Plague: One Scientist’s Intrepid Search for the Truth About Human Retroviruses and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Autism, and Other Diseases
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On July 22, 2009, a special meeting was held with 24 leading scientists at the National Institutes of Health to discuss early findings that a newly discovered retrovirus was linked to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), prostate cancer, lymphoma, and eventually neurodevelopmental disorders in children. When Dr. Judy Mikovits finished her presentation the room was silent for a moment, then one of the scientists said, "Oh my God!" The resulting investigation would be like no other in science. For Dr. Mikovits, a 20-year veteran of the National Cancer Institute, this was the midpoint of a five-year journey that would start with the founding of the Whittemore-Peterson Institute for Neuro-Immune Disease at the University of Nevada, Reno, and end with her as a witness for the federal government against her former employer, Harvey Whittemore, for illegal campaign contributions to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. On this journey, Dr. Mikovits would face the scientific prejudices against CFS, wander into the minefield that is autism, and through it all struggle to maintain her faith in God and the profession to which she had dedicated her life. This is a story for anybody interested in the peril and promise of science at the very highest levels in our country.
- Listening Length19 hours and 50 minutes
- Audible release date12 Dec. 2014
- LanguageEnglish
- ASINB00QVOKK1I
- VersionUnabridged
- Program TypeAudiobook
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Product details
| Listening Length | 19 hours and 50 minutes |
|---|---|
| Author | Kent Heckenlively, Judy Mikovits PhD |
| Narrator | Eric Jason Martin |
| Whispersync for Voice | Ready |
| Audible.co.uk Release Date | 12 December 2014 |
| Publisher | Audible Studios |
| Program Type | Audiobook |
| Version | Unabridged |
| Language | English |
| ASIN | B00QVOKK1I |
| Best Sellers Rank | 75,913 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) 129 in Forensic Medicine 158 in Biographies of Science & Technology Leaders 171 in Microbiology (Books) |
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PLAGUE manages to discuss the technical aspects of retrovirology, without being too baffling to the casual reader who has no background in science. Yes, it is in parts rather complex, but the complexity comes from the story, not biology. The long drawn out story is fused with intrigue, hope, deception, cover-up and just honest questions that need to be asked. The reality is, ME patients (via CFS acronym) have been sold down the river for multiple decades and the person who tried to help the patients from a paper published in 2009 in SCIENCE journal, was arrested on the claims of her employer on charges that were later thrown out of court. Despite this, Judy Mikovits's name and career is ruined. No science is being done into retrovirology and CFS, and the reason suggested is that there is possible plague of infection, most of us will harbor - seriously ill with neuroimmune diseases like CFS and Autism, or otherwise as healthy carriers.
This fact this book was written and published at all then is a miracle. A normal individual would not have mentally survived the treatment Judy Mikovits's experienced at the hands of those with vested interests, but clearly, Judy Mikovits is an unusual character with incredible determination. Judy Mikovits esteemed career as a cancer specialist was trashed by the help of high impact 'negative studies' (not fully replication studies) and by simultaneous bizarre campaigns of character assassination online, by her scientific fellows.
Suffice to say, it was convenient to some, that whilst awaiting judgement on her alleged 'crimes' (theft of a notebook) part of her legal terms was she could not speak publicly about what was happening. She could only speak out, once the situation was wrapped up to 'no association' of CFS to a retrovirus of ANY kind, never mind VP62 XMRV (Dr Silverman's accidental contamination).
As the British would say, this is not cricket. E.g., the rules are in favour of one side. In this case, the rules were not on the side of science, but medico politics and continuing the status quo. The public were hoodwinked into believing that ONLY XMRV was discovered (a whole retrovirus), when in-fact other unexplained Gag sequences of the same family of retroviruses (gamma retroviruses) were also found. This was not investigated, and the clear position of politics was to 'go after', XMRV (of one strain), and disprove any association to human disease, which they did, and did very robustly. Except this wasn't the infection found in CFS. A slight problem! Not a problem for politics, because Judy Mikovits was gagged. This is why PLAGUE is so important, it finally tells the story of what was going on behind the scenes during the fracas.
PLAGUE is about the very real possibility (never proven due to research being halted) of lack of safety protocols decades ago, potentially affecting people's lives today by accidental laboratory contamination (such as cancer research that uses xenografts) producing NEW human infections, infections potentially found in people with conditions such as CFS.
