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Gulf War veteran believes illness related to anthrax vaccine
Published 09/03/2007 By Rick Wagner
http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9002821
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KINGSPORT — Todd Sanders says he and thousands of other Gulf War veterans may be
running out of time to live.
Sanders believes that’s because of the mandatory anthrax vaccine he and others
received in the Army.
Late last year, at age 41, the Kingsport resident had a pacemaker installed to
keep his heart rate and blood pressure up, but he still blacks out from low
blood pressure from a condition called sinus bradycardia neurocardiogenic
syncope.
His other medical problems include chronic fatigue, neurological symptoms,
muscle deterioration, memory loss, ringing in the ears, double vision,
confusion, depression, anxiety, incontinence, sleep apnea, respiratory distress,
and extreme muscle and joint pain.
Sanders’ medical condition, however, has not been diagnosed as an illness
related to his military service, so he does not receive any financial
compensation for his illness. Sanders, a master auto mechanic who can no longer
work, has not been able to obtain unemployment pay, military disability or
Social Security disability, and this has put a severe financial hardship on his
family.
Sanders is now seeking letters of support from veterans who have similar
symptoms and received the anthrax vaccine.
He’s asking that anyone with past military service with similar medical issues
fill out a Veterans Affairs Form No. 21-4138 — Statement in Support of Claim.
The form is available at www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/vba-21-4138.pdf.
Enough of those letters, according to Sanders and spokesmen for the military and
VA, might convince the VA hospital system that his condition is related to his
military service and open the door to receiving free health care from the VA
system, including the Mountain Home Medical Center in Johnson City.
Sanders is an ASA master technician, General Motors master technician and
Chrysler master technician.
“Days that I can do a little bit, I will,” Sanders said.
He has worked as a mechanic, for nine years at the old Sherwood Chevrolet in
Johnson City, about five years at Courtesy Chevrolet in Kingsport, and almost
four years at Carl Gregory Chrysler-Plymouth in Johnson City.
“You very seldom find somebody who would work as hard as he would,” said Keith
Cutshall, who has known Sanders for 14 years.
“He’s just a good person,” Cutshall said. “It’s just a shame to see him going
through this and can’t get any help.”
James Johnson, a serviceman at Carl Gregory who has known Sanders for 13 years
said, “He’s very meticulous. He’s always done top-quality work.”
“He would be working on a car, kind of get a dizzy feeling and go over to his
toolbox. The next thing you knew, he was sliding down his toolbox to the floor,”
Johnson said.
Sanders’ doctors ordered him to stop working Jan. 26.
A neurologist is trying to find out what is causing this latest round of
blackouts.
“The co-pays and deductibles we’ve been paying are overwhelming,” Sanders’ wife,
Paula, said.
Johnson said the physical toll, however, was even greater.
“You could watch him deteriorate over time. You could see it happen.”
High school sweethearts, Todd and Paula Sanders attended North High School. They
have been married 23 years and have a daughter, Tasha, who is a full-time
nursing student who works at Holston Valley Medical Center.
Paula Sanders has worked in the snack distribution business and now works for
Unilever in retail sales.
While Sanders believes he may have or be getting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis,
commonly called ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, at least he is still among the
living. The Internet is full of stories about Gulf War veterans who have died
well after the war.
“Everybody he tried to find in his brigade, either he can’t find them or they’re
dead,” Paula Sanders said.
Parallel stories told
Bill Robertson, one of Todd Sanders’ best Army buddies from Georgia who also
served in the 3rd Infantry Division during Desert Storm, is among those already
dead from what Sanders and others believe is Gulf War Syndrome. Sanders
contacted his friend about a year and a half ago.
“Every single symptom Bill Robertson had, my husband had — every single one,”
Paula Sanders said.
Robertson, who died in late December and had ALS, told Sanders he believed his
condition was caused by the anthrax vaccine.
“That’s what they figure with me — I’ve either got multiple sclerosis or ALS,”
Sanders said.
Robertson was deployed to Iraq, while Sanders stayed in Germany.
