Well, the way I see it. The line is in the sand. Pumping up the volume of rhetoric just means WPI is very sure and very concerned about public health concern. They know what is at risk and they know the costs.
Careers will be made and lost on this. I say better to have this public debate to stir up interest than to have people whispering at conferences.
At some point, hopefully soon, we will know who is right and who is wrong. Maybe this summer?
Either way, folks, WPI found a human infectious retrovirus. No matter what, that can not be taken away from them. It will all work out in time.
Right now, we need attention. This article gives it to us.
As Cort says, just imagine the headline when Mikovits is shown to have been right?
Also, major discoveries have often had scientists scoffed or criticized and later found to be right.
One example is the polio vaccine. See this excerpt: Kollmer's attempt at developing a vaccine was based on a slightly different premise. His idea was to use live, but slightly weakened (attenuated) virus, again taken from the spinal cords of infected monkeys. The virus was attenuated by mixing it with various chemicals and refrigerating it for fourteen days. Paul (1971, p. 258) called the result a "veritable witches brew." Again, after trying his "vaccine" on a few monkeys, himself, his children, and twenty-two others, Kollmer was optimistic enough to distribute thousands of doses to physicians across the country. Unfortunately, the vaccine was not only ineffective, but was blamed for causing many cases of polio, some of which were fatal. In his remarks at a meeting of the Southern Branch of the American Public Health Association held in 1935, Kollmer is reported to have said, "Gentlemen, this is one time I wish the floor would open up and swallow me." (Paul, 1971, p. 260).
In spite of his failed attempts at vaccine development, Kollmer apparently managed to pick up the pieces and go on to a successful, if not distinguished, research career. This was not the case for Brodie. Unable to find an important research position, he died shortly after accepting a minor position in Michigan. "It is alleged that he took his own life" (Paul, 1971, p. 261). Thus, tragically, he did not live to see Salk's successful development of a polio vaccine based on his concept of using formalin inactivated virus. Even more tragically for the hundreds of thousands who contracted polio in the 1940's and 50's, the 1935 fiasco made the scientific community so gun shy that polio vaccine trials on human subjects were not attempted again for nearly twenty years.
These two guys stuck their heads out. Even giving their vaccine to others without medical protocol of testing. They made mistakes. And yes, some died. But in the end, they were right.
And ulcers: Remember this? In 1982, when H. pylori was discovered by Dr Marshall and Dr Warren, stress and lifestyle were considered the major causes of stomach and intestinal ulcers.
And notice these unorthodox methods: Dr Marshall proved that H. pylori caused gastic inflammation by deliberately infecting himself with the bacterium.
The Nobel citation praises the doctors for their tenacity, and willingness to challenge prevailing dogmas.
And Pellegra, thought to have been caused by germs, later to be found to be caused by niacin deficiencies. His belief, based on his own research, was not validated until a decade later. Notice his unorthodox methods: To prove this, Dr. Goldberger, his assistants and even his wife engaged in experiments called "filth parties." They injected themselves with blood or ingested the scabs, feces and body fluids of patients. None developed pellagra.
The list is long. Leaders make history, not those who take the safe, conservative approach. The world changes because someone does something different.
To be honest, what surprises me more is that researchers, who know this history, want to criticize those who take this approach.
Tina
