How Harvard's Anthony Komaroff betrayed the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome community.
An excerpt from The Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic Cover-up.
As the
story of so-called chronic fatigue syndrome unfolded in the pages of the Native,
an unfortunate pattern emerged in which today’s research heroes often became
tomorrow’s backsliders. Neenyah Ostrom wrote about one of the first depressing
developments in the March 12 issue, the transformation of Anthony Komaroff.
Ostrom asked, “What is happening to one of the country’s premiere chronic
fatigue syndrome (CIDS) researchers, Dr. Anthony Komaroff? Komaroff, who is
affiliated with Harvard Medical School and the prestigious Brigham and Women’s
Hospital in Boston, has accomplished what the Centers for Disease Control have
still been unable to do: estimate the incidence of CIDS. Komaroff and
co-workers did a landmark study published in 1987 that estimated that as much
as 21 percent of the general population displays symptoms of CIDS. Komaroff
also has vigorously opposed the ‘psychoneurotic’ theory of CIDS that is
perpetrated by such researchers as Stephen Straus at the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases.”
Ostrom
worried that Komaroff seemed to be backtracking, insofar as his patients were
being given handouts (as of September, 1989) about CFS that stated, “There is
no evidence that CFS seriously damages the immune system.” Ostrom noted, “In
fact, there is a great deal of evidence that [chronic fatigue syndrome] damages
the immune system, either by over stimulation (resulting in production of
allergies and other sensitivities) or suppression (such as the development of
anergy, or complete lack of response to antigens). Komaroff, himself, along
with his co-workers, has dismissed some of that evidence.” He was part of a
very disturbing trend in which CFS researchers (most likely because the
empirical research always seemed to inconveniently point CFS in the direction
of AIDS) talked out of both sides of their mouths. Ostrom wrote, “Now, however,
Komaroff seems to be leaning towards accepting the theory that CIDS is not a
communicable illness, but a syndrome that is produced by an idiosyncratic
response to stress or certain environmental agents. He cannot entirely get
around the fact that there is immune system involvement in [chronic fatigue
syndrome], however, and he mentions that ‘new viruses that affect the immune
system’ might someday be implicated in causing [chronic fatigue syndrome]. But
he rushes to reiterate that the immune system is ‘not severely weakened.’
Reading the new Komaroff discussing possible causes of [chronic fatigue
syndrome] is rather like watching a man play a game of ping pong by himself.”
One could say the epidemic of AIDS/CFS consisted of the whole biomedical
establishment of America playing the same game with itself.
Ostrom
speculated that the reason for the shift in Kamaroff’s perspective may have
come from his desire to “allay the fears of his patients. In his handout he
wrote, ‘You may have heard that there are some immunological problems with CFS.
Many people have been frightened by this. We have been studying this question
with immunological colleagues. There is no evidence that CFS seriously damages
the immune system, or prevents the body from being able to fight off serious
infections.’ ”
In essence,
he was saying, “Don’t worry your pretty little heads about CFS possibly being a
form of AIDS. Move along, there’s nothing alarming to see here.” Unfortunately,
several of the other pioneers of CFS research would soon join his disheartening
revisionism in one way or another.
In her piece, Ostrom asked a question that
could have been asked every day for the next three decades: “Wouldn’t [chronic
fatigue syndrome] patients—many of whom read the scientific literature on the
illness assiduously—be better served by being told the truth? Sugar pills and
phony psychologizing have not yet ‘cured’ people with [chronic fatigue
syndrome]; perhaps recognition that their damaged immune systems need to be
bolstered would lead to improved health.” Ostrom even went out on a limb and
asked, “Is there in fact an active cover-up of the breadth and severity of CIDS
being conducted by the United States health authorities? And is participating
in that cover-up the price individual research teams must pay to be
recipients of federally funded research grants?”HHV-6 is discussed in this Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Amazon bestseller on pages 98, 100, 122, 133-135, 143-147, 150, 153, 159, 163, 166, 179, 183, 192, 193, 198, 199, 200, 202, 204, 205, and 211.
Ampligen, the breakthrough treatment for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is discussed in the Amazon bestseller on pages 192, 193, 202, 203, 268, 269, 360, 362, 387, 391, 410, 413, 420, and 421.
Dr. Paul Cheney, one of the honest pioneers of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome research is discussed in the Amazon bestseller on pages 145, 146, 155, 166, 192, 219, 225, 226, 232, 242, 244, 326, 327, 352, 402, 434, and 435.
