House of Numbers: Anatomy of an Epidemic is a 2009 film directed, produced, and hosted by Brent Leung and described by him as an objective examination of the idea that HIV causes AIDS.
[1] The film argues that
human immunodeficiency virus(HIV) is harmless and does not cause
acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), a position known as
AIDS denialism.
[2][1][3] The film's claims of impartiality have been widely rejected by scientists, and the film's claims about HIV and AIDS have been dismissed as pseudoscience and
conspiracy theory masquerading as even-handed examination.
[4][5][6]
A group of scientists interviewed for the film later complained that their comments had been misrepresented and taken out of context, and that the film promotes
pseudoscience.
[4][5] The film also interviews
Christine Maggiore, a prominent AIDS denialist who later died after suffering from AIDS-related conditions.
[7]
The film's promotion of AIDS denialism, a pseudoscientific movement implicated in thousands of deaths,
[16] drew criticism and anger.
[17] The
New York Times characterized the film as "a weaselly support pamphlet for AIDS denialists", "willfully ignorant", and "a globe-trotting pseudo-investigation that should raise the hackles of anyone with even a glancing knowledge of the basic rules of reasoning."
[4] The Wall Street Journal cited the film as part of "this season's fashion in conspiracy theories."
[6]The
Portland Oregonian criticized Leung for "not being entirely honest with viewers," and decried the film's reliance on "selective editing, anomalies and anecdotes, unsupported conclusions... and suppression of inconvenient facts."
[18]
Reaction from the
scientific community was similarly negative.
Lancet Infectious Diseases criticized the film's arguments, calling them a "toxic combination of misrepresentation and sophistry."
[5] AIDSTruth.org, a website created by HIV researchers to address AIDS denialism,
[19] criticized the film for concealing its "agenda behind a false veneer of honest inquiry", and published a rebuttal to some of the film's claims.
[20] Ben Goldacre, writing in
The Guardian, described
House of Numbers as "a dreary and pernicious piece of Aids denialist propaganda."
[3]