KILLING THE PATIENT: How a Billion Dollar Industry, Entrusted With Saving Lives, Maybe Killing the Very Patients It Is Treating.

“The doctor of the future will give no medicine; but will interest his patient in the care of the human frame, in diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.” - Thomas Edison


I first heard Gary Null on WBAI in the 1980s. His radio show, Natural Living with Gary Null, deals with alternative treatment for illnesses such as cancer, eating natural foods and maintaining a regiment of a balanced diet and exercise. During his career Null has been extremely critical of the medical profession for what he says is a steadfast refusal to consider the merits of alternative medicine as treatments for serious illnesses. His assertion is that rather than trying to save lives and bring about cures for diseases like cancer, the medical profession’s main goal is treatment. “There is no healthcare in the United States,” he says, “or in England, or anywhere else. It doesn't exist. We have sickness maintenance."

At the heart of the problem is the money the medical profession, particularly the pharmaceutical industry, rakes in each year from the treatment of these illnesses, to the tune of billions of dollars. “Any doctor in the United States who cures cancer using alternative methods will be destroyed." While stopping short of saying that physicians are guilty of conspiring with the pharmaceutical industry – he prefers to believe that they are simply trained to accept the premises of their profession – he does point out that doctors are given huge financial incentives for agreeing to dispense medications as the first line of treatment, while at the same time minimizing or suppressing alternative, non-evasive treatments “to protect the medical establishment's solid-gold cancer train.”

Critics of Null – and there are many – site his educational background, namely his PhD from Union Institute & University in Cincinnati, Ohio, in human nutrition and public health sciences. While the school is accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools its accreditation does not cover awarding of PhDs in the sciences, only in the humanities. Another criticism regarding Null has to do with his methodology. James R. Laidler, MD, criticizes Null’s work for double counting statistics and for presenting a simplistic and skewed view of medicine. Still another area of criticism directed at Null has to do with the fact that he has overly and unjustly criticized the medical profession while failing to point out the good it does and how many lives it saves. Harriet Hall, MD, has accused Null of “doctor bashing,” while Dr. Stephen Barrett, who maintains a website he calls Quackwatch, disparages Null's PhD thesis, his alternative health claims, and several of his commercial products.[21]

Null’s latest venture will, like his previous ones, stir the pot on both sides of the debate. AIDS, Inc. is a film about the multi-billion dollar AIDS industry, and how it profits from continuing fears and misconceptions about the disease. While AIDS grabs the headlines and raises billions of dollars with celebrity endorsements and billionaire endowments, Null says we are no closer to finding a cure than when the scourge first appeared 30 years ago.

Could it be that after so many years of research, and so much money being spent, that the entire orthodox medical establishment has been wrong about AIDS, or even worse, has sought to profit on a system that it knew was flawed from the beginning? Doctor Robert Gallo who discovered the HIV virus said that there is no legitimate dissent when it comes to AIDS. But there are more than 5,000 physicians, microbiologists, journalists and activists who disagree and say that we have been misled about the real causes of AIDS and the nature of its treatment. The mainstream media has chosen not to provide an outlet for their opinions. In this important film, Null traveled to more than 30 countries over an eight-year period to seek them out and get their interviews.

The first issue that Null’s movie challenges is the assertion that HIV equals AIDS. In the first few years, there were no major dissenting voices on this issue. The medical community accepted the initial data and “lined up, virtually in unison, to get research grants to find the appropriate drugs or vaccines that would either help prevent or treat the condition.” That, by itself, would be inexcusable, but what happened after was, to Null, even more reprehensible. Whenever a scientist would challenge the data and findings, or even question the literature, he or she was criticized nonstop. They were intimidated, ridiculed and threatened with having their grants canceled. The lack of any open scientific forum, or dearth of any meaningful dissent at Congressional hearings meant a rubber stamp on the treatment of AIDS for more than 20 years.

Null takes a close look at AIDS treatments, particularly AZT, which is the number one treatment prescribed for AIDS’ patients. It was the first anti-HIV drug approved for use in the United States. But the inventor of the drug says, according to Null, the drug is too toxic for cancer patients. The “T” stands for DNA termination. “It’s a DNA disruptor,” Null says. “Can you imagine giving that to people.” One of the main points of the film is that AZT may actually be killing more people than the AIDS virus itself. But the medical profession continues to endorse and prescribe the drug, in spite of the overwhelming data. The slogan at lectures is, “Put time on your side and take AZT.”

Another point throughout the film that Null makes is the millions of dollars that AIDS groups are given to endorse the taking of AZT and other drugs. If they said “Yes, use condoms and take your drugs,” you got money. If you said, “Yes, use condoms but don’t take the drugs, rebuild your immune system,” you got nothing. As always, Null’s central theme is the money trail and where it leads. He refers to AIDS conferences as “an embarrassment. They look like an expensive flea market for pharmaceuticals. Dozens and dozens of booths. All about drugs. And, of course, who do they hire, and pay first class to get there? Gay activists. It’s all about, “Get this drug, this is the newest and hottest drug.”

Despite the recent uproar his movie is bound to cause, Null isn’t overly optimistic about the future. “Nothing will happen. They (the AIDS industry) will get away with it. I wish that I could say otherwise about the people who have exploited this crisis to their advantage, who have lied about it, who have kept false information going forward, and who have kept people in a panic. No body has ever been held accountable, as long as you’ve got a corporate title in front of you. Let’s face it. One hundred thousand people have died because of Vioxx*, and they knew in advance that it was dangerous, and they hid that information. Have you heard of a single person at Pfizer being held accountable? No. Only in America could you kill a hundred thousand people and get a raise!”

Like Michael Moore, Gary Null is unapologetically anti big business in the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Curiously, while his critics have brought to light legitimate concerns regarding his education, methodology and lack of objectivity, what has never been questioned is his passion and dedication to uncovering issues and problems within the medical profession. His first paper on the harmful affects of caffeine was the first of its kind; he also was among the earliest professionals talking about the virtues of eating right and exercising regularly – unless, of course, you count Jack LaLanne. His latest movie, like Moore’s Sicko, uncovers important information and brings to light serious issues within the medical profession. It should be required viewing for all people, regardless of their political persuasions.

* These numbers have NOT been verified and are the opinion of Gary Null.