Clioquinol, SMON
and
Pesticides/Polio

 

SMON (Sub-Acute-Myelo-Optical-Neuropathy) is a polio-like disease which began as an epidemic in 1959. SMON is not known to the public or even to the medical profession outside of Japan, according to Peter Duesberg, who convincingly describes SMON (in Inventing The AIDS Virus) as drug caused, the drug being Clioquinol.

Presented below in the left column is DDT/Polio data. In the right column is Duesberg's description of the Clioquinol/SMON "fiasco". The comparisons are somewhat amazing. [HARpub notes are in brackets within the Duesberg column.]

DDT/Polio Epidemic United States 1942-1962	Clioquinol/SMON Epidemic Japan 1959-1971
Polio is a disease of the central nervous system..	SMON is a polio-like disease
All victims were subjected to sustained doses of DDT, a chlorohydrocarbon central nervous system poison.	All victims received Clioquinol, a chlorohydrocarbon drug.
The chemical formula for DDT is an organic molecule capable of being absorbed into the human nervous system. It has 5 added chlorine atoms and 2 added phenyl molecules, to give it toxic characteristics: dichloro-biphenyl-trichloroethane.	[The chemical formula for Clioquinol is an organic molecule capable of being absorbed into the human nervous system. It has 5 added chlorine atoms and 7 added iodine atoms, to give it toxic characteristics: 5-chloro-7-iodo-8-quinolinol.]
DDT causes excess the generation of quinolinic acid (an excitatory neurotransmitter chemical), which contributes to the degradation of neurons ("neuronal necrosis") and inflammation of nerve tissue (John H. Menkes, Textbook Of Child Neurology (1995)).	[Quinolinic acid modified to its alcohol form, quinolinol, and made toxic by the addition of chlorine and iodine atoms, to create the pharmaceutical, Clioquinol].
J.R. Geigy (ancestor to Ciba-Geigy), the Swiss multinational, developed and markets DDT.	Ciba-Geigy (recently merged with Sandoz to become Novartis), the Swiss multinational, developed and markets Clioquinol.
1942-1962 is the period of the last polio epidemic in the U.S.	1959-1971 is the period of SMON epidemic, Japan
For DDT to be accepted for application upon food crops, its potential for bio-accumulation and its polio-like physiology were initially ignored.	Clioquinol was prescribed upon the somehow mistaken belief that it would not to be absorbed into the body, that it would remain in the intestines.
1942-1962: This is both the era of "Pesticides as a Panacea", and the era of "apparently trouble-free acceptance of DDT" (Van Nostrand's Encyclopedia of Science and Engineering (1995), p1725).	1959-1971: Clioquinol was administered without appropriate restrictions and sufficient knowledge of effects. [Clioquinol has been sold as Vioform and Enteroform (an antibiotic) since at least 1904.]
The medical industry and the U.S. government officially have defined polio as a virus-caused disease.	Throughout the SMON epidemic a virus hunt took place. A "SMON Virus" was discovered.
"…research in this area is often confounded by the rarity of successful entry." (see Homepage, under "Virus Causality") Contradictions abound.	"SMON virus" not confirmed in independent research. This information was not published in English.
The possibility of DDT causality has been authoritatively characterized as, "irresponsible... and could produce great harm and, if taken seriously, even interfere with the scientific search for true causes." (Hayes & Laws)	Clioquinol causality, "...a fact so horrifying to doctors that the possibility was repeatedly cast aside..."
"Yet, far from admitting a causal relationship [pesticides=polio] so obvious that in any other field of biology it would be instantly accepted, virtually the entire apparatus of communication, lay and scientific alike, has been devoted to denying, concealing, suppressing, distorting and attempts to convert into its opposite, the overwhelming evidence." (M.S. Biskind)	1971: A law suit was bought forth by 4,500 plaintiffs against Ciba-Geigy of Japan, the Japanese government, 15 other Clioquinol distributors, 23 doctors and hospitals.
	Plaintiffs won many victories in the courts.
	To date, the controversy regarding Clioquinol remains unknown to scientists and laymen outside of Japan.

To summarize, Ciba-Geigy (once J.R. Geigy, now Novartis) created and markets both DDT and Clioquinol, and both of these are (5 chlorine) chlorohydrocarbons, nerve toxins.

Quinolinic acid is an excitatory nerve transmitter. It doesn't seem possible due to the state of science by early 20th century, but it almost seems that the initial design concept for Clioquinol was based upon the synthesis of the excitatory neurotransmitter, quinolinic acid, and that the initial conception was to make this synthesized neurotransmitter toxic through the addition of chlorine and iodine atoms explicitly for use in the related markets of pesticides and pharmaceuticals.

Due to the early existence of this pharmaceutical, this chemical sophistication seems impossible. Was it serendipity? What better strategy could there be for the design of a neurotoxin?

 

The Swiss Connection

According to Duesberg, Ciba-Geigy and the medical establishment claimed through the early stages of the SMON epidemic that Clioquinol…

…was believed not to be absorbed into the body, instead remaining in the intestines to kill invading germs.

Reminiscent of the "whoops!" component in the history of DDT -- deniability.

The above excerpt seems strange, not only because Clioquinol is an organochlorine with toxic parallels to DDT, but because its apparent core, quinolinic acid, is a neurotransmitter chemical. In may be relevant that there exist neurotransmitters called "gut-brain peptides" which are found in both the intestinal tract and the central nervous system.

How can one not expect Clioquinol, after being ingested, to reside only in the intestine and have no effect upon the nervous system?

For another example of commercial use of a neurotransmitter, consider Aspartame, the low-calorie sweetening agent. This is mainly aspartate with methyl alcohol.

I'm not sure if the following is a valid argument but here it is anyway: Aspartate is an excitatory neurotransmitter chemical. The ingestion of Aspartame gives the sensation of instant metabolic energy, which is expected when one eats sugar. The toxic methyl alcohol is perceived as "sweetness". It is possible to interpret the depression known to follow ingestion of Aspartame thusly: The body instinctively prepares for the metabolism of nutrient sugars that have been sensed but not actually ingested and is met with metabolic "disappointment" and consequential physical/psychological depression.

Additionally, according to the literature on www.dorway.com Aspartame is just plain destructive to the body.

 

The Milk Connection

In 1916, during the first great polio epidemic in the U.S., milk distribution was also dominated by Anglo-Swiss multinationals. Contemporary toxicologists consider milk to be a primary transmitter of pesticides because of its lipid (fatty) content and digestibility. In milk, pesticides and other pollutants can mix with the milk fats and are efficiently carried into the human body. By 1952 U.S. scientists discovered that calves died from DDT carried in their mother's milk, and this was confirmed by the Swiss in 1953. Since death by DDT arrives by way of nerve damage and resulting respiratory failure, it could be said that these calves were obvious examples of "infantile paralysis" (polio). Notwithstanding, according to Rachel Carson (Silent Spring (1962)) the dairy industry was loosely supervised by the FDA and has been not required to obey legislation that stipulates zero pesticide residue in milk. The dairy industry has been given unusual leeway with regard to labeling laws.

Ciba-Geigy (now merged with Sandoz to become Novartis) has engaged in successful legal suits against the EPA to force the agency to allow higher environmental levels for Ciba-Geigy's pesticide products. It is interesting to note that the U.S. government has the power to decline any suit outright if deemed not in the state's interest. For example, an citizen's suit to ban DDT in the 1950s was thrown out by the court, the rationale given by the judge was that citizen groups had no right to sue in matters which were inherently a governmental concern.

 

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