Wrongful Death: The AIDS Trial

by Stephen Davis

  * * *

  Sarah finally makes it out of the courtroom in time to join the rest of the media, who are crowded around Crawley and his entire team, including Dr. Robert Gallo, the main defendant, at the usual bank of microphones on the steps leading down to the atrium. It’s Crawley, of course, who’s doing all the talking.

  “…and this whole thing about Koch's Postulates is just another waste of time. This question is not news, people. Dr. Gallo here, and others, have been quite clear over the past two decades that Koch's Postulates are outdated, irrelevant to modern medical research, have no relationship to the disease of AIDS, or to HIV, and have no bearing on this case. I think Dr. Gallo even explained that in detail in his book.”

  “Do you admit that HIV doesn't meet the requirements of Koch's Postulate Number One?” It was a female reporter standing not too far away from Sarah.

  “It doesn't matter that it doesn't meet Postulate Number One, but it's Koch's Postulates that are at fault, not HIV. Remember that Dr. Koch came up with these postulates more than a hundred years ago. If we haven't surpassed his thinking in the last one hundred years, something's very wrong. The fact is that modern medicine has other criteria more appropriate to today's knowledge. Koch's Postulates may have been correct and useful for the last century, but not for this century.”

  “What are those new criteria, and does HIV meet them?” The question came from a young man in the back and on the other side, and Sarah could just barely make out what he was asking.

  “This is not the time or place to educate you about medical research, son.” Crawley wasn’t going to get anywhere close to trying to answer that now – at least not until Dr. Gallo explained it to him.

  “It looked like you were considering cross-examining Mr. Harrison?” Rick Mann from GNN had out-shouted everyone else this time.

  “Not for a second. As I said in my opening, this is a frivolous case that we won't give merit to with our participation, except when absolutely necessary. And nothing that Mr. Messick or his witnesses have presented thus far has led me to question that decision.”

  “How do you plan on getting the jury to understand your position on Koch's Postulates if you won't present your case?” Sarah is surprised to hear herself challenging Crawley. She is also surprised at the intense anger that was building inside her because no one was standing up to Messick and his hair-brained scheme, whatever it was.

  “The opportunity will arise, miss. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need some lunch.”

  As the entourage disappears into their limos, Sarah realizes that the nausea has gotten worse. She decides not to eat, and instead to use her lunch hour to follow up on Bill’s idea. She heads for the Clerk’s office to get a list of the names of the plaintiffs.