Last Updated on June 15, 2023 by Neelam Singh
Quick Take
A video on social media claims that the drug azidothymidine (AZT) has killed thousands of people. We fact-checked and found the claim to be Mostly False. Our research informs that AZT drug was used as a treatment for AIDS in 1980.
The Claim
An Instagram post claims that AZT, not the virus, killed most AIDS patients. The narrator featured in the video claims that the drug AZT took his brother’s life. Moreover, countless innocent individuals fell victim to this prescribed poison. The post then puts the blame on Dr Anthony Fauci. He is a physician-scientist and immunologist who was the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Additionally, he served as the chief medical advisor to the president.
A screenshot of the post has been attached below:
Fact Check
What was the purpose of developing the drug AZT?
AZT, also known as zidovudine, was one of the first drugs developed to combat HIV/AIDS. It belongs to a class of drugs called nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs).
In the early 1980s, the HIV/AIDS epidemic emerged as a major global health crisis. Researchers and scientists were working diligently to find effective treatments for the disease. HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is a retrovirus that primarily attacks the immune system, specifically CD4+ T cells, which are crucial for maintaining a healthy immune response.
AZT stops the virus from making copies of itself. It does this by blocking an enzyme called reverse transcriptase, which the virus needs to replicate. When the virus can’t make copies, it can’t spread as easily in the body. This helps to slow down the disease and gives the immune system a better chance to fight it.
Has the drug AZT killed thousands of people?
No evidence. We found no proof that can quantify the exact number of deaths directly attributed to AZT. Also, our research shows that the claimed video is a part of ‘Plandemic 3: The Great Awakening’, the third installment of a series known as ‘Plandemic’. The series is a collection of conspiracy theories that gained attention during the COVID-19 pandemic. These conspiracy theories spread misinformation and falsehoods about the origins of the virus, its transmission, and the efforts to control its spread. The series presents a distorted narrative that often contradicts scientific evidence and reputable sources of information.
We have come across numerous inconsistent claims on social media regarding the effects of certain medications. Some of them such as mercury in vaccines is killing humans have been previously debunked.
In the context of this story, we conducted research and discovered that researchers initially developed AZT in 1964 as a potential cancer therapy. However, in the 1980s, it was repurposed as a treatment for AIDS. Despite initial promise, AZT had severe adverse effects, but it reduced deaths and opportunistic infections. A trial in 1986 showed its effectiveness, leading to its approval by the FDA as the first AIDS medication in 1987. However, subsequent to the availability of AZT, it was discovered that there were issues with the conducted trials. They were not done properly.
Conclusively, it was found that AZT alone could not eradicate the virus. HIV quickly developed resistance to AZT, prompting the development of combination therapies. In 1996, highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) emerged as a breakthrough, significantly reducing HIV replication and drug resistance. Combining AZT with other drugs, particularly protease inhibitors, increased its efficiency.
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