Wrongful Death: The AIDS Trial

  Chapter Twenty-One

  “Thank you, Mr. Holdsworth, for being here today.”

  “I had no choice. I was subpoenaed.”

  “Yes, you were. Now, just to establish your credentials, it is my understanding that you have been employed by the State Department of the United States under several different Presidents, and also worked free-lance, if you will, specializing in high-level negotiations on an international scale, both in an official and an unofficial capacity?”

  “If you say so.”

  Messick looks at Judge Watts for help, but she doesn’t budge.

  “Mr. Holdsworth, please answer Yes or No.”

  Holdsworth is a crusty old man, Messick realizes. But his testimony is important, so just grin and bear it.

  “Yes.” But that’s all you’re going to get from me, sonny.

  “Mr. Holdsworth, did you receive a call from the State Department in 1984, asking for your help?”

  “I received several different calls that year from the State Department, if I remember correctly.”

  “This call, in particular, would have been about an international crisis between France and the US over the discovery of the AIDS virus.”

  “Perhaps.”

  Messick finally appeals to the Judge, who really has no choice.

  “Mr. Holdsworth, you will answer the questions as completely as possible, and stop being coy with Mr. Messick.”

  Holdsworth did not turn to face her when Judge Watts had given him her instructions. Nor did he look at Messick when the next question came.

  “Mr. Holdsworth, was there, in fact, an international crisis over the discovery of what caused AIDS?”

  “No. I wouldn't call it a crisis. Nuclear missiles in Cuba is a crisis.”

  “All right. Let's call it a serious incident that threatened Franco-American relations.”

  “There was a problem that needed to be handled, yes.”

  “Well, it apparently was big enough and serious enough to call in a specialist from the State Department.”

  “I offered to help.”

  “So what was the problem, Mr. Holdsworth?”

  “There seemed to be some confusion about who actually discovered the virus causing AIDS.”

  “Hadn’t Dr. Gallo already announced to the world at a press conference that it was his discovery?”

  “Yes, he had.”

  “But the picture he showed of his HTLV-3 virus at that press conference was actually a picture of a virus sent to him months earlier by Dr. Louis Moreau in Paris, wasn't it? And that same picture had been published by Dr. Moreau previously, so there was no doubt that Dr. Gallo had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. That was the problem, wasn't it?”

  Holdsworth didn’t have much choice when the question was asked that way. “Yes.”

  “And the French wanted credit for the discovery of the AIDS virus.”

  “That's what they said.”

  “What was the outcome of your negotiations?”

  “President Reagan and Prime Minister Chirac of France issued a joint statement from the White House to clear up the confusion.”

  “Which said...?”

  “…which said that Dr. Gallo and Dr. Moreau were officially co-discoverers of the AIDS virus.”

  “But you still had the problem of the name of the virus. Was it going to be called HTLV-3, as Dr. Gallo claimed, or LAV as Dr. Moreau claimed?”

  “We left that up to a scientific committee.”

  “Do you know what their decision was?”

  “Of course, Mr. Messick. And so do you.”

  Messick ignored the sarcastic attack. “What was it?”

  “The committee decided to officially name the virus ‘HIV.’”

  “Which means...”

  “I’m not a medical expert, but I believe it means Human Immunodeficiency Virus.”

  “That's exactly what it means, sir. So the name ‘HIV’ was a political decision, not a medical or scientific one?”

  “I guess you could say that.”

  “And lastly, Mr. Holdsworth, what did the negotiations between the US and France decide about the money?”

  “What money?”

  “All the money that would come from the patents that would result from this discovery, like the royalties from HIV tests and so forth. How was that going to be divided?”

  “It would be split between the two countries.”

  “So the United States gave up the claim that one of its own, Dr. Robert Gallo, had discovered the virus causing AIDS, we gave up the name of that virus, and we gave up some of the money. The French must have had a pretty strong case, Mr. Holdsworth, for us to give all that up.”

  You didn’t ask me a question, and I’m not answering, you little whippersnapper.

  “There must have been no question in your mind, Mr. Holdsworth, that Dr. Gallo stole the LAV virus from Dr. Moreau.”

  No question? No answer.

  “Mr. Holdsworth, what did the US get in return?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “What I mean is this: if the French had such a strong case that required the intervention of our President and their Prime Minister, then they also must have had a very strong case to go to a World Court and prosecute Dr. Gallo for stealing the French LAV virus. Is that what we got in return, Mr. Holdsworth – the agreement from the French not to prosecute? Did you save us from complete embarrassment in the international scientific community because of what this one doctor did at the National Institutes of Health?”

  “I'm afraid I can't comment on that.”

  “There's no need, Mr. Holdsworth. I think the answer is very clear. No further questions.”