Eliza Jane Scovill

Eliza Jane Scovill (December 3, 2001 May 16, 2005) was the daughter of AIDS denialist Christine Maggiore, an HIV-positive activist who publicly questioned the link between HIV and AIDS, and supported HIV-positive pregnant women who want to avoid taking anti-HIV medication. Eliza Jane's May 16, 2005 death from AIDS, at the age of three and a half, sparked a social and legal controversy over her mother's decision not to take precautions during pregnancy and breastfeeding to prevent transmission of the virus, and her parents' decision to not have her treated for HIV infection during her life.

AIDS diagnosis and death

In 1992, Eliza Jane's mother, Christine Maggiore, tested positive for HIV. She subsequently became involved in volunteer work for a number of AIDS charities, including AIDS Project Los Angeles, L.A. Shanti, and Women at Risk. However, following an interaction with prominent AIDS denialist Peter Duesberg in 1994, she began to question whether HIV causes AIDS. Maggiore came to believe that her positive test may have been due to flu shots, pregnancy, or a common viral infection. Maggiore also breast-fed her children, despite evidence that breast-feeding can also transmit HIV from mother to child. Her younger child, Eliza Jane, was never tested for HIV, nor did she or her older brother Charlie receive any of the recommended childhood vaccines. (Maggiore later reported Charlie to have tested HIV-negative three times.)

Several weeks after this interview, in April 2005, Eliza Jane became ill with a runny nose. She was seen by a physician from the family's pediatric practice, who documented a normal physical exam. Several days later, Maggiore took Eliza Jane to see another pediatrician, Jay Gordon, who felt she had a mild ear infection.

When Eliza Jane failed to improve, Maggiore took her to see Philip Incao, a holistic practitioner and board member of Maggiore's AIDS-denialist organization Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives. Incao stated that Eliza Jane appeared "mildly ill... no way I considered her in danger... she did not act as a patient acts if she's severely ill or in danger." On May 14, 2005, Incao prescribed amoxicillin for a presumed ear infection.

The following day, Eliza Jane became lethargic and vomited several times. While Maggiore was on the phone with Incao, Eliza Jane collapsed and stopped breathing. The post-mortem examination of Eliza Jane's brain showed changes consistent with HIV encephalitis; Maggiore retained a board member of the organization she founded named Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives, toxicologist Mohammed Al-Bayati, to review the autopsy report. Al-Bayati holds a B.S. in veterinary medicine from the University of Baghdad, an M.S. from the University of Cairo, and a Ph.D. in comparative pathology from UC Davis. He is a pseudoscientist. He is not a physician nor is he board-certified in human pathology. He is the author of a book entitled Get All The Facts: HIV Does Not Cause AIDS.

Al-Bayati released a report concluding that Eliza Jane had not died from AIDS or pneumocystis pneumonia, but from an allergic reaction to amoxicillin. Maggiore embraced Al-Bayati's conclusion that a reaction to amoxicillin was responsible, stating, "I believe the unfortunate irony in this situation is that the one time that we were asked to and that we complied with mainstream medicine, we inadvertently gave our daughter something that took her life." Both the Los Angeles Times and ABC PrimeTime Live consulted independent experts in pathology about Eliza Jane's case; these experts agreed unequivocally with the coroner's conclusion that AIDS and resultant Pneumocystis pneumonia were the cause of death, and rejected Al-Bayati's report.

Others point to the evidence which indicates that Eliza Jane acquired AIDS from Maggiore perinatally or via breast feeding, that Eliza's HIV infection might have been prevented had Maggiore taken antiretroviral drugs or avoided breast feeding, that Eliza Jane's death was due to complications of AIDS, and that her death may have been preventable with proper medical care.

Maggiore's inclusion as an exhibitor at the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa has been criticized by AIDS activists.

Maggiore's influence on Thabo Mbeki's decision to block funding of medical treatment of HIV-positive pregnant women was criticized following her death, with medical researchers noting a Harvard study which estimated "330,000 lives were lost to new AIDS infections during the time Mbeki blocked government funding of AZT treatment to mothers."

Legal ramifications The death of Eliza Jane was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Department of Child Protective Services as a possible case of medical neglect or child endangerment.

In September 2006, the Medical Board of California filed charges of gross negligence against one of these physicians, Paul Fleiss, who was Eliza Jane's pediatrician, alleging a failure to test Eliza Jane for HIV (or to document her parents' refusal of testing), a failure to counsel Maggiore to avoid breast-feeding at any time during the three years Maggiore breast-fed her daughter, given the risk of transmitting HIV, and similar violations of standard medical practice in Fleiss's care of a second HIV-positive child. The Board revoked Fleiss's medical license but stayed this action in favor of a 35-month probation period during which Fleiss must submit to regular monitoring, pay costs, notify insurance and hospitals of the decision against him, and take continuing medical education (CME) classes and record-keeping courses. He is not permitted to supervise Physician Assistants and has affirmed the practice of referring HIV-positive patients to a specialist.

In an admonition letter dated September 13, 2007, an Inquiry Panel of the Colorado State Board of Medical Examiners issued its finding that Philip Incao's "care and treatment and lack of timely documentation" in the case of Eliza Jane Scovill "falls below the generally accepted standards of medical practice". The Panel warned Incao that any further instances of such behavior could result in "formal disciplinary proceedings against your license to practice medicine".

Maggiore and her husband, Robin Scovill, sued Los Angeles County in 2007 for allegedly violating their daughter's civil rights and privacy by releasing her autopsy report, which indicated that she was HIV-positive. A $15,000 settlement was reached in 2009.