Reading Response
Impure Science: AIDS, Activism, and the Politics of Knowledge
Steven Epstein is a sociologist whose expertise lies in health care inequalities and research on human subjects. Published in 1995, Impure Science: AIDS, Activism, and the Politics of Knowledge is a study of the politicized production of knowledge in the AIDS epidemic in the United States. This work shows Epstein’s interest in how expertise is constructed, the ways in which those who are considered “outsiders” can influence medicine, and how credibility is gained and lost. Epstein focuses on the question of how knowledge is produced through complex interactions among government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, scientists, medical people, and “treatment activists” to discover how knowledge about AIDS emerges out of what he calls "credibility struggles."
Epstein follows the “principle of symmetry”, a methodology for analyzing both mainstream and dissenting views in the same way; this differs from the usual approach which tends to accept a mainstream worldview as true, and then tries to explain other opinions as various kinds of errors. The principle of symmetry reads that the same types of conceptual tools ought to be used to explain both true and false beliefs.
For sources Epstein used medical journal articles, mass media news reports, articles in gay and lesbian press, activist documents, and government documents as well as extensive interviews with more than thirty researchers, activists, and government officials. He also attended many conferences, meetings, forums, demonstration, and other public events. He writes that his “fundamental analytical strategy has been to bring into critical juxtaposition contemporaneous records from different “s...
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...about the re-emergence of whether theses randomized clinical trials were ethical.
Conclusion:
“Treatment activists have succeeded in establishing their scientific credibility and their cultural competence in biomedicine” (page 337). This factor led to their success in influencing both the scientists and pharmaceutical industry on AIDS treatments, drug regulations, and the ways in which clinical trials are carried out
His analysis of how powerfully well-informed, militant and organized advocates can affect the distribution of government money and influence the biomedical establishment in its strategies against a single disease
“Impure Science” proves definitively how consumers, armed with thorough knowledge, can influence public health policy, budget funding, and even academic research toward their own goals in combating the diseases that threaten their lives.
“The Terrifying Normalcy of AIDS” is an essay written by Stephen Jay Gould, in which he talks about a dangerous disease that is spreading and becoming an issue to mankind, and that it is more of a mechanism than an irregular occurrence which I agree with. Stephen Jay Gould also shares his thoughts on our capabilities with the utilization of technology are boundless; especially when it comes to these types of ailments that threaten our kind, which is something I do not side with. Also, Stephen Jay Gould goes on to say that most people are misinformed about the disease and do not fully understand it.
In Vicki L. Eaklor’s Queer America, the experiences of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, and transgender people in the years since the 1970s gay liberation movement are described as a time of transformation and growth. The antigay movement, threatened, now more than ever, created numerous challenges and obstacles that are still prevalent today. Many of the important changes made associated with the movement were introduced through queer and queer allied individuals and groups involved in politics. Small victories such as the revision of the anti discrimination statement to include “sexual orientation”, new propositions regarding the Equal Rights Amendment and legalized abortion, were met in turn with growing animosity and resistance from individuals and groups opposed to liberal and
In the past decades, the struggle for gay rights in the Unites States has taken many forms. Previously, homosexuality was viewed as immoral. Many people also viewed it as pathologic because the American Psychiatric Association classified it as a psychiatric disorder. As a result, many people remained in ‘the closet’ because they were afraid of losing their jobs or being discriminated against in the society. According to David Allyn, though most gays could pass in the heterosexual world, they tended to live in fear and lies because they could not look towards their families for support. At the same time, openly gay establishments were often shut down to keep openly gay people under close scrutiny (Allyn 146). But since the 1960s, people have dedicated themselves in fighting for
Randy Shilts set out to make monumental changes in the world’s perspective of AIDS. He planned to enlighten, motivate, and educate the population on this tragic disease that has already claimed so many lives. He believed that virtually all the misconceptions about AIDS would be corrected and the public would insist that more be done to stop the epidemic. "I had hoped to effect some fundamental changes. I really believed I could alter the performance of the institutions that had allowed AIDS to sweep through America unchecked" (220). Shilts’s immense expectations positioned him for his inevitable sense of failure. He did not accomplished all that he had planned. AIDS was still spreading and people were still dying. "The bitter irony is, my role as an AIDS celebrity just gives me a more elevated promontory from which to watch the world make the same mistakes in the handling of the AIDS epidemic that I hoped my work would help to change"(220).
AIDS is slowly becoming the number one killer across the globe. Throughout numerous small countries, AIDS has destroyed lives, taken away mothers, and has left hopeless children as orphans. The problem remains that funding for the diseases’ medical research is limited to none. In the country Brazil, HIV/AIDS has been compared to the bubonic plague, one of the oldest yet, most deadly diseases to spread rapidly across Europe (Fiedler 524). Due to this issue, Brazil’s government has promised that everyone who has been diagnosed with either HIV or AIDS will receive free treatment; however, this treatment does not include help in purchasing HIV medications, that “carry astronomical price tags” (Fiedler 525). Generic drug companies have been able to produce effective HIV medications that are not as costly if compared to the prices given by the huge pharmaceutical companies. In contrast, the U.S. government has now intervened with these generic companies hindering them from making HIV medications, which may not be as efficient if made by the pharmaceutical companies. Not only are these drug companies losing thousands of dollars against generic drug companies, but also tremendous profit that is demanded for marketing these expensive drugs as well. “How many people must die without treatment until the companies are willing to lower their prices, or to surrender their patients so generic makers can enter market? (Fiedler 525).” With this question in mind, what ways can we eliminate the HIV/AIDS epidemic across the world? With research, education, testing, and funding we can prevent the spread of HIV to others and hopefully find a cure.
