The National CFIDS Foundation Begins to Disclose its Vital Research Discoveries to the Worldwide Patient Community
National CFIDS Foundation Investigative Exclusive ©
Written Permission Required for Reprinting or Distributing All Rights Reserved: Copyright 2004
Introduction
This extensive investigative exclusive is the direct result of thousands of man-hours of work from patient volunteers at the National CFIDS Foundation (NCF). In this report, the NCF reveals most of what is known about Dr. W. John Martin's "stealth virus" and its important relationship to the ciguatera toxin and potential amyloidoses. An included timeline shows these discoveries in relationship to research funding previously provided to Dr. Martin by the CFIDS Association of America. You were learn how little of the actual facts of his discoveries were ever shared by publication in a medical journal or at conferences by Dr. Martin.
Background Information
As you may recall, the NCF began seriously funding its own research, with substantial capital investment, starting with the role of HTLV-II like viruses and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) late in 2001. This became our first large project funded under the then new NCF Research Grant Program which began just over two short years ago. (Previous funding was used for projects such as HHV6-A.) The premise for this work was based on several factors that not only included Dr. Elaine DeFreitas' previous publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science but, most importantly, the NCF's discovery of her patent and intellectual property for her CFIDS Associated Virus (CAV). Because of the basic uncertainty surrounding this virus, as mentioned in Osler's Web (Crown Publishing, Hillary Johnson), the NCF persuaded and subsequently funded Dr. Konstance Knox and Dr. Donald Carrigan, from the Institute for Viral Pathogenesis, to examine these findings and to develop new polymerase chain reaction (PCR) probes to screen for any HTLV-II based viruses in CFS patient sera. Since Dr. DeFreitas' research efforts had taken place in the early 1990's, the NCF felt that much more scientific information had become available over the last ten years regarding this virus. In fact, the HTLV-II viral family now included many variants and strains that were not described in the medical literature until more recently. Fortunately, Drs. Knox and Carrigan designed their PCR probes to cover the numerous variants and strains now found under the HTLV-II umbrella. With that said, these scientists identified HTLV-II in only 2% of CFS patient sera they examined in their study funded by the NCF. Now, the NCF firmly believed that Dr. DeFreitas had discovered something significant but what exactly was it? (History tells us that her funding was cut off by the CFIDS Association before completion.)
Given the newest finding regarding HTLV-II testing in CFS sera,
the
NCF could have been very discouraged but was not. The scientific knowledge gained during this effort led directly to the next critically important research project funded by the NCF, that of Dr. Yoshitsugi Hokama.
As most patients know, Osler's Web laid the groundwork for
investigative reporting for CFS research activity that was accomplished during those early years from 1984 to 1994. Knowing this, there was only one other CFS researcher that focused intently on Dr. DeFreitas' efforts during that time period. That was Dr. W. John Martin! Since the NCF had already thoroughly researched Dr. Sidney Grossberg's JHK Virus via his publications and his patents, the NCF knew that it must thoroughly review the research work of Dr. Martin, too. In those early days, the CFIDS Association (CAA), then directed by founder Marc Iverson, had spent substantial research money primarily on Drs. DeFreitas, Grossberg, and Martin. The NCF felt that these scientists represented the primary "big three" to examine closely. Since the NCF had already thoroughly reviewed the research work from Dr. Grossberg and because it had just finished funding its own work based on Dr. DeFreitas' efforts, this logically led to the thorough examination of Dr. Martin's research. Furthermore, during the course of time, the NCF had the good fortune to have spoken directly to all three of these researchers in one context or another and could easily judge the demeanor of each and what their interests were whether casual, scientific, or inquiring. As a result, the NCF decided that there must be more information to be found in Dr. Martin's research activity and so the NCF elected to turn a few more scientific stones over!
CFS Politics
The NCF was astonished as to the number of patents that Dr. John Martin had to his name. In fact, our review concluded that Dr. Martin had more patents, both issued and applied for, than any other CFS researcher around the globe! The NCF realized that these patents, filed exclusively by Dr. Martin himself, required substantial financial investment to say the least. This indicated to NCF staffers that Dr. Martin was very serious about his discoveries. The NCF also wondered if Dr. Martin collaborated with any other scientists or corporations on his research because his early interactions were well documented in Osler's Web.
