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Monday, November 19, 2007

Sorry, No HIV Vaccine

posted by on November 19 at 12:24 PM

But we do have a new drug that will make your eyelashes longer.

RSS icon Comments

1

There's finally a natural way for me to look like Liza! Thank you, God!

Posted by Michigan Matt | November 19, 2007 12:30 PM
2

Holy crap! It's a miracle!

Posted by Amelia | November 19, 2007 12:32 PM
3

I hope this post brings out the HIV denialists again.

Posted by spencer | November 19, 2007 12:35 PM
4

Plus, there are like four drugs that will make your penis hard. And they came out ages ago.

Posted by Greg | November 19, 2007 12:38 PM
5

Dan, pumpkin,

there will never be an HIV vaccine (I think your "science dude" has gotten extremely close to stating so, without actually crossing the line). You might consider making your peace with this idea.

"Testing" people and convincing them to take expensive (profitable) FDA black box label drugs for life is hardly something that the pharmaceutical companies would like to see end. You're terribly naive for thinking/hoping/believing that the drug companies have gay mens'(or anybody else's) best interests at heart.

Posted by BallardDan | November 19, 2007 12:42 PM
6

As someone cursed to put contact lenses in each eye every morning, I'd like a drug that will either keep eyelashes from falling between the lens and eyeball (thereby causing excruciating pain), or just cause them to shrivel away entirely.

Posted by NapoleonXIV | November 19, 2007 12:46 PM
7

looks like you got your wish, spencer!

you do sort of have a point, ballard dan - why would drug companies invest billions upon billions of dollars researching vaccines they already know will never work?

sigh, sigh.... *sigh*. it would be adorable if it weren't so fucking retarded.

Posted by brandon | November 19, 2007 12:56 PM
8

BallardDan/#5,

Your paranoia is stunning, dwarfed only by your ignorance on the topic. Developing a vaccine against a sophisticated retrovirus takes time and effort. Unfortunately, we as a society do not invest in preventative medicine, choosing instead to renumerate interventions.

E.g. there was a big stink last year re: lack of influenza vaccines. On the surface, this was due to one of two suppliers of this vaccine having safety issues. If you look deeper, you can trace the central problem to the fact that vaccines are simply not supported (or accepted). If they were supported, you'd have more than two companies supplying the whole world with this vaccine product.

Don't like the lack of a HIV vaccine? Shut up or take action to shape the market. Apply pressure to political bodies to 1) increase public funding for vaccine research, 2) pressure insurance carriers to cover and emphasize preventative care, and 3) support vaccine education programs.

BallardDan, look a little closer to home for the problem. Do you buy expensive, micronutrient-based vitamins and immune promoters from your local health food store, or do you eat a Centrum occasionally? I.e., are you supporting preventative medicine or are you content to hit up the doc for generic antibiotics as you need them?

Posted by Mike Dodds | November 19, 2007 1:10 PM
9

brandon, To answer your question to Dan, the answer is just like the general public they're too invested the AIDS Zone, you know, that self-hypnotic trance, where HIV alwyas equals AIDS and you doctor knows best to shove toxic therapy down your throat because you have non-specific anitbodies showing up on a fraudulent HIV test.

Posted by Carter | November 19, 2007 1:10 PM
10

#7, I think you missed Ballard Dan's point- he's saying that drug companies would never develop an HIV vaccine NOT because it wouldn't work, but because it wouldn't be as profitable as a lifetime of HIV meds.

This logic of course disregards the fact the MULTIPLE drug companies are searching for a cure, and should one actually find it, they can bank on massive vaccination efforts and profits (ala HPV Vaccine) while the other companies would be left in the dust.

Posted by UNPAID BLOGGER | November 19, 2007 1:16 PM
11

right right right.... because the entire global medical, scientific, academic communities are conspiring to shake money out of the pockets of gay men ...and all those piss-poor african countries. or wait - are they in on it, too?

again, you fall short of the adorable mark - just barely though!

Posted by brandon | November 19, 2007 1:26 PM
12

no, unpaid blogger, i see his point. it's the fucking ignorance of it i don't get.

Posted by brandon | November 19, 2007 1:30 PM
13

AIDS is big business, Brandon.