Nettleton, S. (2009). Introduction: The Changing Domains of the Sociology of Health and Illness. In L. S. Gilbert, Society, Health and Disease in a Time of HIV/AIDS (p. 35). Pan Macmillan.
"Demanding that life near AIDS is an inextricably other reality denies our ability to recreate a sustaining culture and social structures, even as we are daily required to devote such time to the details of the AIDS crisis." -Cindy Patton
Halperin, David. "Is There a History of Sexuality?." The Lesbian and Gay Studies Reader. Ed. Henry
Living in a world where many prefer to believe what is shown to them, rather than doing some of their own research, can lead to consequences. (Figure 1) Some people believe electronic cigarettes are a safer and healthier alternative to the actual cigarette because of how they are advertised. “Because they [e-cigs] deliver nicotine without burning tobacco, e-cigarettes are purported to be safer and less toxic than conventional cigarettes. Despite these claims, there’s still no real data on the effects of e-cigarettes (positive or negative), yet marketing materials still bill them as a healthy choice” (Worthington emphasis mine). Drug advertisements normally show the beneficial side of
In Lee Ann Fisher Baron’s “Junk Science,” she claims that the “food industry with the help of federal regulators” sometimes use “[a science that] bypasses [the] system of peer review. Presented directly to the public by…‘experts’ or ‘activists,’ often with little or no supporting evidence, this ‘junk science’ undermines the ability…[for] everyday consumers to make rational decisions” (921). Yet Americans still have a lot of faith in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). According to a 2013 Pew Research study, 65% of Americans are “very favorable” or “mostly favorable” of the FDA. When it comes to what people put in their bodies, the FDA has a moral obligation to be truthful and transparent. The bottom line of the FDA’s myriad of responsibilities is to help protect the health of Americans. Deciding what to eat is a critical part of living healthily, and consumers must be able to trust that this massive government agency is informing them properly of the contents of food. While the FDA does an excellent job in many areas, it has flaws in other areas. One of its flaws is allowing the food industry to print food labels that are deceptive, unclear, or simply not true (known as misbranding). This is quite the hot topic because a Google search for “Should I trust food labels” returns well over 20 million results, many of which are blog posts from online writers begging their readers not to trust food labels. HowStuffWorks, a division of Discovery Communications, published an online article whose author claims that “[the food industry] will put what they want on labels. They know the game….” While the food industry is partially at blame for misbranding, the FDA is allowing it to happen. If a mother tells her children that it is oka...
On August 19, 1992 in Houston, Texas, Mary Fisher, the HIV-positive daughter of prominent Republican fundraiser Max Fisher, gives her keynote speech “A Whisper of Aids” to the Republican National Convention (1). Fisher’s purpose is “to lift the shroud of silence which has been draped over the issue of HIV/AIDS” epidemic (1). Fisher succeeds in her overall persuasiveness by effectively using ethos, logos, and pathos throughout her address to the conservative Republican Party to advocate for awareness, education, and the prevention of HIV/AIDS.
These unions, not only improves health delivery, but improves the lives of their partners. To illustrate, According to “AIDS activism has changed activism itself” according to Patricia Siplon “The success of AIDS activism created a new model featuring direct action, self-employment, and self-education first for other health-based groups and ultimately even for activist groups outside the health realm” ( Farmer, et al., 2013). AIDS activists are a sample of the power of partnerships. As they raise their quality of life, they help others groups to improve their health. No group is small when it comes to defending the right to health. To illustrate, students with their innovative ideas and their desire to succeed in a more just society have always shown that they can make a difference from their classrooms “advocacy for these policies over the past decade has been driven by a wide coalition including the Universities Allied for Essential Medicines, an international organization that is largely student-run” ( Farmer, et al., 2013). Currently universities are the basis of scientific research where students guided by their teachers have found the cure for many diseases. Also, the union of health programs infrastructure, technology, health professionals creates a efficient health delivery “One program established by Partners In Health, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School, and Brigham and Women’s Hospital has provided chemotherapy to patients with cervical, breast, rectal, and squamous head and neck cancers, Kaposi’s sarcoma, and Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in the rural reaches of Haiti, Rwanda, and Malawi” ( Farmer, et al., 2013). The coalition of several programs generates a diagonal approach to improve health systems. This alliance instead of just using the
Somerville, Siobhan. "Scientific Racism and the Invention of the Homosexual Body." Gender, Sex, and Sexuality. New York: Oxford University, 2009. 284-99. Print.
Stein, Edward. The Mismeasure of Desire: The Science, Theory, and Ethics of Sexual Orientation. New York, NY: Oxford UP, 1999. Print. 20 Oct. 2011
Vrangalova, Z., & Savin-Williams, R. C. (2012). Mostly heterosexual and mostly gay/lesbian: Evidence for new sexual orientation identities. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41, 85-101. doi: 10.1007/s10505- 012-9921-y.