However, Sanders said both received the vaccine. He said they also were exposed
to depleted uranium the military used to strengthen armor, chemicals used by the
military and whatever else was in the environment of Iraq.
A recent study that received worldwide attention said that Iraqi munitions
American troops destroyed had sarin, a nerve gas that could be causing or
aggravating Gulf War Syndrome.
Sanders said he and Robertson may have gotten that exposure from military
vehicles — Robertson from serving in Iraq and Sanders in Germany from cleaning
vehicles used in Iraq.
But Sanders said he believes — and that Robertson believed — their condition was
caused by the anthrax vaccine, which made him sick and almost caused him to pass
out when he first received it.
Sanders said he believes the squalene — used to make the immune system quickly
develop immunity — in too large doses make the immune system attack itself. The
approval of that anthrax vaccine, which is no longer used, was expedited by the
Food and Drug Administration.
“I started getting insomnia, joint pain and soreness immediately,” Sanders said.
He continued his military service, started in 1987, until a discharge in 1992.
And although he had some times with few symptoms, he said his energy and
strength never went back to pre-vaccine levels.
Sanders was able to work for years, but he said things got quickly and
progressively worse starting in 2001. And he began having blackouts.
Stories nationwide and worldwide abound of veterans with similar health ills,
including British soldiers who report similar problems getting their government
to recognize the connection between their condition and military service.
But Paula Sanders said she and her husband take some comfort in the outcome of a
21-year-old soldier’s recent success in getting his heart problem disability —
and plans to install a pacemaker — recognized as service related by a military
discharge board.
David Brace, the 21-year-old soldier, received a newer anthrax vaccine that is
supposed to be safer.
The Brace and Sanders families, along with Dr. Meryle Nass of Bar Harbor, Maine,
have been communicating over the Internet about common threads in various cases
nationwide. Nass in late July testified at a hearing of the House Committee on
Veterans Affairs, Subcommittee on Health.
Nass said Gulf War Syndrome symptoms overlap closely with chronic fatigue
syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitivity and irritable bowel
syndrome.
Sanders said about 700,000 soldiers received the anthrax vaccine in the first
Gulf War, with more than 1 million receiving a later version of the anthrax
vaccine.
Nass said 200,000 “Gulf War I” veterans have chronic “Gulf War” illness related
to their deployment and cited a Washington Post article that said 199,000 Gulf
War veterans receive compensation for such illnesses. But Sanders is not among
the 199,000.
Sanders on a new mission
Blackouts or not, with the help of his wife, Todd Sanders’ new full-time mission
is trying to get the word out to other Gulf War veterans. And to get the support
letters from veterans who have similar symptoms and received the anthrax
vaccine.
But one problem that Sanders and others who served from 1987 to 1992 face is a
lack of medical records. Working through the office of U.S. Rep. David Davis,
R-1st District, Sanders was able to get copies of his military entry and exit
physical exams.
Everything else, including the record of his anthrax and other vaccines received
while in service, are gone. He said a VA official once told him they were
“inadvertently destroyed.”
In a nutshell, Washington, D.C.-based Veterans Affairs spokesman Jim Benson and
Northern Virginia-based Department of Defense spokesman Terry Jones said
veterans seeking full VA health care must show their injury, illness or
disability is connected to their military service.
They said the letters of support can help Sanders.
However, Benson and Jones also said they were not aware of a mass loss or
destroying of records from the Gulf War era, although Sanders said they have
been told by VA officials and others that medical records went missing for many
who served in the Gulf War.
As for Todd Sanders’ claim, Jones said he would contact folks in the DOD in an
attempt to help find Sanders’ medical records. And although he’s never met or
talked with Sanders, he did have a friend who served in the Gulf War.
“He said there was something to it,” Jones said of aftereffects of the war. “He
did eventually die.”
Cathy Brace, the mother of the 21-year-old veteran with heart problems, recently
wrote that the problem with vaccine records that do exist is that they bear the
date of when the vaccine was recorded, not when it was actually given, although
Jones said he never heard of that happening.
