HIV-positive activist who promoted the view that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. She was the founder of Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives, an organization which questions the link between HIV and AIDS and encourages HIV-positive pregnant women to avoid anti-HIV medication...
, who had tested HIV-positive in 1992. Although Maggiore was initially active in the AIDS community, providing AIDS and HIV education through AIDS Project Los Angeles, she later came to question her diagnosis. Ultimately, she came to believe that HIV was not the cause of AIDS, and formed Alive & Well to expound her views.
Maggiore became a controversial figure following the death of her 3-year-old daughter, Eliza Jane Scovill. Eliza Jane was never tested for HIV and died on May 16, 2005 of Pneumocystis pneumonia in the setting of advanced AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. Maggiore did not believe that Eliza Jane had AIDS, and attributed her death to an allergic reaction to amoxicillin
Amoxicillin
Amoxicillin , formerly amoxycillin , and abbreviated amox, is a moderate-spectrum, bacteriolytic, β-lactam antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections caused by susceptible microorganisms. It is usually the drug of choice within the class because it is better absorbed, following oral...
. Mohammed Al-Bayati, a board member of Alive & Well and a veterinary toxicologist, issued his own report arguing that a drug reaction, not AIDS, was responsible for Eliza Jane's death. Eliza Jane's death was the subject of reports by ABC Primetime Live
Primetime (TV series)
Primetime is an American news magazine show which debuted on ABC in 1989 with co-hosts Sam Donaldson and Diane Sawyer and originally had the title Primetime Live.-Early history:...
and the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
; several independent medical experts contacted by these programs agreed unequivocally that Eliza Jane had died of complications of AIDS.
On December 29, 2008, Christine Maggiore died at the age of 52. She was under a doctor's care and was being treated for pneumonia. A doctor familiar with the family suggests that anti-HIV drugs could have prevented her death, but Maggiore's fellow AIDS denialists state that her pneumonia was not related to AIDS and that she died as a result of an alternative medicine
Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....
treatment.
Members
The advisory board of Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives includes many prominent AIDS denialists, such as Harvey BialyHarvey Bialy
Harvey Bialy is an American molecular biologist and AIDS denialist. He was one of the signatories to a letter to the editor by a group of AIDS denialists calling themselves the Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV-AIDS Hypothesis...
, Peter Duesberg
Peter Duesberg
Peter H. Duesberg is a member of the United States National Academy of Sciences and a professor of molecular and cell biology at the University of California, Berkeley...
, Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos
Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos
Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos is the leader of a group of AIDS denialists who call themselves the "Perth Group" and have claimed since 1988 that HIV has never been fully isolated and therefore may not exist...
, and David Rasnick
David Rasnick
David Rasnick is a chemist and biologist known for his work in the area of HIV/AIDS denial.-Education and views:David Rasnick received a Ph.D. in chemistry from Georgia Tech in 1978. In a 1998 interview, Rasnick stated that he had studied proteases and their inhibitors for twenty years...
.
Advocacy
Although there is extensive scientific evidence to the contrary, Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives promotes the viewpoint that HIV is not the cause of AIDS. The organization also espouses the viewpoints that:- HIV testHIV testHIV tests are used to detect the presence of the human immunodeficiency virus , the virus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , in serum, saliva, or urine. Such tests may detect antibodies, antigens, or RNA.- Terminology :...
s are inaccurate. - AIDS is not a major problem in AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. - Pregnant women should not take antiretroviral medication to prevent HIV transmission to their children.
- The syndrome of AIDS in fact results from malnutritionMalnutritionMalnutrition is the condition that results from taking an unbalanced diet in which certain nutrients are lacking, in excess , or in the wrong proportions....
, mental stress, AZTZidovudineZidovudine or azidothymidine is a nucleoside analog reverse-transcriptase inhibitor , a type of antiretroviral drug used for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. It is an analog of thymidine....
, recreational drug use among gayGayGay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
men, or other causes. - The mainstream scientific community's efforts to promote AIDS awareness and develop effective treatments are examples of fearmongering and are compromised by ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives encourages the use of alternative therapies for HIV-positive people in place of mainstream treatments. Examples of treatments advanced by Alive & Well as substitutes for antiretroviral therapy include herbal and nutritional therapy, naturopathic medicine
Naturopathic medicine
Naturopathy, or Naturopathic Medicine, is a form of alternative medicine based on a belief in vitalism, which posits that a special energy called vital energy or vital force guides bodily processes such as metabolism, reproduction, growth, and adaptation...
, homeopathy
Homeopathy
Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine in which practitioners claim to treat patients using highly diluted preparations that are believed to cause healthy people to exhibit symptoms that are similar to those exhibited by the patient...
, therapeutic enema
Enema
An enema is the procedure of introducing liquids into the rectum and colon via the anus. The increasing volume of the liquid causes rapid expansion of the lower intestinal tract, often resulting in very uncomfortable bloating, cramping, powerful peristalsis, a feeling of extreme urgency and...
s, acupuncture
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is a type of alternative medicine that treats patients by insertion and manipulation of solid, generally thin needles in the body....
, and "imagery".
Scientists and AIDS activists have decried the activities of Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives and other AIDS denialist organizations, arguing that by persuading people to forgo proven treatments they are causing unnecessary and preventable deaths. Speaking at the XVI International AIDS Conference, leading HIV/AIDS researcher John Moore stated:
Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives encourages people to "get involved" by passing out literature, donating copies of Christine Maggiore's book "What If Everything You Knew About AIDS Was Wrong?", contacting radio and television shows, writing to newspapers and magazines, and starting their own discussion groups.
External links
- Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives homepage
- HIV Denial in the Internet Era, from PLoS MedicinePLoS MedicinePLoS Medicine is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering the full spectrum of the medical sciences. It began operation on October 19, 2004. It was the second journal of the Public Library of Science , a non-profit open-access publisher. All content in PLoS Medicine is published under the Creative...