Denying AIDS: Conspiracy Theories, Pseudoscience, and Human Tragedy

by Seth C. Kalichman, Nicoli Nattrass (Foreword)

Paralleling the discovery of HIV and the rise of the AIDS pandemic, a flock of naysayers has dedicated itself to replacing genuine knowledge with destructive misinformation―and spreading from the fringe to the mainstream media and the think tank. Now from the editor of the journal AIDS and Behavior comes a bold exposé of the scientific and sociopolitical forces involved in this toxic evasion. Denying AIDS traces the origins of AIDS dissidents disclaimers during the earliest days of the epidemic and delves into the psychology and politics of the current denial movement in its various incarnations. Seth Kalichman focuses not on the “difficult” or doubting patient, but on organized, widespread forms of denial (including the idea that HIV itself is a myth and HIV treatments are poison) and the junk science, faulty logic, conspiracy theories, and larger forces of homophobia and racism that fuel them. The malignant results of AIDS denial can be seen in those individuals who refuse to be tested, ignore their diagnoses, or reject the treatments that could save their lives. Instead of ignoring these currents, asserts Kalichman, science has a duty to counter them. Among the topics For anyone affected by, interested in, or working with researchers in HIV/AIDS, and public health professionals in general, the insight and vision of Denying AIDS will inspire outrage, discussion, and ultimately action. See for more information.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Medicine

228 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is as definitive a book as we have so far -- as close to a standard work as exists -- on those who would deny the connection between HIV and AIDS; or that AIDS is a heterosexual as well as a homosexual disease; or that AIDS can be transmitted through sexual contact rather than just through sharing needles or through blood transfusion; or even, in extreme cases, that AIDS exists at all. Then there are those who believe AIDS exists but that it's a man-made bug designed to exterminate gays, or blacks, or prostitutes, or Africans, or . . . Of course, the people who are shouting their denials the loudest, or who're most effective in convincing these groups of their fantasies, are rarely members of these groups themselves: with glaring exceptions like South Africa's ex-President Thabo Mbeki and ex-Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang, they're more likely to be comfortably off white American or Australian males in the twilight of their careers. Of course, there are HIV/AIDS denialists to whom this description doesn't apply -- as well as those mentioned, journalist Celia Farber is a prime example -- but an overall characteristic of the denialists that Kalichman frequently stresses is that none of them have done any direct research into AIDS or the HIV retrovirus. While some, like Peter Duesberg, have an extraordinarily distinguished past in some vaguely related field (in Duesberg's case it concerned the genetic basis of cancer), none have actually performed the research that would qualify them to speak authoritatively. They are no more qualified to promulgate their conspiracy theories than are you and I. And those conspiracy theories are costing lives by the thousands, hundreds of thousands, and likely millions. So why do they do it? It's a question Kalichman comes close on occasion to answering, although I suspect it remains, in the very end, as much of a mystery to him as it does to anyone:

Having read a great deal of what the denialists have to say  and having communicated at length with several of them myself, I am left to question how much any of these people actually care about AIDS and those affected by the disease. (p150)

So, if you want to find out about HIV/AIDS denialism, this is definitely the book you should seek out. At the same time, it's one of the most abysmal pieces of publishing I've ever come across -- and I'm including here the stacks of self-published POD books I used to read for review. This book isn't self-published: it was released by the Copernicus imprint of the revered scientific publisher Springer. Yet there can be scarcely a page without half a dozen mechanical errors on it, from typos (right down to the level of reversed quote-marks, where someone has blanket-applied smartquotes but not checked the results), homophone errors (I especially liked the term "ad homonym arguments" [pxv:] and the description of the Rev Jeremiah Wright as Obama's controversial pasture [p108:]), misuse of words (most particularly the word "refute", which Kalichman uses throughout when he means "rebut"), uncompleted sentences, or sentences in which subject and verb don't agree . . . The list could go on and on. I'd say the index reads like a parody except it goes beyond that: it's as if it were compiled by a ten-year-old who knew what an index looked like but didn't understand why it was there. I didn't spot-check it for accuracy because almost everything I wanted to look up wasn't listed, including people who play a major part in the text. At times I wondered if the book had been dictated into voice-recognition software, and then somehow the first draft had accidentally been typeset in place of the finished version. Certainly there has been no copy-editing and no proofreading. It's a mess. To repeat, the book was published by Springer.

