Reading Reply Impure Science: AIDS, Activism, and the Politics of Knowledge Steven Epstein is a sociologist whose expertise lies in health inequities and human subjects research. Published in 1995, Impure Science: AIDS, Activism, and the Politics of Knowledge is a study of politicized knowledge production in the AIDS epidemic in the United States. This work shows Epstein's interest in how expertise is constructed, the ways in which those considered "outsiders" can influence medicine, and how credibility is gained and lost. Epstein focuses on the question of how knowledge is produced through complex interactions between government agencies, pharmaceutical companies, scientists, doctors, and “treatment activists” to discover how knowledge about AIDS emerges from what he calls “credibility struggles.” “principle of symmetry,” a methodology for analyzing both mainstream and dissenting opinions equally; this differs from the usual approach which tends to accept one traditional worldview as true, and then tries to explain away other views as various kinds of errors. The symmetry principle predicts that the same types of conceptual tools should be used to explain both true and false beliefs. For sources, Epstein used medical journal articles, mass media reports, gay and lesbian press articles, activist documents, and government documents. as well as extensive interviews with more than thirty researchers, activists, and government officials. He has also participated in numerous conferences, meetings, forums, demonstrations and other public events. He writes that his “fundamental analytic strategy was to place in critical juxtaposition contemporary documents from different “s…… half of the article…… on the reemergence of the question of whether these randomized clinical trials were ethical. Conclusion: “Therapeutic activists have succeeded in establishing their scientific credibility and cultural competence in biomedicine” (page 337). This factor has led to their success in influencing both scientists and the pharmaceutical industry on AIDS treatments, drug regulation, and the ways in which clinical trials are conducted. His analysis of how highly knowledgeable, militant, and organized advocates can influence the distribution of public money. and influence the biomedical establishment in its strategies against a single disease. “Impure Science” conclusively demonstrates how consumers, armed with in-depth knowledge, can influence public health policy, budgetary funding, and even academic research toward their own goals in combating diseases that threaten their health. screw.