Some recommended reading

I thought it would be fun to compile a short list of the best books I’ve read on HIV and AIDS from a heterodox perspective. I am intentionally only including books that helped shape my early reasoning, and for this reason I have omitted anything I’ve read within the years since my own (now out of print) book was published. Those will be the subject of a future post.

First on the list is perhaps a cheat because AIDS only takes up a few chapters, but they pack a punch. This is one of the first books - perhaps the first book - I read that questioned the official theory of AIDS. It is, of course, Dancing Naked in the Mind Field by Kary Mullis. His account of trying to find a single scientist that would cite a single paper that definitively supported the statement “HIV is the probable cause of AIDS” is both illuminating (spoiler: he failed) and entertainingly written. I include this book because the late Mullis is arguably the most prominent and decorated of the HIV skeptics, and his contributions to biomedical engineering with his invention of PCR are too important to overlook.

Next is Serious Adverse Events by the incredibly talented writer Celia Farber. The book is mostly a collection of essays she wrote, largely for Spin magazine. Part of what makes this book so special is the sheer breadth of Farber’s coverage. She has reported on AIDS from a skeptical perspective since the early days of the epidemic, and the work covered in these chapters includes history, exposing the lack of ethics surrounding “AIDS” drugs and their approval and use, and plenty of interviews. It’s so well written that it is also a very smooth read.

When AIDS Began by Michelle Cochrane is a dense book, but it is absolutely worth it for anyone who wants in depth knowledge about the early cases of AIDS in San Francisco. Providing numerous case studies and citing early papers, Cochrane blows the official story that AIDS randomly appeared among previously healthy young men sky high. It’s not an easy read, but it is worth it as you will finish this book wondering how the official version of events in the late seventies and early eighties could possibly have survived to this day.

Poison by Prescription: the AZT Story by the late John Lauritsen is important because it exposes the truth about the first drug that was widely prescribed to AIDS patients and HIV positive individuals, with disastrous results. In hindsight, the devastating effects of AZT should have been obvious considering AZT was a failed cancer chemotherapeutic once deemed too toxic for human use. Eventually, clinical treatment caught up - sort of - to the medical literature and doses of AZT were cut drastically. As a result, fewer patients dropped dead directly from the treatment; however, AZT remains in use to this day. I defy anyone to look into the history of this drug and its approval and not draw parallels to what is happening with many Big Pharma endorsed medications today.

Rounding out the list is an incredible little book by Henry Bauer, The Origins, Persistence and Failing of HIV/AIDS Theory. Using publicly available statistics of HIV positivity across risk groups and racial groups, Bauer shows simply using raw data that the distribution of HIV positivity in the population is completely incompatible with either a transmissible agent or a new pathogen. Rather, its entirely consistent distribution indicates something that is both endemic and non-contagious. This book has not received the attention it deserves.

I’m going to stop with my top five, or this could go on forever. Amazon links are included, although I think the Lauritsen book may also be out of print. I hope this inspires you to do a little more digging into what John Lauritsen called “the most shameful episode in the history of medicine”.