Do the math.

Or not.


Posted by BallardDan | November 19, 2007 1:32 PM
14

No gentelmen... vaccines will never work because orthodox AIDS medicine has been barking up the wrong tree for decades. Ask why Merck's v520 failed...its because after all this time they still have not a clue and it follows bad science, bad epidemiology and keeps funds flowing into the hands of big pharma all in the name of chasing a week virus theory.

Posted by Carter | November 19, 2007 1:39 PM
15

Watch out for the eyelash Bears. This new subculture will be checking to make sure your eyelashes are extra furry.

Posted by Dave Coffman | November 19, 2007 1:43 PM
16

BallardDan, frankly, you're out of your fucking mind. Did the polio vaccine get scrapped out of the fear it would cut into iron-lung sales? Aside from the nutty conspiracy-theorizing and medical ignorance, you're just totally misguided on the economics of it all - a company that developed an HIV vaccine and patented it would basically have a license to print money, for Chrissake. It would be fucking huge.

Bah, whatever. It's like talking to creationists or Holocaust deniers here.

Posted by tsm | November 19, 2007 1:49 PM
17

BWAHA! BEWARE THE EYELASH BEARS!

How long until I see you with full and lustrous eyelashes Dave?

Posted by UNPAID BLOGGER | November 19, 2007 1:52 PM
18

there was a barebacking discussion/seminar last Thursday and about 35 folks showed up. Most were gay men 40+ and some women folk. HIV of course was the focal point. No men under 30 showed up, seemed to give a dam, and hence did not get involved. Maybe we don't really need a fucking vaccine because well HIV prevention is just not an interewsting topic anymore for whatever reason one picks; and there are plenty.

Posted by Sargon Bighorn | November 19, 2007 1:53 PM
19

hey believe whatever you want, gentlemen. your funerals, not mine.

i will say this much, though - you do provide compelling evidence that darwin's theory of natural selection operates even amongst beings that don't reproduce.

Posted by brandon | November 19, 2007 1:58 PM
20

America seems to be obsessed with drugs that make things bigger, longer, and plumpier. In ten years the American couple will be a woman with huge silicone boobs and 10 inch eyelashes married to a dude with long pubic hair implanted in his head and a huge viagra shlong.

Posted by .... | November 19, 2007 2:19 PM
21

go to seattle times.com. there is an article called "Woman blinks and impales herself by puncturing her own boob."

Posted by justin | November 19, 2007 2:22 PM
22

"aesthetic medicine"

*shudder*

Posted by chi type | November 19, 2007 2:28 PM
23

A question of practicality: is it better to wait for this product's development or is it better to be raped in Saudi Arabia and receive 200 lashes almost immediately?

Posted by RHETT ORACLE | November 19, 2007 2:32 PM
24

Front page in the WSJ even.

Cool.

Posted by Will in Seattle | November 19, 2007 2:32 PM
25

oh, and so one of the two HIV vaccines from the UW failed - still got one in trials ...

Posted by Will in Seattle | November 19, 2007 2:34 PM
26

More interesting than the WSJ article is the ad to the left for "Charles Tyrwhitt" - that model probably already has long lashes - at the very least. Mom, will you buy me some expensive Welsh clothes for Christmas?

Posted by RHETT ORACLE | November 19, 2007 2:36 PM
27

So, prostaglandins make eyelashes longer -

- what about other parts of the body?

I can't wait to read about Meagan and Lindy's next conversation on the subject.

Posted by COMTE | November 19, 2007 4:51 PM
28

Clearly the fact that some eyelash drug has been introduced while HIV vaccines are failing is proof that our culture is obsessed with appearance, and not just a result of the facts that (1) finding a vaccine for HIV is fucking hard and (2) the eyelash thing was discovered accidentally as a side effect of a drug used to treat glaucoma.

Posted by Ben | November 19, 2007 5:07 PM
29

Didn't this eyelash drug just be shown to cause eye cancer or something?

Okay, maybe it's a different one, but still. ewwwww.
...
And okay, it's from W VA, but still, here's a link.
http://www.wvva.com/News/index.php?ID=18474

Posted by MR. Language Person | November 19, 2007 6:09 PM

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