One other option to get some VA medical care is based on income levels, but the
Sanderses made too much last year. However, with Todd having almost no income
this year, Paula said he may be eligible next year. They have been turned down
twice this year and their appeal denied for income-based VA assistance.
Sanders plans for future
Sanders said if he can convince the federal government his condition is related
to his military service and get some civilian and/or military disability, his
goal is to work on behalf of other veterans with Gulf War Syndrome.
“Once we get ours done, I think we’ll be able to help people a whole lot,”
Sanders said.
Lori Cutshall, wife of Keith Cutshall and a friend of the Sanderses who attends
church with them at Christ Fellowship, has helped set up an account for
donations to help pay for his medical care.
Donations, which are tax deductible, can be sent to Christ Fellowship Church,
attention Melinda Williams, 260 Victory Lane, Kingsport, TN 37664. The memo line
of checks should be filled out “Todd and Paula Sanders.” For more information
call the church at 349-0600.
To contact Sanders call 247-1987 or e-mail schweinfurtautowerks@charter.net or
paula.sanders@lorwings.net.

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Excellent websites to reference:
Anthrax Vaccine Network
AnthraxVaccine.org
Major Sonnie Bates

http://www.life.com/Life/essay/gulfwar/gulf01.html.......don't
miss this..

Despite promises that hospitalizations after anthrax
vaccinations would be reported, the Pentagon withheld data on more than
20,000 cases.
Daily Press - Hampton Roads, Virginia
BY BOB EVANS
247-4758
December 4, 2005
First of four parts
http://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-71613sy0dec04,0,6004666.story?coll=dp-widget-news
bevans@dailypress.com 247-4758
The Pentagon never told Congress about more than 20,000 hospitalizations
involving troops who'd taken the anthrax vaccine, despite repeated promises
that such cases would be publicly disclosed.
Instead, a parade of generals and Defense Department officials told Congress
and the public that fewer than 100 people were hospitalized or became
seriously ill after receiving the shot from 1998 through 2000.
They also showed Congress written policies that required public reports to
be filed for hospitalizations, serious illnesses and cases where someone
missed 24 hours or more of duty.
But only a sliver of those cases were reported, while the rest were withheld
from Congress and the public, records obtained by the Daily Press show.
Critics of the vaccine, veterans' advocates and congressional staffers say
the Pentagon's deliberate low-balling of hospitalizations helped persuade
Congress and the public that the vaccine was safe.
Keeping the actual number of illnesses secret contributed to a shorter list
of government-recognized side effects for the drug, giving patients and
physicians a false idea of what might constitute a vaccine-related illness
or problem. Doctors are expected to know the full list of side effects and
alert federal drug safety officials whenever they see a repeat of those
symptoms.
Repeated evidence of the same adverse side effect after a vaccination is one
of the most telling signs of a systematic problem with a drug or vaccine, as
opposed to a coincidental relationship, vaccine safety experts say.
During the Daily Press' investigation of the vaccine and its effects, the
newspaper found three cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis - ALS, or Lou
Gehrig's disease - that the military hadn't reported. The disease destroys
muscles and nerves, is always fatal and rarely hits people younger than 45.
One of the three cases involves Navy Capt. Denis Army of Virginia Beach.
Army died in 2000, after developing symptoms less than a week after his
first anthrax vaccination - and a few days before his 45th birthday. His
widow filed the first public acknowledgement of his death and its temporal
connection to the vaccine this year. That occurred after she talked to a
Daily Press reporter and learned that she could file a report with the
federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, or VAERS.
SAILOR'S DEATH NOT REPORTED BY MILITARY
Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Kristin Shemeley died of ALS in 2001, at 29.
Her symptoms began about two months after her third shot, a sworn legal
document detailing her illness says.
