AIDS Denialism and the Misuse of Scientific Studies

AIDS denialism relies, in part, on the dogmatic repetition of the misunderstanding, misrepresentation, or mischaracterization of certain scientific studies. Below are some examples which show how denialists typically twist the facts and distort reality.

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• HIV heterosexual transmission and the "Padian paper myth": AIDS denialists often misrepresent this study. In the this special piece for AIDSTruth, the study's author, Dr. Nancy Padian, clarifies the issues.

• Dissident lies about Padian laid to rest at last: The 1997 paper by Nancy Padian (Heterosexual transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in Northern California: results from a ten-year study) is often selectively quoted by dissidents in an attempt to convince their readers (and perhaps themselves) that HIV is not transmissible through sex. They quote a single line from the abstract, without taking the time to read or comprehend the actual study aim.

• Letter to Discover Magazine: In the interview with denialist Celia Farber, the Padian study is typically misrepresented. The misrepresentation is detailed in a letter to the Editor of Discover Magazine.

• What our work means: Predictive value of plasma HIV RNA level on rate of CD4 T-cell decline in untreated HIV infection

• Understanding the Slow Depletion of Memory CD4+ T Cells in HIV Infection

• HIV denialists ignore large gap in the study they cite: denialists ignore how the Rwandan civil war affected a study's results.

• Denying AIDS and the Rwandan Genocide? An in-depth follow-on to the above letter in Science.

• Misrepresentation of the Concorde trial perpetuated by AIDS denialists

• The HIVNET 012 Study: this important study on Nevirapine to reduce Mother to Child Transmission of HIV is another favorite target of Denialists. This informative piece gives background information the denialists never talk about.

 
 
 

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