During our investigation, one of the statements that
particularly
intrigued NCF staffers was one that was made by Marc Iverson and reported in Osler's Web. In 1991, the CAA had awarded Dr. Martin $ 40,000 for his initial work. Quoting Osler's Web directly, "Forty grand to buy agent X, Iverson said marveling." It's one quote that has lingered in the minds of NCF staffers for some time!
The NCF has always paid particular attention to timelines
because of
their significance and possible implications. Early in 1991, the CAA awarded $ 134,200 to Dr. Martin for a grant titled "Detection and Characterization of an Atypical Virus Cultured from a CFIDS Patient." The CAA's support was continued the next year, in 1992, awarding an additional $ 84,000 for a grant titled "Detection and Characterization of a Viral Infection in Patients with CFS." Thus, throughout 1991 and 1992, Dr. Martin received research funding for his projects directly from the CAA. This is particularly intriguing because the CAA used to require quarterly progress reports directly from their funded researchers to keep them fully informed and in the loop! It was during this time period that Dr. Paul Cheney travelled to California to visit, tour and discuss this research with Dr. Martin.
Also of interest, late in 1992, the CAA had funded a special
grant,
valued at $ 5200, titled "External Review of Dr. Martin's Retroviral Research." This was directed by Dr. Walter Gunn, then newly retired from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In fact, according to Osler's Web, "Martin's standing with the CFIDS Association board was beginning to crumble under the weight of Walter Gunn's influence...as a result of Gunn's persuasion, Martin's funding had been severed." There is no doubt in the minds of NCF staffers that Dr. Martin had a very interesting working relationship with the CAA regarding his scientific research and their funding of it!
Patents Once Again
The NCF will now show that Dr. John Martin, like other CFS researchers we have previously written about, had placed much of his intellectual property in his patents and he had not published many of his intriguing findings in the peer-reviewed medical literature. In fact, even over a decade later, these important discoveries have yet to be fully disclosed to the medical community. As a direct result of this knowledge, patients will now discover the rationale behind the NCF's funded research efforts which it felt was critically important to the worldwide CFS patient community. It is without a doubt Dr. Martin became alerted as to what the NCF was uncovering because he knew the research the NCF began funding directly resulted from his initial discoveries that he had held in strictest confidence. Only those who discovered his patents would gain access to his intellectual property!
What Could Have Been
Before beginning, it is certainly noteworthy to mention that Dr. Martin could have discussed the following research findings at the CFS conference held in Albany, New York in October 1992, but he failed to do so even though he had already completed much of this work in its entirety. How this information may have changed the view of this disease at that time is now only speculative. The NCF does know however that patients lost a decade in this scientific discovery process! Now, because the NCF has carefully secured all of the research work discussed here are they able to formally disclose these important scientific facts.
Medical Science - No More Secrets
One of the earliest and most informative patents was issued to Dr. Martin on November 26, 1992, just one month after the Albany conference. This patent, titled "Stealth Virus Detection in the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome" was filed on May 22, 1992 but was a continuation of a patent first filed on September 20, 1991. This patent was filed for during the time period Dr. Martin received research funding directly from the CAA. The patent abstract clearly stated that the invention related "to methods for diagnosing chronic fatigue syndrome and certain other neurological, psychiatric, rheumatological and other stealth virus associated diseases in humans and in animals....The viral detection assays can be applied to the pre-clinical and clinical monitoring of potential therapy and also to the detection of possible sources of infection, including human to human contact, blood products, domestic pets, farm animals, uncooked foods, vaccines and other environmental sources....A toxin associated with stealth virus, an antiviral composition comprising the toxin, and methods of monitoring disease state based on detecting the level of toxin or its toxic activity are described."
In his patent, Dr. Martin explained that there is a stealth
virus
associated toxin and that this toxin is characterized by activity in a ciguatera toxin specific immunoassay! Furthermore, in culture, this toxin acts to suppress the cytopathic effects of the stealth virus itself. This cytopathic effect can also be suppressed by alpha-interferon, lithium, and cerulenin, a fatty acid synthase inhibitor. Thus, reactivity in the ciguatera immunoassay test is a direct indicator and marker for a stealth virus infection by Dr. Martin's own words found in his patent! Furthermore, Dr. Martin stated that "The level of toxin may be monitored to indicate progression of disease and presumptive evidence for actual viral infection rather than ingestion simply of the toxin." This information has never been disclosed in his peer-reviewed medical journal articles!