Before Shemeley died, she spent 14 months in Walter Reed Army Medical Center
in Washington, where she was regularly visited by high-ranking military
officers, said her mother, Ginger Shemeley of Quakertown, Pa. She says her
daughter repeatedly told those generals and admirals that she was suffering
because of the vaccine and even pleaded with one of them to stop giving it
to troops. Several of those generals and admirals had promised Congress that
such cases would be publicly reported to VAERS.
The military never filed a VAERS report on Kristin Shemeley. Ginger Shemeley
filed one after her daughter died.
Col. John Grabenstein, director of the military's vaccine agency, said no
one from the military intentionally misled Congress or the public. He said
the 20,765 hospitalizations merely followed vaccinations in time, without
documented proof of a cause-and-effect relationship.
He said a statistical analysis showed that those who'd been vaccinated
weren't more likely to be hospitalized or likely to seek medical treatment
than those in the military who hadn't been vaccinated from 1998 through
2000.
Some medical experts say this approach doesn't adequately address the
problems of many people who report illnesses after anthrax vaccination.
That's because the approach is limited to comparing rates of illness
involving one symptom or disease - instead of the complex combination of
symptoms and illnesses that many veterans report after getting their shots.
The data that the Daily Press used to document the underreporting of
hospitalizations came from a report that Grabenstein supplied in response to
the newspaper's request. It's never been made public until today.
It covers 1998 through 2000, when the Pentagon did detailed evaluations
every three months to compare hospitalizations, clinic visits and medical
treatment data for those who'd been vaccinated, compared with troops who
hadn't. This quarterly analysis stopped and hasn't been done since,
Grabenstein said.
The practice of not reporting all hospitalizations continues.
Quarterly analysis of the vaccine's effects ended just as the nation's only
manufacturing site for the drug regained its license. That was in 2002,
after federal inspections found many safety and other problems that prompted
a shutdown and renovation that began in early 1998.
The company's current manufacturing techniques provide greater potency
compared with earlier versions of the drug, said the Government
Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm. The manufacturer,
BioPort Inc., says there's no difference in the drug made since 2002 that
might cause health problems.
TOP GENERAL NOT TOLD MONITORING TO END
The decision to discontinue the quarterly health monitoring program means
that the biggest gap in research about the vaccine remains: There are no
systematic long-term studies of the health of those who've taken the drug.
Most studies that the Pentagon cites as support for the vaccine's safety
involve monitoring that lasted days to a few months.
None lasted as long as five years, the minimum length of time recommended by
a nationally recognized panel of scientists assembled by the Institute of
Medicine in 2002. The institute is a nonprofit organization that provides
expert advice to Congress and other government agencies.
After the quarterly reviews of the vaccine's effects stopped, more than a
million troops were forced to take the vaccine - until a federal judge ruled
last year that the drug had never been adequately licensed for protection
against anthrax use in warfare.
He ordered the military to make vaccination voluntary. The Pentagon is
appealing that ruling. Lawyers argued the case Thursday, and a decision is
expected by February.
VACCINE MONITORING STILL IMPORTANT
Grabenstein said he decided to halt the quarterly studies after consulting
the chairman of the Institute of Medicine panel and its staff, and with
doctors affiliated with the military. He acknowledged that he didn't consult
the general who ultimately was responsible for the anthrax program.
The chairman of the institute panel, Brian Strom, said he didn't recall what
was discussed at the time about the quarterly reports. But he said, "I think
they should continue to be using it," in case there's a problem.
Another panel member, Linda Cowan, said she's sure the committee expected
quarterly reviews to continue and pointed to a number of the panel's
recommendations and findings that she said clearly contradicted
Grabenstein's interpretation of its report.
Strom and Cowan emphasized that they thought the vaccine was still safe.
Beth Clay isn't so sure. She directed the staff of Congress' House
Government Reform Committee investigation into the anthrax vaccine from 1998
to 2001. She continued working on the subject as a congressional staff
member through 2003, after her Republican boss was no longer chairman of the
committee.
Clay said the military's decision not to report all the hospitalizations
gave the public and Congress a rosier picture of the vaccine than it
deserved.
"We were never given this data," she said. "Had we seen this, the committee
would have had significant questions" and would have demanded more
information about the program.
