[Letter to Colleagues from Peter Duesberg]

PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES, U.S.A.
Request for opinion on manuscript by
Title
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., a multidisciplinary journal, publishes brief reports of
original research of exceptional importance and novelty. I am writing to ask your opinion on the following points, together
with any other comments you may.offer. Please reply to all questions. The Editorial Board considers the first two the most
important. Please note that the Editorial Policy states that the referees should remain anonymous.
1. Is this contribution of sufficient general interest to justify publication in the Proceedings rather than a specialty journal?
0 Yes O No C Don't know
2. Is the overall quality of this paper suitable for this journal? 0 Yes 0 No 0 Don't know
3. Does the evidence justify the conclusions drawn? 0 Yes CE No 0 Don't know
4. Is this paper clearly written for a diverse audience of scientists? Ix Yes 0 No 0 Don't know
5. Are the procedures described sufficiently well that the work can be repeated? 0 Yes 0 No E Not relevant
6. Comments (use additional pages if necessary; send original and two copies): If the answers to questions I and 2 are Yes, please
describe here the aspects of this paper that are novel and important:
Dr. Duesberg's previous paper included in its title words to the effect that correlation
does not mean causation. He now submits a paper that claims that correlation does
imply causation. The correlation referred to in the previous paper. that of HIV with
the occurrence of AIDS had at least the yjr.tu.e..of correlating a single variah e. the
occurrence of HIV with that of AIDS. The present manuscript Involves a
heterogeneous group of agents of a least eight that are named (heroin, cocaine.
nitrate-and ethylchloride inhalants. amphetamines. methaqualone. lysergic acid.
and phenylcyclidine) if we disregard the phrase "and others" (middle p.6). I have
not included AZT in that,list because I'm not sure whether Dr. Duesberg really
believes that AZT causes AIDS.
Whatever may be the validity of Dr. Duesberg's contention that HIV is not the cause
of AIDS. the case for drugs as the cause is poorly advanced in this paper.
A number of specific points should be made.
p. 3 It is not true that Kaposi's sarcoma and lymphoma are not associated with
immunodeficiency. (It is not clear how the clear the word "consistently" should be
interpreted) in any case since the matter of lymphoma comes up again it should be
pointed out that the occurrence of lymphoma is a well recognized complication in
transplant recipients who receive immnun...su.ppr-em-si.e...dirugs and in congenital
immunodeficiencies such as Wiskott Aldrich Syndrome. /. c