The NCF had uncovered this information in February 2002,
approximately ten years after this work was completed and the patent was issued! As a result of action immediately taken by the NCF's Board of Directors, the NCF contacted and shared this data with Dr. Yoshitsugi Hokama, from the Pathology Department at the University of Hawaii's John A. Burns School of Medicine. As you may recall, Dr. Hokama is the world's leading expert on ciguatera toxin. After reviewing all the information that the NCF had shared with him, Dr. Hokama commented that there is something to this discovery. The NCF then asked "How do you know this?" Dr. Hokama commented "because my ciguatera monoclonal antibody was used in the assay!" Dr. Hokama had never seen the information that we had provided to him nor had any of his colleagues in the pathology department been aware of Dr. Martin's discovery. That was a most fortunate turn of events for the NCF. Within a short time period, the NCF provided critical research funding to Dr. Hokama to begin his research into the role of this toxin in CFS patient sera. As a result, Dr. Hokama made his initial presentation for this work at a toxicology conference in Okinawa, Japan in November 2002. The NCF issued a formal statement regarding ciguatoxin reactivity and CFS patient sera in a newswire release to the press at that time. Dr. Hokama's manuscript for his initial paper was published in the Journal of Toxicology while his second manuscript discussed his most extensive findings to date and was published in the Journal of Clinical Laboratory Analysis. Another manuscript has been sent to a medical journal and is awaiting publication as well. In February 2004, exactly two years after the NCF's discovery of Dr. Martin's findings, Dr. Hokama received a $ 1 Million dollar, multi-year grant from the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences to study the role of ciguatera toxin in human disease. Dr. Hokama utilized the NCF's research grant data on ciguatoxin and CFS patient sera reactivity to form the foundational basis for his grant application as well as for his future research efforts! Furthermore, by confirming and verifying the presence of specific reactivity to ciguatera by these NCF sponsored independent research studies, the NCF was able to conclude that Dr. Martin had in fact found another piece of the CFS puzzle just as Dr. DeFreitas had. Once again however, the NCF asked what exactly had Dr. Martin really found?
The Unravelling
According to his patent, Dr. Martin collaborated with Dr. Douglas Park on the ciguatera discovery. Dr. Park is currently employed by the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Dr. Martin sent Dr. Park material from stealth virus infected cultures and Dr. Park tested them for reactivity to the ciguatera toxin. These culture materials tested positive. After this, CFS patient sera was subsequently sent to Dr. Park for testing and these tested positive for ciguatera toxin reactivity as well. Quoting the patent "These findings led to the suggestion that chronic disease following apparent ciguatera poisoning may be the result not of the toxin itself but of infection with a toxin producing microorganism, possibly a stealth virus." Dr. Martin concluded that "A stealth virus-associated toxin is found in tissue culture fluid of in-vitro cultures and in the serum of some patients with chronic fatigue syndrome. This toxin may itself cause symptoms of CFS or of other illnesses associated with stealth virus infection....it also suggests that chronic illness resulting from ciguatera associated poisoning may reflect not simply the ingestion of the toxin but rather actual infection with a stealth virus capable of continued production of the toxin in the affected subject." Furthermore, Dr. Martin stated that "One conclusion from the studies described above is that a virus, rather than the toxin itself may be involved in the transmission of the toxin within this food chain." Dr. Martin had developed a strategic ally with Dr. Park at the FDA. Anyway you sliced it, the NCF now knew that someone at the FDA had full knowledge of this important discovery!
Digging deeper, the NCF found that Dr. Douglas Park also had
several
patents of his own on the relationship between CFS patient sera and ciguatoxin. His patent, titled "Rapid Extraction of Ciguatoxin from Contaminated Tissues" was first filed on May 1, 1992 and issued on November 11, 1993. In his patent, Dr. Park disclosed the reactivity of CFS patient sera with ciguatoxin and compared this finding to patients with ciguatera intoxication. Dr. Park stated that ciguatoxin-reactive substances were being produced in the CFS patient sera.
