Press Notification — January 30, 2009Investigation of HIV Drug Testing on New York Foster Children Adds To Cover-up
SAN FRANCISCO (Rethinking AIDS) January 30, 2009 —
Rethinking AIDS said today that the January 27 release of the long-awaited investigation of HIV drug testing at Incarnation Children's Center, a Catholic orphanage, has failed to resolve lingering questions over the treatment of New York City foster children.
"The investigation shows an appalling disregard for the lives of New York City foster children," said
Rethinking AIDS president David Crowe. "The so-called 'investigators' appear more interested in protecting the drugs, institutions and professionals involved."
The report, issued by the VERA Institute of Justice, contains several factual discrepancies, which have been echoed in news coverage, notably in The New York Times. Among these, investigative reporter Liam Scheff alleges that:
- Although 25 children enrolled in the trials died "during the trial years," investigators "found no evidence that any children died as a result of the trials." However, VERA staff members stated to Scheff and others that they had no access to any of the children's medical records.
- The investigation found that 80 children died after the trials, "while in foster care," but the Times chose not to report this fact.
- The Institute dismissed allegations made by mothers that their children were removed from their families because of the families' refusal to consent to HIV treatment, while acknowledging "a disturbing lack of medical consent forms."
Scheff broke the ICC story in late 2004 after going undercover at the orphanage. He says the VERA Institute disregarded information he volunteered to the investigation.
Before its involvement in the trials, "the orphanage reported that the children got 'dramatically better' without the very toxic, 'black box' AIDS drugs," says Scheff. "What would have happened to these children, had they not been force-fed these drugs?"
Rethinking AIDS — an international group of more than 2,600 scientists, doctors, journalists, health advocates and others — offers several eminent medical and scientific experts to comment on this and other AIDS issues currently in the news:
Liam ScheffInvestigative reporter
Boston, Massachusetts
www.liamscheff.comLiamScheff@yahoo.comWent undercover at ICC and broke the story on the drug studies there in 2004.Rolando BiniParents in Action
New York, New York
rolando@parentsinaction.net www.parentsinaction.net Advocate for New York City foster children and their parents.Media Contacts:
David Crowe*
President, Rethinking AIDS
Calgary, Alberta, Canada (Mountain time zone)
1-403-289-6609 (office)
1-403-861-2225 (mobile)
david.crowe@aras.ab.caElizabeth ElyPublic Relations Chairperson, Rethinking AIDS
Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S. (Eastern time zone)
1-718-704-9672 (mobile)
publicrelations@rethinkingaids.com*Rethinking AIDS board member.
Rethinking AIDS: The Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV/AIDS Hypothesis ("RA" or "the Group") was formed in 1991 to express the concerns of a growing number of renowned scientists and medical doctors about HIV research and the resulting human rights abuses. In 1995, by a letter published in Science, the Group called for a thorough reappraisal of the existing evidence for and against the HIV/AIDS hypothesis and recommended that critical epidemiological studies be undertaken.
Among RA's founders and key members are University of Toronto professor emeritus and former cancer researcher Dr. Etienne de Harven; Harvard microbiologist Dr. Charles Thomas; 1993 Nobel laureate for chemistry Dr. Kary Mullis; Nature/Biotechnology co-founder Dr. Harvey Bialy; University of California at Berkeley molecular biologist Dr. Peter Duesberg and the late Yale mathematician Dr. Serge Lang, both members of the National Academy of Sciences; physicist Eleni Papadopulos-Eleopulos of the Royal Perth Hospital in Australia; and Glasgow University professor emeritus of public health and World Health Organization consultant Dr. Gordon Stewart.