Celia Farber

Celia Farber is an activist and journalist who since 1986 has sympathetically covered the AIDS denialist belief that HIV does not cause AIDS. [ [http://discovermagazine.com/2006/oct/celia-farber-interview-aids/?searchterm=farber "Questioning the HIV Hive Mind? An interview with Celia Farber, long-serving chronicler of HIV dissidents." by Susan Kruglinski] ] She wrote and edited a monthly feature column in "Spin" magazine entitled "Words From The Front" [1987-1995] .

Her work on AIDS

Farber's work emphasizes the negative role she feels is played by pharmaceutical side effects in the health of many AIDS patients, as well as the claims of Peter Duesberg and others who argue that HIV is harmless. Although Farber is not a scientist, she also describes what she considers to be flaws in the methodology used by some early HIV & AIDS researchers. Her view of the American scientific community and the National Institutes of Health is that they are "totalitarian" structures.

Her 2006 "Harper's" magazine article, "Out of Control: AIDS And The Corruption of Medical Science", [cite book
url = http://www.harpers.org/OutOfControl.html
title = Out Of Control, AIDS and the corruption of medical science
last = Farber
first = Celia
publisher = Harper's Magazine
date = 2006-03-01
accessdate = 2006-03-13] criticized the ethics and industry of antiretroviral drugs and favorably presented the scientifically discredited claim that HIV does not cause AIDS. In response to Farber's article, the Treatment Action Campaign, a South African group campaigning for greater access to HIV treatment, posted a 37-page rebuttal written by eight prominent AIDS researchers. The rebuttal described over 50 errors in Farber's article, ranging from misleading or false statements to implications of sinister motives without evidence. [cite book
url=http://www.tac.org.za/Documents/ErrorsInFarberArticle.pdf
title = Errors in Celia Farber's March 2006 article in Harper's Magazine
Last = Gallo
First = Robert
coauthors = Nathan Geffen, Gregg Gonsalves, Richard Jeffreys, Daniel R. Kuritzkes, Bruce Mirken, John P. Moore, Jeffrey T. Safrit
publisher = Treatment Action Campaign
date = 2006-03-04
accessdate = 2006-03-13] cite book
url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/13/business/media/13harpers.html
title = An Article in Harper's Ignites a Controversy Over H.I.V.
publisher = The New York Times
last = Miller
first = Lia
date = 2006-03-13
accessdate = 2006-03-13] A group of AIDS denialists posted a response to the rebuttal by Gallo and colleagues. [ [http://www.rethinkingaids.com/GalloRebuttal/overview.html Farber and others AIDS dissidents respond to criticisms of her Harper's magazine article] ]

Farber's article was widely criticized for its promotion of AIDS denialism. [ [http://www.advocate.com/news_detail_ektid27946.asp Harper’s magazine publishes controversial AIDS story] . Published in "The Advocate" on March 14 2006; accessed May 15 2008.] A "New York Times" editorial described the article as promoting "deadly quackery", [http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/04/opinion/04moore.html Deadly Quackery] , by John Moore and Nicoli Nattrass. Published in the "New York Times" on June 4 2006; accessed May 6 2008.] while the "Columbia Journalism Review" wrote: "Next time, Harper’s should be more careful about giving so much legitimacy—15 pages of it—to such an illegitimate and discredited idea." In response, Farber claimed that she did not endorse the Duesberg hypothesis and that she had approached the story as an objective journalist without a preconceived opinion, stating: "People can't distinguish, it seems, between describing dissent and being dissent." Her claim of objectivity was disputed, with critics pointing to Farber's long history of arguing that HIV does not cause AIDS. [ [http://thedailytransom.observer.com/2006/03/celia-farber-has-the-dissenter-become-the-dissentee.html "Celia Farber: Has the Dissenter Become the... Dissentee?"] Published online by the New York Observer, 13 March 2006. Accessed 30 October 2006.] [ [http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=65330 "Harper's Publishes AIDS Denialist."] From "The Nation", published 2 March 2006. Accessed 30 October 2006.] [http://www.healthgap.org/harpers.html "Behind Harper's Folly: Farber, Hodge and the Denialist Deception] . From the HealthGap website. Accessed 30 October 2006.] Farber also claimed that her article did not unduly disparage antiretroviral medication, writing that "...it does not, for example, say that all AIDS drugs are ghastly, or worthless." Farber also argued that, "...in each article where I have addressed HAART I have included, clearly, the fact that the regimens have absolutely helped people who are very sick." Again, her claims were disputed, with critics pointing to a number of prior writings by Farber in which she argues that HIV medications are deadly and ineffective.