After reviewing the report obtained by the Daily Press, Clay said it raised
several questions about the vaccine's safety. She said Congress was never
told about the detailed level of data in the report but was assured regular
monitoring of the vaccine and its health effects would continue.
Terminating the quarterly reviews would seem to break those promises, she
said. "It's just appalling that they didn't keep up with this," she said.
LINK BETWEEN VACCINE, HOSPITALIZATIONS?
Steve Robinson is executive director of the National Gulf War Resource
Center, a lobbying and advocacy group for veterans. He said he was stunned
when he learned that the reviews had stopped: "They track the flu vaccine
and not the anthrax vaccine, which is totally crazy to me."
He said discovery of the hospitalization data showed that the Pentagon
couldn't be trusted to monitor the vaccine's safety.
"You can't let Enron investigate Enron, and you can't let DOD (the
Department of Defense) investigate DOD," he said. "We work with the people
who have been hurt by this vaccine every day."
No one knows how many, or how few, of the 20,765 hospitalizations are
directly attributable to the vaccine. Ruling out certain illnesses, such as
broken bones or injuries from falls or other accidents, might appear a safe
bet. But military doctors have documented cases where broken bones and other
injuries from falling were the result of vaccine-induced loss of
consciousness affecting the nervous system - sometimes beginning months
after vaccination.
The difficulty of figuring out what's related and what isn't is why safety
officials encourage people to file reports even if they're not sure.
WHY PENTAGON DIDN'T FILE HOSPITAL REPORTS
Still, medical experts consulted by the Daily Press said it's unlikely that
the vast majority of the 20,765 hospitalizations resulted from the vaccine.
They said that if all hospitalizations had been filed with VAERS, it would
have overloaded the system and caused problems for experts trying to analyze
the data.
Grabenstein said those were among the reasons that the full number of
hospitalizations was not reported. Another reason, he said, was that
examinations of the data showed that if there were adverse effects from the
vaccine, they were so infrequent, they weren't detectable by statistical
analysis. Doing this type of analysis - instead of simply reporting the
incidents to VAERS - provided a more definitive look at the health effects
of the vaccine, he said. As a result, "we decided not to file" public
reports about all hospitalizations, he said.
Those considerations weren't relayed to Congress or the public.
During the years covered by the hospitalization report obtained by the Daily
Press, dozens of sick veterans who'd received the shot went to Capitol Hill,
complaining of various health problems. Some got the shot for the 1991
Persian Gulf War, in which the vaccine had its first widespread use. Others
were members of the military forced to take the shots under a mandatory
program that began in 1998.
Their complaints had common themes: Fatigue. Chronic pain in joints and
other symptoms of arthritis. Tingling in their feet, arms and hands. Mental
lapses. Often, more than one of the symptoms were present, making diagnoses
difficult.
Sympathetic doctors testified that these complaints were indicative of
autoimmune problems, in which the body's natural protective mechanisms go
haywire and start attacking healthy cells and tissue. The doctors said that
could result if the vaccine overstimulated the vets' immune systems. The
vaccine primes the system to develop protection against anthrax.
Bewildered and sometimes-angry members of Congress asked how many vets were
affected. Pentagon doctors and generals used the cases reported to VAERS -
fewer than 100 hospitalizations or other "serious events" from 1998 to 2000
- or said the number was so small, it couldn't be detected.
VACCINE REPORTS ARE FIRST LINE OF DEFENSE
The two sets of numbers for how many hospitalizations followed the shot come
from a comparison of two sets of data kept by three federal agencies.
The Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention maintain the only database open to public inspection, VAERS.
VAERS is the nation's first line of defense in identifying possible problems
with vaccines after they've been licensed, said Susan Ellenberg, who led the
FDA's efforts to monitor vaccine safety from 1993 to 2004.
During congressional testimony before the House Government Reform
Committee's Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and
International Relations in July 1999, Ellenberg explained how and why the
system worked.
