In April, Ryan White dies in the United States at 19. He is a hemophiliac who had become well known a few years earlier as a result of his fight to be allowed to attend public school. He dies of a blood hemmorhage, relatively common in hemophiliacs, but the media reports that he died of AIDS.

Just a few months after Ryan White's death, the Ryan White CARE Act is passed by Congress. The aim of this act is to provide systems of care for people with AIDS who do not have adequate health insurance or other resources.

Dr. Robert Root-Bernstein publishes the scientific article "Do We Know the Cause(s) of AIDS?" in the summer issue of the journal Perspectives in Biology and Medicine.

Journalist John Lauritsen publishes the book Poison by Prescription: The AZT Story.

Dr. Duesberg publishes "AIDS: Non-Infectious Deficiencies Acquired By Drug Consumption and Other Risk Factors." in Research and Immunology. This is the first article in which Dr. Duesberg presents an alternative hypothesis for the cause of AIDS.

Dr. Duesberg loses his Oustanding Investigator Grant after a panel says he has recently become "unscientific and unproductive." The panel includes an AZT researcher and the mother of Robert Gallo's child.

Dr. Duesberg and Bryan Ellison publish, "Is the AIDS Virus a Science Fiction" in the publication Policy Review. The issue is quite controversial, eliciting a great deal of response from readers.