[pronut-hiv] South Africa: Another TAC/Rath Court Case Looms

["ProNut-HIV" <pronut-hiv@healthnet.org>]

South Africa: Another TAC/Rath Court Case Looms
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks 

May 9, 2006
Johannesburg

The South African AIDS lobby group, Treatment Action Campaign (TAC),
will be back in court in three to four months' time for another round
with German vitamin entrepreneur Matthias Rath.

This time the ministry of health and the Medicines Control Council
(MCC) are also being dragged into the fight for their alleged lack of
action against Rath, who has claimed his vitamins were more effective
than antiretroviral drugs in treating HIV/AIDS.

Rath has been able to continue selling his vitamins as anti-AIDS
medication, despite a year-long investigation by the MCC.

TAC spokesman Nathan Geffen said he believed the MCC had acted
negligently. "From everything I have seen and heard ... no proper
investigation has taken place into the activities of Matthias Rath,
despite complaints being lodged by ourselves and other organisations and
individuals," he told the South African Broadcasting Corporation