In June 2006, Farber wrote an article in the independent paper "Los Angeles City Beat" in defense of Christine Maggiore, an HIV-positive AIDS denialist who avoided antiretrovirals during pregnancy and did not have her children tested for HIV. [ [http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=3887&IssueNum=157 A Daughter's Death, A Mother's Survival] , by Celia Farber. Accessed 7 Sept 2006.] Maggiore's daughter, Eliza Jane, was found to be HIV-positive only after she died of complications of AIDS. [ [http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/la-me-eliza24sep24,0,4062292.story "A Mother's Denial, a Daughter's Death"] , by Charles Ornstein and Daniel Costello. Published in the "Los Angeles Times" on September 24 2005. Accessed 16 February 2007.] [ [http://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/print?id=1386737 "Did HIV-Positive Mom's Beliefs Put Her Children at Risk?"] An ABC News Primetime report. Accessed 16 February 2007.]

The scientific accuracy and objectivity of Farber's articles has been widely disputed, as she has favorably presented the denialist views of Peter Duesberg. [http://www.cjr.org/behind_the_news/harpers_races_right_over_the_e.php?page=1 Harper's Races Right over the Edge of a Cliff] , by Gal Beckerman] . From the "Columbia Journalism Review", published March 8 2006; accessed June 14 2007.] The Duesberg hypothesis, which holds that HIV is a harmless "passenger" virus unrelated to AIDS except by association, has been examined and rejected by the medical and scientific communities. [ [http://www.niaid.nih.gov/Factsheets/evidhiv.htm NIAID Fact Sheet: The Evidence that HIV Causes AIDS.] Accessed 27 Jan 2007.]

Other work

Farber describes herself as "a vocal and persistent critic of Political Correctness and the McCarthyism that reigned in Sexual Harassment law in the 1990s." During her time as a writer at "Spin", Farber was romantically involved with the magazine's publisher, Bob Guccione, Jr. [http://www.salon.com/june97/spin4970609.html Salon magazine series on the Spin sexual harassment lawsuit] , by Celia Farber. Accessed 30 October 2006.] In 1994, a "Spin" employee filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Guccione, Jr. and the magazine, alleging sexual discrimination and favoritism. [http://www.observer.com/node/52410 AIDS Anarchist Farber Hops Back in Whirlwind] , by Sheelah Kolhatkar. Published 28 June 2006. Accessed 30 October 2006.] Farber was a key witness in the ensuing trial, as the prosecution alleged that Farber's relationship with Guccione, Jr. led to her promotion and other job opportunities. Ultimately, the jury found that "Spin" editors had created a "hostile environment" and awarded $90,000 to the plaintiff; the remainder of the charges, including those of sexual favoritism, were rejected.

In 1999, Farber co-founded the non-profit organization "Rock The Boat". The organization's mission was to arrange rock music concerts to stimulate independent thinking about subjects which the organization's proponents believed had been censored by the media. Farber has written for "Newsmax", "Harper's", "Rolling Stone", "Esquire", "Salon.com", "Gear", the "New York Press", "Red Flags", and others. Her book "Serious Adverse Events: An Uncensored History of AIDS" was published in July 2006 by Melville House Press. Farber was one of the original signatories to the letter establishing the Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV-AIDS Hypothesis. [cite journal | author=Baumann E, Bethell T, Bialy H, Duesberg PH, Farber C, Geshekter CL, Johnson PE, Maver RW, Schoch R, Stewart GT, Strohman RC, Thomas CA Jr. | title=AIDS proposal. Group for the Scientific Reappraisal of the HIV/AIDS Hypothesis | journal=Science | year=1995 | pages=945–946 | volume=267 | issue=5200 | pmid=7863335]

References

External links

* [http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0ISW/is_269/ai_n15929279 Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, An interview with Celia Farber]
* [http://www.bookslut.com/features/2006_09_009885.php/ Bookslut Interview]