Infamous AIDS Denialist Peter Duesberg Dies At 89

The New York Times reports: Peter H. Duesberg, a renowned molecular biologist who became famous for his pioneering work on the underpinnings of cancer but infamous for his assertion, in the face of evidence to the contrary, that H.I.V. does not cause AIDS, died on Jan. 13 in Lafayette, Calif. He was 89. His death, … The post Infamous AIDS Denialist Peter Duesberg Dies At 89 appeared first on Joe.My.God..

Mark Mark
Jan 30, 2026 - 19:00
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Infamous AIDS Denialist Peter Duesberg Dies At 89

The New York Times reports:

Peter H. Duesberg, a renowned molecular biologist who became famous for his pioneering work on the underpinnings of cancer but infamous for his assertion, in the face of evidence to the contrary, that H.I.V. does not cause AIDS, died on Jan. 13 in Lafayette, Calif. He was 89. His death, at a care facility near his home in Oakland, was from kidney failure, his wife, Sigrid Duesberg, said.

Dr. Duesberg insisted that H.I.V. was a harmless passenger virus — and his opinion carried weight. “He was incredibly smart; he spoke well,” David Sanders, a Purdue University virologist who was a graduate student in Dr. Duesberg’s department at Berkeley in the 1980s.

Throughout his life, Dr. Duesberg maintained his position that H.I.V. does not cause AIDS, a contention that raised questions about the perils of undermining public trust in established scientists during an epidemic.

The Los Angeles Times reports:

At the dawn of research into what is now known as HIV/AIDS, Peter Duesberg took the heterodox view that HIV was a harmless virus that had nothing to do with AIDS. “That virus is a pussycat,” he said.

He maintained that the cause of AIDS had to be found elsewhere, notably the lifestyles and drug habits of gay men. His claim motivated a phalanx of AIDS deniers, the forebears of the anti-vaccine militants today.

“Duesberg was a pioneer of disinformation on infectious disease,” says John P. Moore, professor of microbiology and immunology at Weill Cornell Medical College and the author of a devastating 1996 takedown in Nature of Duesberg’s claims. Duesberg’s heirs are all around us. Actually, they’re more than that — they’re now in charge.

Indeed, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has embraced the denialist position that HIV is not the cause of AIDS: In a 2023 interview with New York magazine, Kennedy attributed the conclusion that HIV and AIDS were inextricably linked to “phony, crooked studies to develop a cure that killed people,” referring to AZT.

Duesberg was most recently in the news when podcaster Joe Rogan gave him a platform to spew his batshittery to millions.

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