HIV Skeptic
Christine Maggiore Dead at 52

The Los Angeles Times has confirmed with the Los Angeles County coroner's office that 52-year-old HIV skeptic Christine Maggiore died Monday.

Maggiore, who was HIV-positive, self-published the book What if Everything You Thought You Knew About AIDS Was Wrong. She founded Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives, a support group that challenges "common assumptions" about AIDS.

In 2005 her 3-year-old daughter, Eliza Jane Scovill, died of what the coroner's office ruled was AIDS-related pneumonia.

The Los Angeles Police Department and the Los Angeles Department of Child Protective Services briefly investigated Maggiore for child endangerment -- she had refused to take antiretroviral drugs while she was pregnant, and she breast-fed her daughter.

Ultimately, no charges were filed against Maggiore, as both agencies found she had taken her daughter to see physicians on several occasions.

Maggiore was an outspoken critic of the media coverage of her daughter's death, even sending a letter to the Times in an attempt to get it to retract a story. The Times refused to publish the letter, saying, "If facts in an article are wrong, a correction would be published. However, no correction is warranted in this case."

On several occasions Maggiore pointed to the health of her husband, filmmaker Robin Scovill, who she said repeatedly tested negative for the virus despite numerous years of unprotected sex. She said her son, born in 1997, also tested negative. (Advocate.com)