The Probe Continues
During the NCF's investigation, three companies kept coming up in our searches that were tied to this ciguatera discovery. They were Hawaii Chemtect Inc., California South Pacific Investors and SIRA Technologies Inc. The NCF's research showed that these companies were apparently all tied to the same street address in Pasadena, California. Coincidently, Dr. Martin also resides in Pasadena as well. California South Pacific Investors and SIRA Technologies are directly connected to their parent company known as the Athanor Group. Selecting California South Pacific Investors on the Athanor Group's website takes you directly to the SIRA Technologies website.
SIRA Technologies is involved with food, environmental and
pharmaceutical safety. SIRA has developed the Food Package Sentinel System which monitors food for contamination. On the SIRA Technologies website, there is extensive information about ciguatera poisoning. In fact, one comment made on their website is "SIRA Technologies established a substantial link between a widespread environmentally-based ocean toxin, specific fish that ingest it and then, with alarming frequency, become responsible for a crippling disease in humans." The NCF feels that this comment sounds like a description of CFS! What the NCF found most interesting is one particular reference provided about ciguatera poisoning. On SIRA's website, under ciguatoxin published documents, the NCF found the following: Possible Link Between Ciguatera Fish Poisoning and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Unpublished Study (CFS Study); Park DL, Gamboa PM, King KM, Goldsmith CH, Dominguez KL, Santiago A, Martin J
This provided an interesting connection between Dr. John Martin,
Dr.
Douglas Park and SIRA Technologies. This is not surprising since Dr. Martin mentions Dr. Park in his patent. Likewise, Dr. Park has patents assigned to Hawaii Chemtect and California South Pacific Investors. One possible explanation as to the potential financial significance of this ciguatera finding is to consider the following: In a 1998 report by the Athanor Group, the Athanor Group invested $ 146,000 in California South Pacific Investors. California South Pacific Investors, through its wholly owned subsidiaries, has developed and patented biochemical product-identifying barcodes for detecting harmful pathogens in meats, poultry and dairy products. However, the really big news came from the Athanor Group, in 1999, where the Athanor Group stated in their report that the Athanor Group "has made a series of modest investments totaling $ 161,000 in California South Pacific Investors, a food safety company. California South Pacific Investors owns a series of patents providing screening of toxins in seafood and a food sentinel system that detects harmful bacterial pathogens in meat, fowl, and fish.... California South Pacific Investors is currently negotiating strategic relationships with several large food companies, as well as the United States military. California South Pacific Investors informs us that they are discussing additional funding including a possible IPO with a number of investment banking companies." There you have it, a possible IPO. IPO is the acronym for Initial Public Offering and that, folks, is how you make some real serious money; to take a company public via stock offerings! Those who follow IPO offerings will tell you that the principals (principal investors, researchers, etc.) can make millions of dollars through such an offering. Furthermore, the company is negotiating with the U.S. military! Now you can see why it was imperative for the NCF to drop this into the hands of attorneys for safe keeping and why this is so very important. You can now understand why the NCF funded the work that it placed onto its table as fast as it could. It was necessary for the NCF to put pieces of the research puzzle together with the commercial and financial implications. Certainly some big bucks could be made here at the expense of those with this disease worldwide without their knowledge! Even the military would know about testing that screened for ciguatera! The NCF felt that it had a moral obligation to its patients to scientifically verify these discoveries and to disclose this vitally important information to the patient community as rapidly as it could. The NCF felt that no one should capitalize on this at the expense of critically ill patients. These are just some of the ramifications of the ciguatera toxin discovery.
Association with Kuru?
Another interesting patent, issued to Dr. Martin, stated that "stealth viruses were derived from patients with multi-system acute and chronic illnesses, including but not limited to neurodegenerative diseases, neurodevelopmental disorders, malignancies, chronic fatigue syndrome and autoimmune conditions." However, in this patent, Dr. Martin discusses the relationship of stealth viruses to kuru.
