David Rasnick
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| Born | 1948 (age 75–76) |
| Alma mater | Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Scientific career | |
| Thesis | Affinity labeling of metalloendoproteases (1978) |
David William Rasnick (born 1948) is an American biochemist known for his association with the AIDS denialist movement, which denies the fact that HIV is the cause of AIDS,[1] and for his involvement with clinical trials in South Africa promoting vitamins for the treatment of AIDS, which were later ruled illegal by the South African judiciary.[2]
David Rasnick received a PhDinchemistry from Georgia Tech in 1978; his thesis was entitled "Affinity Labeling of Metalloendoproteases."[3] Rasnick studied proteases in rats and has also written a book about the aneuploidy theory of cancer.[1][4]
Rasnick was a prominent member of the AIDS-denialist movement, which claimed that HIV either did not exist, or did not cause AIDS. He claimed that HIV was a harmless "passenger virus" incapable of causing any disease.[5] In association with Matthias Rath, Rasnick traveled to South Africa, a country with one of the highest incidences of HIV/AIDS in the world, where they discouraged HIV-infected individuals from using antiretroviral drugs and instead promoted the use of proprietary vitamin mixes which were claimed to fight AIDS. Rasnick also advocated a complete ban on HIV testing in South Africa, and denied that there was "any evidence" of an HIV epidemic in South Africa.[5] In 2008, a South African court ruled that the trials conducted by Rath and Rasnick were illegal, and barred them from conducting clinical trials or advertising vitamin supplements in the country.[2][6][7]
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