A further difficulty is that the citation of sources is incomplete. Kalichman admits as much at the outset, saying that he was concerned to make the book readable rather than a text barely discernable through a thicket of glosses; and that's a fair enough argument, I suppose. However, checking up by dint of tedious googling on quite a number of the papers he mentioned but gave no citation for, I discovered that more often than I was comfortable with the paper didn't say quite what Kalichman claimed. I'm pretty certain these discrepancies arose through sloppiness rather than mendacity because they rarely affected his argument (in only one example was his argument strengthened by the error, when he gave a figure for prostitute rates of HIV infection clearly unaware that the research was among male, not female, prostitutes; and in one case his misquotation of a paper actually weakened his argument, where he described "just under 50%" of a group as believing a conspiracy theory when the true figure was 54%). Since one of his complaints about the denialists is that they have a habit of misrepresenting their source material, this unreliability is, to say the least, a bit ironic.

As I say, this is as near as we have to date to a definitive text on the subject, and fundamentally it's a very good piece of work. If you simply want a sort of grand overview of HIV/AIDS denialism, this is definitely the book for you. But I hope fervently that there's a second edition sometime Real Soon Now and that this time Springer's editorial dept does its job and eliminates the myriad footling errors that mar the version currently published.

[Joshua Sawyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the arguments and the science he described were valid, the book needed an editor in the worst way ... Plus, while it was good to see the denialist arguments refuted ... it was hard to read ... and coming from someone who spent years reading AIDS journals ... it wasn’t because the science was difficult to understand.

[Spicy T AKA Mr. Tea · Rating 5 out of 5]

what an incredible book. i wish i had read it back in 2005 when i helped put on a demonstration against a film being screened called "the other side of aids"--an aids denialist film claiming that hiv does not cause aids and then further that hiv does not exist. (According to them, what kills people then? poverty, drug use, (homo)sexuality, but absolutely not AIDS!) This was followed up by a film screening of people fighting for aids and hiv to be recognized by the government and scientific establishment with discussion. Around this time an aids denialist in San Francisco found out about our demo and film screening in chicago and proceeded to contact me via email to convince me that my idea was all wrong. Then after i asked that he stop sending me emails, he went online and started digging, found my phone number, and called me. I proceeded to let him talk to me for an hour where some of my favorite questions were asked: who is paying you to do this? how much are they paying? are you apart of the aids establishment conspiracy? Real wacko stuff. I hung up on him eventually, but i gave him some time to vent out his message, which i didn't really hear. This book does an amazing job of telling the history of aids denial-ism while pointing out some of the notable trouble makers. Really well written, very accessible, astoundingly common sense approach where the author does a great job of explaining the patterns of conspiracism coupled with concrete examples of those patterns used by the aids denialists. These same identified patterns, tactics, and rhetoric can be applied to other conspiracies. Does an amazing job of debunking the flat-earthers and successfully puts their "movement" in its place--the dust bin. Extraordinary job. Hats off. Read this book.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

It was hard to know whether this book was meant to convey a message or be a vehicle of self promotion for the author. It is poorly written and hard to read, but easy to put down....and forget.

Kalichman is well known in the blogosphere for his prodigeous writings on his site denyingaids, and is a regular contributor to numerous sites of similar content. The only thing missing in this book is his usual ranting style and pseudo-pcycholigical diagnoses of those that disagree with him.

That he has freely admitted to running his blog with the sanction and during working hours at his faculty at UConn. And that same faculty has received millions in pharmaceutical company funding only adds to his lack of credibility and moral conviction on this subject.

Definately one to avoid, unless you need something to put you to sleep at night.

[Shea Mastison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an excellent book whose insights can be cast toward the whole culture of pseudoscience in America. Seth C. Kalichman really wrestles with the subject of AIDS denialism; attempting to give unbiased perspectives, with a limited amount of interpretation. Then he moves toward offering the scientific errors, whether deliberate or not, these AIDS denialists make.

The book is very accessible, and there is a ton of information packed into such a relatively thin book. If bizarre social currents are your interest; or if you like a little science spiced with your contemporary nonfiction--check this out.

[Emma Veitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frightening but important (still - unfortunately). Well researched, not only a useful history of HIV/AIDS, its emergence, the science and treatment, but a memoir of how denialism emerges and influences to harm individuals and populations. Cautionary tale and worth revisiting as the effects he describes can also be seen in eg, vaccine denialism (false claims that vaccines cause autism) etc and many other areas of pseudoscience. Just not always brilliantly written and sometimes a little lacking in insight as to why some individuals are attracted by these ideas.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book opened up a whole world of zealous HIV/AIDS denialism I never knew existed. Excellent!