Hillary Johnson's brilliant reporting on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is discussed in this Amazon bestseller on pages 407, 424, 431, 435, 436, 438 and 449.
The CDC's organized lying about the nature of the AIDS epidemic is discussed in this book on page 432.
The role of pharmaceutical companies in developing deadly propaganda about AIDS is discussed in this book on page 440.
The crimson crescents in the throats of patients with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are discussed in this book on page 443.
The link between Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Gulf War Syndrome is discussed in this book on page 447.
The crooked science of Robert Gallo is discussed on pages 31-51, 53, 54, 59, 78, 79, 93-107, 121, 126, 128, 131, 133, 134, 143-147, 152, 171, 179, 181, 101, 192, 198-200, 213, 214, 221-224.
The transmission of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome between people and their pets is discussed in this Amazon bestseller on pages 198, 225, 226, 242, 243, and 323. NK cells in CFS are discussed in this book on pages 158, 159, 160, 170, 183, 192, 200, 203, 204, 214, 242, 278, 279, 280, 282, 319, 323, 364, 370, 391, 398, 422.
On April 16, 1996, Congressman Jerrold Nadler spoke on the floor of Congress about his request for a General Accounting investigation into how the CDC had handled the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome epidemic. Nadler did that at the urging of Charles Ortleb, the publisher and the New York Native and his reporter Neenyah Ostrom. Ortleb and Ostrom had made the case to Nadler that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the virus it had been linked to, HHV-6, were serious public health issues.
In an interview in New York Native with Neenyah Ostrom,Congressman Nadler said, "Congress can mandate research into CFS as a viral disease. Maybe it will turn out that HHV-6A is the cause of CFS; maybe it will turn out that other viruses are involved. But Congress can mandate research into CFS as a contagious, viral disease. I will certainly try to get Congress to do that as soon as possible."
Unfortunately, back in 1996, Nadler's warning to Congress and the medical establishment fell on deaf ears. But now that the Democrats have regained power in the House of Representatives, the newly prominent Congressman Nadler may finally be able to bring the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome epidemic and HHV-6 to the public's attention.
This book by Charles Ortleb, which details Neenyah Ostrom's diligent reporting on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, is necessary reading for anyone who wants to know the whole history of an epidemic which has been hidden in plain sight. For a decade, starting in 1988, Ostrom reported on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and the damage that the virus HHV-6 does to patients. What her reporting uncovered about the true nature of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome epidemic will shock you.
In The Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic Cover-up, Charles Ortleb recounts his newspaper's fascinating struggle to get the medical and political establishment to pay attention to Ostrom's pioneering investigative reporting on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
By the time you finish Ortleb's stunning memoir, you will understand why the CDC has been unwilling to tell the public the truth about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. The CDC does not want the public to know that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is a transmissible illness linked to a virus that affects every system in the body. They have covered up the illness for so many decades that the neglected virus is totally out of control. Now it is causing a long list of other illnesses and many cancers. The CDC has put us all in danger.
Ostrom's decade of reporting on HHV-6 was recently vindicated by this statement from scientists at the University of Wurzburg:"While HHV-6 was long believed to have no negative impact on human health, scientists today increasingly suspect the virus of causing various diseases such as multiple sclerosis or chronic fatigue syndrome. Recent studies evensuggest that HHV-6 might play a role in the pathogenesis of several diseases of the central nervous system such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression or Alzheimer's."
The big question about Neenyah Ostrom and New York Native is this: How many lives would have been saved if the scientific establishment and the mainstream media had paid more attention to Neenyah Ostrom's reporting on HHV-6 and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in New York Native?
One day, if there is any justice in the world, the CDC and the medical establishment will apologize for not paying attention to Neenyah Ostrom's groundbreaking work on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that Charles Ortleb published in New York Native. That would be a fitting end to one of journalism's greatest David and Goliath stories.
Anyone who wants to help Congressman Nadler and the other members of Congress who are trying to end the suffering of millions of people with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, needs to read The Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic Cover-up.
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Purchase the book in the United Kingdom
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Purchase the book in the Netherlands
Purchase the book in Spain
Purchase the book in Australia
Purchase the book in Japan
Purchase the book in India
Spotify podcasts about the HHV-6 and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome cover-up
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