In his work, Dr. Martin had contacted Dr. Clarence J. Gibbs at
the
National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. Dr. Gibbs was an associate of Dr. D.Carleton Gajdusek. Dr. Gibbs supplied Dr. Martin with blood samples from two kuru patients. Kuru is a rare and fatal brain disorder that occurred at epidemic levels during the 1950's-60's among the Fore people in the highlands of New Guinea. The disease was the result of the practice of ritualistic cannibalism among the Fore, in which relatives prepared and consumed the tissues, including brain, of deceased family members. Brain tissue from individuals with kuru was highly infectious, and the disease was transmitted either through eating or by contact with open sores or wounds. Kuru belongs to a class of infectious diseases called transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs), also known as prion diseases. The hallmark of a TSE disease is misshapen protein molecules that clump together and accumulate in brain tissue. Scientists believe that misshapen prion proteins have the ability to change their shape and cause other proteins of the same type to also change shape. Other TSEs include Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and fatal familial insomnia in humans, bovine spongiform encephalopathy in cattle (also known as mad cow disease), scrapie in sheep and goats, and chronic wasting disease in deer and elk. Prion based diseases are amyloidogenic. The NCF has already funded research work into the role of amyloid formation in patients. Futhermore, the CDC had recently acknowledged their finding of an amyloid in patients with CFS as well.
Dr. Martin discussed the results of this research: "These
preliminary findings help establish a possible relationship between stealth viruses and the agent responsible for kuru." The NCF began to wonder if we were now looking at a spongiform encephalopathy due to a prion? If this turned out to be true, the NCF knew that governmental health authorities would have a serious crisis on their hands.
Epione Revealed
Epione is defined by Dr. Martin as an inhibitor of stealth viruses. According to Dr. Martin "observations have suggested that the inhibitors are a molecularly diverse range of relatively small RNA molecules, possibly in the form of ribonucleoproteins, that are able to partially, and in the case of the homologous stealth virus, near completely suppress virus CPE. It will be useful to quantitate the production of inhibitor by a patient's mononuclear cells and to use this system to find ways to upregulate inhibitor production, in the absence of production of infectious virus." Dr. Martin continues "In a new finding, inhibitory material could be detected in the supernatant of patient's mononuclear cells cultured for 24 hours, and even in the supernatant of thawed mononuclear cells as used in the routine stealth virus cultures. The inhibitory material can be passed through an Amicon filter with 30,000 molecular weight protein cutoff....It should be noted that the inhibitor has been tentatively called Epione after the wife of Ascepius, a famous Greek physician. It was said that Epione had the ability to soothe pain and for this reason, the name was chosen for the inhibitory material found in nonprogessing stealth virus cultures. In preferred embodiments, Epione is obtained from any of the following sources: Mononuclear cells obtained from a patient or infected animal; infrequently fed stealth virus cultures; recombinant technology based on known sequences of a stealth virus."
Other Findings
The NCF felt that it should mention other noteworthy findings as a result of Dr. Martin's research. Dr. Martin discovered that the stealth virus could be propagated and replicated by using an insect cell line. This is intriguing because human viruses don't replicate in insect cells. Dr. Martin also found that this virus could infect cats. This work was previously published with Dr. Thomas Glass, a professor of pathology at Oklahoma State University. In fact, Dr. Martin was able to infect cats directly with the stealth virus obtained from a culture. Another of Dr. Martin's findings was that patients, with stealth virus infections, are producing a fluorescent material known as humic/fulvic acid. Humic and fulvic acids are produced via decomposition or in other words, the direct result of cellular death. Stealth Viruses According to a NBC News investigative report, Dr. Martin described the stealth virus on camera as "a stealth virus is a virus that has lost the components that the immune system would recognize." According to this same NBC News report, several patients had given Dr. Martin several hundreds of thousands of dollars so that he could continue to pursue his stealth virus research because Dr. Martin had told patients that this infection could be fatal. In this same television interview, Ana Garcia, a NBC reporter, mentioned that one non-profit organization looking for the cause of chronic fatigue syndrome gave Dr. Martin $ 231,000 in research money. Obviously, this was the CAA as this was in-line with the CAA's 1991/1992 annual report!
