Rumors are claiming that Zidovudine, more commonly known as AZT, was the leading cause of death among AIDS patients during the rampant spread of the disease and criticized the top infectious disease expert in the United States, Dr. Anthony Fauci, for recommending the treatment.
AZT was the first HIV drug that the Food and Drug Administration approved in 1987, which caused controversies due to its fast-track approval and toxicity. The origin of the claims that the drug was the leading cause of deaths among AIDS patients was a speculative quote by an AIDS denialist written in an article in 1989 about the drug.
AIDS Controversy Regarding Fauci
Being the spokesperson on AIDS for the federal government at the time of the epidemic, Fauci promoted Zidovudine to patients. Patients received the drug from doctors during the early years of HIV treatment due to the scarce supply of the drug.
The rumors are fueled by an image of a younger Fauci speaking on C-SPAN and gives out unsupported claims about the early use of the drug. While it used the 1989 article as a source, it did not mention or use the document's content as evidence for the claims criticizing Fauci, Health Feedback reported.
On top of its fast-track approval and toxicity, Zidovudine was also criticized by many due to its cost, which would cost patients $8,000 per year, which, at the time, was a significant amount of money. The drug's side effects were also a cause for concern for many patients, which varied from person to person. Some may experience weight gain, nausea, vomiting, and anemia.
The first claim that the AZT drug could have caused the deaths of many AIDS patients came from Dr. Harvey Bialy, who was an AIDS denialist. The medical professional was interviewed and asked his stance about the possibility of the treatment killing people instead of the disease. After he was asked, Bialy answered by saying, "It's more than possible."
The attack on Fauci's credibility comes as another claim against the top infectious disease expert who says he was the infamous AIDS 'Patient Zero'. An image of a newspaper in a May 23 Instagram post wrote that the medical expert was the "man who gave us AIDS," USA Today reported.
Attacks on the Top Infectious Disease Expert
While the New York Post headline seen in the viral post was a real one published in 1987, the image of Fauci was digitally altered into the photo. It was later revealed that archived photos showed the same picture but no Fauci.
Despite the controversies and rumors surrounding Fauci's role in the AIDS epidemic, the top infectious disease expert recalled the tragic time of the health crisis. "I got chills up and down my spine. I said to myself, 'Oh, my God, this has to be a new disease,'" he said.
At the time, Fauci believed the disease to be the cause of a virus and not a bacteria because it was elusive and avoided experts. The medical professional and his colleagues initially assumed that the virus was zoonotic, which means it originated from animals because the majority of all human infections share that trait, National Geographic reported.
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