The Drug Trials Controversy.
Controversial drug trials, trouble at the NIH, the Celia Farber article in Harper's, and reaction.
- Problems with drug trials for pregnant women.
- Suppression of negative outcomes by U. S. health officials.
- Firing and reinstatement of whistleblower Dr. Fishbein.
- Scathing congressional criticism of the NIH NIAID agency.
- Moving article in Harper's by Celia Farber on fate of a healthy mother-to-be recruited into AIDS drug trial.
Drug trials for nevirapine, intended for pregnant women and tested in Uganda, had many problems, and apparent suppression of negative outcomes by U. S. health officials. A whistleblower, Dr. Fishbein, who brought some of the problems to light, was fired, but Congress forced his reinstatement, with scathing criticism of the NIH NIAID agency. The Celia Farber article in March Harper's expands on the issue, and details the moving story of a healthy mother-to-be recruited into a related drug trial, and her fate. The article caused a storm of reaction from the AIDS establishment.
How the story has developed....
- The abridged Celia Farber article, originally printed in Harper's, March 2006.
- A balanced New York Times article on Farber's story and the controversy it ignited.
- The questions about AIDS policy go far beyond those mentioned in the Farber article, as the links on our home web page describe.
- The strength in Farber's article is the powerful story of questionable drug trials and seeming official indifference. In cataloguing problems with AIDS science (which are many), she skips over some of the most profound.
- Farber's article drew a sharp reply from a group including Dr. Robert Gallo. For comments on the Gallo group's reply, see this link. For an earlier personal encounter with Dr. Gallo, see "An Encounter with Dr. Gallo in Albany"
- Two medical scientists have produced a detailed critique, with scientific references, of the Gallo, et al response to the Celia Farber article.
- 2004 news story that revealed African drug trial report omitted cases of death. Detroit News / AP, 12/19/2004.
- An independent journalist broke the story of drug trials using foster children, picked up by a New York paper as "AIDS Tots Used As Guinea Pigs". This link updates and provides status on the story.
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