Doctors Fault Oregon Primate Lab for Misleading Claims

PORTLAND, Ore.—Doctors are raising concerns about a misleading press release about the Oregon National Primate Research Center claiming that, according to a new study, a new experimental treatment “may permanently clear HIV in infected newborns.” The ONPRC release points out that “Every year, more than 120,000 newborns worldwide contract HIV.” The problem, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, was that the experimenters were not studying HIV and there were no newborn humans in the study.

The experimenters used a different virus to infect infant monkeys, then reported that drugs could eliminate it, speculating that the same regimen might work in HIV-infected humans.

The doctors also raised the question as to why monkeys were used at all, given that the drugs in question are already used in human clinical trials. Two of the study’s authors admitted having “a significant financial interest” in CytoDyn, the manufacturer of one of the drugs.

To speak with Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the Physicians Committee, please contact Reina Pohl at 202-527-7326 or rpohl [at] pcrm.org.