Although it may seem almost impossible to believe with the overwhelming evidence available that HIV causes AIDS, there is a small but incredibly vocal group that claim HIV is not the cause of AIDS. In fact, many HIV deniers claim that lifestyle choices, such as homosexuality, drug abuse (including using AZT, one of the drugs used to treat HIV) and other 'lifestyle choices' are what causes AIDS. If that sounds like the general load of codswollop that alties pull out with things like generic 'toxins' causing diseases then you'd be right.
Orac was recently prompted to write this incredible rebuttal to Dean Esmay who accused Orac (and others) of using the death of one HIV deniers child, Christine Maggiore as a 'political football' based on an extremely dodgy pathology report by one Dr. Mohammed Al-Bayati. Now backing up slightly for those not familiar with the story, Christine Maggiore is a well known HIV denier who is in fact infected with the disease. Unfortunately, she doesn't believe that AIDS can affect heterosexual normal people and only affects those with 'dirty' lifestyles like the poor and homosexuals. For her arrogance, she paid the ultimate price sadly and her second child, Eliza Jane died of what the L.A. county coroner described as 'AIDS related pneumonia'. Since then, Christine Maggiore and Dean Esmay have been trying to make any excuse to shift the blame from an AIDS related cause to that of an allergic reaction to amoxicillin the child was given or even other viruses entirely (see Oracs debunking above).
With the police and authorities breathing down Christine Maggiore for basically neglect and failure to provide proper care, she is desperately trying to pin down anything she can (except AIDS) for the death to stay out of prison. The only 'political grandstanding' occuring here is the rubbish coming out from the likes of Deam Esmay and the abysmally ridiculous report from Dr. Al-Bayati (who himself is a known HIV denier and has written books on the subject, surprised yet he used any tenuous evidence he could to link the girls death to anything other than AIDS?).
Now after the debunking of the so called 'expert' pathology report will Dean Esmay have the guts to actually address the arguments made from Orac? I'm going to bet that he probably won't, just like how the creationists seem to disappear when you provide them with solid scientific evidence for evolution.