The crux of the book is: scientist makes discovery, discovery dis-proven, but not actually disproven. What was dis-proven was the claims to a laboratory contaminant (Dr Silverman's VP62 XMRV), not the 'parts' of
a virus also discovered (Gag sequences), such as apparent antibodies SSFV found in patients and controls. SFFV is essentially a 'dead' animal retrovirus (non replicating), but it's envelope protein is a neurotoxin. It is thus important to further research SFFV and CFS, however, this has not been pursued due to reasons that become evident nearing the end of the book where people who restart the association of 'XMRV' even die in unexpected circumstances.
Because the science was halted once 'other possibilities (other than one definition of XMRV) appeared from Judy Mikovits's theories the official line is, the story ends here and CFS can remain allegedly psychosomatic, despite in some cases being fatal and in estimated 1 in 4 cases, making people housebound or bedridden for life. I would imagine, however, that even if the story is dragged out over many more years of 'de-association' (via Dr Coffin and Dr Stoye apparent double act), the story has only just begun. The book comprehensively explains how the simple idea of 'contamination' does not wash. This was the part of the book that interested me most, because the science is very complex and one can get easily lost.
Advances in technology and scientific discovery directly correlate. With new techniques (such as deep sequencing of human tissue), rather than older techniques (PCR on human serum liable to contamination) it would seem probable that eventually the truth will out that CFS is, indeed, associated with some form of novel pathogen, probably a retrovirus or parts of a retrovirus causing underlying immune suppression. (CFS patients alleged to be disabled by a simple 'chronic fatigue' needing psychotherapy have been known for years to have the same co-infections as AIDS patients: (HHV-6, CMV, EBV, Parvovirus B19, Coxsackie etc), as do Late Stage Lyme disease patients. Perhaps by strange co-incidence, the legitimacy of both CFS and Chronic Lyme is denied by the CDC and other health agencies, yet both of these conditions appeared at the same time in history in terms of out of control numbers in the late 1980's onwards. PLAGUE touches on this, PLAGUE explains well the history of 'CFS' (which the CDC created in response to yet another 'outbreak' of ME) in the late 1980's. PLAGUE explains, that these outbreaks started in the 1930's in a hospital, in medical workers. That interested me, as 'ME' first appeared in the UK in the Royal Free Hospital outbreak in 1955 - also in medical workers. Once the CDC created their 'Chronic Fatigue Syndrome', then the association with acquired infection, was quickly forgotten about and psychiatrists took over, blaming the patients for their 'faulty illness beliefs', and 'mal adaptive thinking' perpetuating their imagined disease state. PLAGUE, quite understandably, questions this preposterous idea that patients who were young healthy people, start believing themselves chronically ill. There MUST be an answer, and Judy Mikovits nearly got there, not quite, but nearly.
I would recommend PLAGUE to patients and their families crippled by ME/CFS and Autism, researchers and scientists with an open mind, and lastly independent journalists who like delving deeper than corporate sponsored media channels dare. Dare is an appropriate word, because to take on the disinformation machine of ME/CFS, you must be brave. Very brave. Judy Mikovits was warned not to delve into CFS as it would wreck her career. Those predictions ring unfortunately true. For a disease to be so disabling, to affect previously health people who caught a virus one-day so profoundly, but for precisely nothing to have been done for the patients in multiple decades something enormous must underlay the ongoing mass scale neglect and fatalities.
PLAGUE asks the reader to consider, will truth out? I am fascinated to see how this pans out, once we have a full and honest debate. In science, however, this rarely happens.
If you are a layperson you will be amazed at how much technical biology is explained in clear and simple terms. You will learn a lot about ME/CFS and its association with retroviruses. Even if you are a medical/biological scientist you will likely a few things.
You will be left in awe at the thoroughness, honesty and passion with which Mikovitz performed her research. And the courage with which she stood up and did the right thing, whatever the personal consequences. One cannot help but despair at the injustice meted out to Judy - an honest scientist trying to find a cure for disease.
She was caught between a vicious litigation by a vengeful employer, and a scientific establishment determined to sweep her findings under the rug. Yet her moral compass never wavered. She always did the right thing, and to this day keeps fighting for the truth. The world needs to empower people like her.
The storyline is a thriller, only because it is true. One is left in disbelief at the way the legal and research funding systems can be used by insiders to utterly crush those who do not toe the line. I hope this book shines daylight into the dark recesses of the Plague of Corruption infests the medical establishment.