According to Dr. Martin's patents "Stealth viruses were defined
as a
molecularly heterogeneous grouping of atypically structured, cytopathic viruses that cause persistent systemic infection frequently associated with neuropsychiatric symptoms, in the absence of significant anti-viral cellular inflammation. Stealth viruses typically induce a vacuolating foamy CPE in a range of human and animal cell lines. The formation, progression, and/or host range of the CPE distinguish stealth viruses from traditional human cytopathic viruses, including herpesviruses, enteroviruses and adenoviruses. Additional distinctions from conventional viruses can be made on the basis of electron microscopy, serology and molecular-based studies. The definition of stealth viruses does not follow the approach outlined above of using restrictive criteria based on either the virus genomic sequence or the virus morphology. Rather the approach taken to initially define stealth viruses was based on the foamy vacuolating CPE and other in-vitro growth characteristics and on the exclusion of other known viruses. As the research work progressed, several individual stealth virus isolates were characterized in terms of or conventional criteria, including their electron micrographic appearance, electrophoretic pattern of isolated DNA and RNA, partial sequencing and determination of probable origin. Even with the best characterized of these stealth virus isolates, however, the strict chemical and morphological classification schemes fail to account for the microheterogeneity and sub-genomic expression that is observed within a single isolate. Moreover, the precise chemical features of one isolate do not adequately encompass the broader concept of a diverse group of cytopathic viruses in which deletion and/or mutation of the major immunogenic components has occurred. Stealth adaptation is viewed as a mechanism to facilitate persistent infection by structural loss of the normal capacity of conventional viruses to evoke an effective anti-viral cellular inflammatory response. Given these considerations, stealth viruses have not originated from a single source. It is likely that stealth adaptation can occur with all of the presently known human herpesviruses and many of the herpesviruses known to infect animals. Viral sources other than herpesviruses are not excluded, and, in fact, have been suggested in various studies. Indeed, as viruses downsize and simplify, their initial distinguishing characteristics tend to become less important compared to their common pathogenic capacity of overtaxing the metabolic resources of the cell."
And what does the NCF think about stealth viruses? Dr. John
Martin
has openly stated that the stealth virus was derived from an African green monkey cytomegalovirus. Of course, the NCF realizes, first and foremost, that you can't find the words "stealth virus" in Field's Virology! However, Dr. Brian Mahy, who is a senior scientist with the National Center for Infectious Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), stated the following about stealth viruses in the NBC News television interview: "There's no such virus that's been validated or shown to be true." In this same interview, Dr. Shirley Fannin, head of the Disease Control Unit of the L.A. County Health Department, stated that the stealth virus "doesn't exist." The NCF believes there are many questions about Dr. Martin's research still to be answered. However, given our own extensive investigation, Dr. Martin definitely found something in CFS patient sera that does in fact react with the ciguatoxin immunoassay! Because the NCF had previously shared Dr. Martin's stealth virus information with several highly respected virology teams located around the world, the NCF has come to other scientific conclusions regarding the stealth virus.
In light of this report, the NCF does believe that there should
be a
formal probe and inquiry into Dr. Douglas Park, at the FDA; Dr. Clarence J. Gibbs, at the NIH; and Dr. Walter Gunn, formerly from the CDC; all of whom had scientific knowledge and therefore some possible role in Dr. Martin's stealth virus research. In addition, the NCF is also calling for an inquiry into the "negotiations" involving California South Pacific Investors / Sira Technologies with the U.S. Military. As a result of this investigative report, the NCF has sent letters seeking further information.
Currently the NCF's own research efforts are focused on
clarifying
and solidifying the medical science mentioned in this investigative report as well as, when our funding allows, to identify the potential infectious agent tied to the ciguatoxin discovery.
Summary of Dr. John Martin's Research
* Stealth virus associated toxin is present in CFS sera * Toxin is characterized by activity in ciguatera toxin immunoassay * Toxin research completed during time period paid for by the CFIDS Association (CAA) * Possible relationship of stealth virus to kuru * Stealth virus replicates in insect cells * Research is to be commercialized * State and Federal agencies are disbelievers
The National CFIDS Foundation, Inc. is the largest, all
volunteer,
and fastest growing non-profit CFIDS organization in the U.S. Because we have no paid staff, 100% of all donations go directly to research.
