Health Group Attacks U.S. Double Standard on HIV Research: Crucial Data Ignored in Justifying Placebo Studies

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H3UZAlf GROUP ATTACKS: U.S. DOUBLE STANDARD ON liIV RESEARCH
CRUCIAL DATA IGNORED IN JUSTIFYING PLACEBO STUDIES
In an article in the September 18 New England Journal of MedicinTe, two Public Citizen Health
Research Group physicians attack the U.S, Government for funding unethical HIV experiments in
some of the world's poorest countries and assert that safer alternative research methods have
been largely ignored.
The National Institutes of 1*alth (NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevcntion
(CtDC) have responded to Public Citizen's complaint by saying that "our decision to support these
trials rest (sic) heavily on local support and approval" Yet an internal CDC memo dated January
27, 1995 states that "Despite detailed discussions.. justifying the use of placebo, it has become
evident that some of the Ivoiziaui physicians working at [the CDC research project in Cote
d'Ivoire], several of our important Ivoirian collaborators, and a number of international
researchers involved in [perinatal HIV transmissioni, do not feel comfortable with the use of
placebo." If developing countries scientists did support the trals, it may be because they were
offere the wrong choice' given a choice between a placebo-controlledi trial and no trial at all, it is
not surrisingr that some opted for the placebo-controlled trial, said Dr. Peter Lurie of Public

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