September 4, 2009

AIDS Denialist Film House of Numbers Opens in New York

Brent Leung’s House of Numbers, a movie about AIDS denialism, opens September 4 in New York City, and The New York Times offers a negative review in that day’s paper.

According to the review, Leung assembles interviews with doctors, scientists, journalists and others to build a case against the existence of HIV as a virus and AIDS as the resulting disease.

Among his arguments is the theory that pharmaceutical companies created the HIV diagnosis to sell drug therapies.

The Times calls the film “willfully ignorant,” saying it only portrays minor areas of scientific disagreement as “a research community in disarray.” Recently, 18 doctors interviewed in the film issued a joint statement claiming that Leung “acted deceitfully and unethically” and that the film “perpetuates pseudoscience and myths.”

Search: House of Numbers, denialism, Brent Leung

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Previous Comments:

Questioning, London, 2009-10-08 19:41:05
I've seen the film and thought it was excellent. I believe in freedom of choice, and everyone is entitled to their opions. It does arouse suspicion when people are attacked for questioning the conventional way of thinking. Also through experience i've noticed there is so much pressure for healthy people to go on a dangerous coctail of drugs when their numbers are low. Maybe we are just statistics based on our Numbers.

Frank Harris, , 2009-09-21 03:40:41
I saw the film in the theater and like most of the people present, was very surprised. I am disappointed that the reactions to by the organizations and scientists that up until now I had a great deal of faith and trust in, have been extremely defensive and hostile, and most upsetting of all, similar to the way my young children react when i've caught them in a lie...

curious, , 2009-09-13 20:12:46
To mythras, I'm curious...did they give you anything at the hospital besides HAART? (like antibiotics, for example)? How long were you healthy and HIV positive before getting PCP? Were you taking steroids? Do you smoke or do other drugs?

mythras, Detroit, 2009-09-12 14:18:27
To 'whereistheproof', I'm glad Duesburg saved your life because he damn near killed me. After reading his book, I myself denied having AIDS -- and wound up in ICU with two collapsed lungs (PCP), a viral load of 850,000 and a CD4 count of four. Only with HAART did I recover. I'm sure you two can explain that away, though?

Billie K., Beverly Hills, 2009-09-11 13:08:22
House of Numbers is not "a movie about AIDS denialism," which you might have figured out if you had actually seen the movie before writing a "review" about it. House of Numbers is a remarkable accomplishment in the age of disinformation and tight pharmaceutical control over the media (and the public consciousness). Watch the interview with the "c0-discoverer" of HIV, where he talks about how someone with a healthy immune system can "get rid of the virus within a few weeks." Powerful stuff.

resistanceisfruitful, Kansas City, 2009-09-09 22:43:59
I'd probably be posting a defensive comment if I was still relying on the drugs for my life. Once I realized they were doing more harm than good and quit them more than seven years ago, I've learned to open my mind a bit more. I can't wait to see this movie for myself next week in KC and I don't need a pharmaceutical funded website like aidsmeds to tell me what to think before I do so. You can Google my name to find my blog.

whereistheproof, , 2009-09-09 16:27:09
today i am healthy and well but just questioning the hiv=aids is a crime nowadays. i am compared to a holocaust denier, a flatearther among others. we want our lives back. and we have the right to ask questions. especially if after nearly 30 years the establishment has delivered no cure and spent billions of our tax money. thank you.

whereistheproof, , 2009-09-09 16:26:38
i am 22 years HIV+. thousands are like me. yet i am accused of anecdotal evidence. peter duesberg saved my life. if i had not listened to him i would have died on the concorde tiral taking azt.

Kevin, Phoenix, 2009-09-09 15:52:34
Great, more ignorance for the willfully ignorant. There's no denying that HIV causes the disease that brings us all to this website, and that available meds save lives (I'm living proof). What is it with people who can't accept reality - from HIV denialists to birthers to flat earthers to death panelists? I guess there will always be that segment of the population that seeks to hold back the progress of humanity.

Danindenver, Denver, CO, 2009-09-08 16:49:20
for a REAL review of the film i saw here in Golden, CO. Read the LA Times Review. the comment page wont' let me add the link. go to the LA Times dot com and search HOUSE OF NUMBERS

Pandora, , 2009-09-08 14:56:21
"Trying to understand" HIV/AIDS is a far cry from ambushing, cherry-picking, and deceiving scientists to get the quotes you want. Which is exactly what this jerk Leung did. Good for the New York Times. Science is not reviewed by questionably assembled documentaries---unless you think logic is an unfortunate stumbling block to exciting conspiracy theories.

gregory, palm springs, 2009-09-06 18:15:57
A film that interviews all the major scientists who study hiv and AIDS and the only thing the Times can do is insult and attack people who are trying to help others to understand what these scientists are saying and how close they are to finding a cure and the New York Times only wants to attack and insult? something is very wrong with american mainstream media when people are warned not to listen to the experts anymore. i want to see this film for myself.

optimistnyc, NYC, 2009-09-05 09:18:23
I have seen the film and the review is very misleading. Its violent attack on the very idea of reviewing HIV AIDS science as quote questioning gravity is absurd. Its a persuasive film which interviews a roster of the key names in the field and finds they cant agree on their story. The film shows something is very wrong in the house of HIV.