References:
1. Osler's Web, Inside the Labyrinth of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic; Hillary Johnson; Crown Publishers, Inc; 1996; ISBN # 0-517-70353-X 2. World Patent # WO9220787; issued November 26, 1992; filed May 22, 1992; continuation in patent filed September 20, 1991; titled Stealth virus detection in the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome; Inventor: William John Martin; Applicant: William John Martin 3. World Patent # WO9960101; issued November 25, 1999; filed May 19, 1999; titled Isolated stealth viruses and related vaccines; Inventor: William John Martin; Applicant: William John Martin 4. US Patent # 5,753,488; issued May 19, 1998; filed June 5, 1995; continuation in patent filed September 20, 1991; titled Isolated stealth viruses and related vaccines; Inventor: William John Martin; Applicant: William John Martin 5. US Patent Application # 20030134271; published July 17, 2003; filed January 15, 2002; titled Diagnosing and monitoring the therapy of stealth virus infections based on the detection of auto-fluorescent material in hair; Inventor: William John Martin; Applicant: William John Martin 6. US Patent Application # 20040009467; published January 15, 2004; filed July 10, 2002; titled ACE-pigments and humic acid as energy sources; Inventor: William John Martin; Applicant: William John Martin 7. World Patent # WO9322672; issued November 11, 1993; filed May 1, 1992; titled Rapid extraction of ciguatoxin from contaminated tissues; Inventors: Douglas L Park, Pedro M Gamboa; Applicant: Hawaii Chemtect Inc. 8. US Patent # 5,286,498; issued February 15, 1994; filed May 1, 1992; titled Rapid extraction of ciguatoxin from contaminated tissues; Inventors: Douglas L Park, Pedro M Gamboa; Applicant: Hawaii Chemtect Inc. 9. European Patent # EP0933636; issued August 4, 1999; filed April 27, 1993; titled Rapid extraction of ciguatoxin from contaminated tissues; Inventors: Pedro M Gamboa; Douglas L Park; Applicant: Hawaii Chemtect Inc. 10. World Patent # WO9914598; issued March 25, 1999; filed September 15, 1998; titled Food sentinel system; Inventors: Catherine Goldsmith, Carlos E Ayala, Douglas L Park, Robert M Goldsmith, James G Woodaman; Applicant: California South Pacific Investors 11. US Patent Application # 20010021531; published September 13, 2001; filed May 14, 2001; titled Food contamination detection system for vacuum packaged food products; Inventor: Robert M Goldsmith; Applicant: SIRA Technologies Inc. 12. US Patent Application # 20020072079; published June 13, 2002; filed August 10, 2001; titled Detection of contaminants in food; Inventor: James G Woodaman; Applicant: SIRA Technologies Inc. 13. NCF Supplemental note: California South Pacific Investors, SIRA Technologies, and Dr. John Martin all used the same patent attorney firm to file their patents. 14. California South Pacific Investors; Athanor Group, 1999; Athanor Group website: http://www.athanorgroupinc.com/letters.htm 15. California South Pacific Investors; Athanor Group, 1998; Athanor Group website: http://www.athanorgroupinc.com/1998shl.htm 16. SIRA Technologies website: www.siratechnologies.com 17. Possible link between Ciguatera Fish Poisoning and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Unpublished Study (CFS Study [Chronic Fatigue]); Park, DL, Gamboa, PM, King, KM, Goldsmith, CH, Dominguez, KL, Santiago, A, Martin, J; No date given; SIRA Technologies website: http://www.siratechnologies.com/fspem/cfp_published.html 18. Acute encephalopathy induced in cats with a stealth virus isolated from a patient with chronic fatigue syndrome; Martin WJ, Glass RT; Pathobiology 63(3): 115-118; 1995 19. Annual Report; CFIDS Association of America Inc; Research Grants, 1991 & 1992 20. NINDS Kuru Information Page; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; webpage: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/kuru.htm 21. Short summary of CFSAC meeting; Co-Cure; September 29, 2003 22. Disease or deception; NBC Nightly News; Los Angeles, California; Team 4 TV Investigative Report by Ana Garcia on Dr. W. John Martin and stealth viruses; February 13, 2003 Top |
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