AIDS

When AIDS was first reported, two schools of thought developed about its origins. One, that gained the strongest curreny, held that the epidemic was being caused by some as yet undiscovered transmissable agent, probably a virus, spread sexually or through blood contamination. The other theory argued that an accumulation of infections and other assaults on the body through promiscuous gay urban lifestyle had led to a breakdown of immune responses seen in AIDS. For over ten years, Hodgkinson argues, the former theory has been slavishly adhered to, not because it is correct but because it offers something concrete to fight against, from which people can gain scientific reknown, pharmaceutical profit and, most tenaciously, hope. In this appraisal of the "AIDS industry" Hodgkinson tells the stories of the dissidents and the heroes who have tried to swim against the tide of opinion on HIV and AIDS, including Michael Callen, Professor Duesberg, and Father D'Agostino. The result is an indictment of medical stubborness and an argument for a radical rethink of science's observational methods, checks and assumptions.