Connection To AIDS Denialist Movement
In January 2000, Nate Mendel organized a sold-out concert in Los Angeles to benefit Alive & Well AIDS Alternatives, a group which denies that HIV is the cause of AIDS. At the concert, the group's founder, Christine Maggiore, gave a speech attributing AIDS to drug use, stress, and medications, and implying that people should not be tested for HIV, nor should they take antiretroviral treatment if HIV-positive.
Responding to coverage of the Alive & Well benefit in Mother Jones magazine, Mendel wrote that "...popular ideas about AIDS are based on a hypothesis that does not stand up to scientific scrutiny." He further condemned HIV tests for what he felt was their inaccuracy and HIV medication for its "unproven efficacy and proven toxicity." None of these statements reflects current mainstream scientific theories. The Foo Fighters no longer list Alive & Well as a supported charity on their website as of 2008.
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