VAERS was established to help identify and head off problems once a vaccine
is licensed and more people are taking it, she said. The few hundred people
typically involved in vaccine or drug testing and licensing trials can't
mimic the diversity of age, race, gender and other biologic variables
encountered once the vaccine gets widespread public use, she explained.
Reports to VAERS by civilian doctors and hospitals are mostly voluntary,
based on suspicion of a connection between an illness or injury and a
vaccination, Ellenberg told Congress.
Doctors and others are encouraged to file a report, known as a VAERS-1, even
when they aren't sure there's a cause and effect, she said. That's because
VAERS requires as many reports of problems as possible, so experts can
identify possible patterns and investigate further, she said.
GENERALS' TESTIMONY PROMISED REPORTS
During the same congressional hearing, Lt. Gen. G. Robert Claypool - then
the deputy assistant secretary of defense for health operations policy -
assured Congress that military doctors, hospitals and medical officials were
filing VAERS-1 forms, too.
And, he said, they were expected to report even more cases than civilians -
including all hospitalizations.
"The duty to report adverse medication events has been codified for many
years," Claypool testified. "The joint regulation requires submission of a
form VAERS-1 for all adverse events resulting in more than 24 hours of lost
duty time or any period of hospitalization. These requirements represent a
higher standard than in comparable civilian community health care settings."
There was no mention that the word "all" didn't mean all hospitalizations.
Two months later, Lt. Gen. Ronald R. Blanck, then the Army's surgeon general
and the top Pentagon official responsible for the anthrax vaccine program
from 1998 to 2000, gave similar assurances to Congress.
He said, "We have a reporting system that when either of those two criteria
are met, that is, either a patient is hospitalized following an anthrax
immunization or misses duty because of it for greater than 24 hours, we have
an active reporting system. That must be reported to us. We, in turn, report
it to the Food and Drug Administration, and they have a group that reviews
those reactions."
Clay and other congressional aides say these assurances came in private,
too. "We had lengthy conversations that they were supposed to report," she
said.
But the numbers reported were very low. And the Pentagon stuck with them for
years to persuade the public that the shot was safe.
In December 2003, Pentagon officials conducted a news conference to rebut a
judge's ruling that the shots had been given illegally and that troops had
been used as "guinea pigs." Grabenstein was asked whether he had "any data
on the numbers of people who have had bad adverse reactions to the vaccine
and would have required hospitalization."
He said that only 69 hospitalizations had been reported to VAERS for the
anthrax vaccine from 1998 through 2000. A panel of civilian experts had
analyzed each, he said, and decided that 11 were results of the shot. The 69
cases were "a complete, exhaustive list of what was reported," Grabenstein
said.
Grabenstein told the Daily Press that his statement wasn't misleading. He
said no one should expect all hospitalizations after vaccination to be
reported to VAERS - despite the Pentagon's written policies - because the
number included cases unrelated to the vaccine, sometimes years after
vaccination.
He said, "The simple answer is it's so obvious, it's never appeared in the
memo."
NO EXCEPTIONS NOTED IN POLICY MEMOS
The memo, "Policy for Reporting Adverse Events Associated With the Anthrax
Vaccine," serves as the standing order for all military personnel. It reads:
"For the purposes of reporting anthrax vaccine adverse events, a Form
VAERS-1 must be completed and submitted using service reporting procedures
for those events resulting in a hospital admission or time lost from duty
for greater than 24 hours or for those events suspected to have resulted
from contamination of a vaccine lot."
The memo lists additional circumstances requiring a report, but nothing that
would permit excluding hospitalizations after vaccination. It refers to the
Pentagon's formal regulations, which don't include the exclusions that
Grabenstein cited.
The data on all hospitalizations after anthrax vaccination comes from the
Pentagon's Defense Medical Surveillance System, or DMSS. This computerized
tracking system pulls medical records for every shot, clinic visit,
hospitalization or other instance of medical treatment for active-duty
military personnel.
Experts in health care and statistics say it's one of the most important
medical databases in the world. That's because of its precision, its
millions of patients, and the diversity of drugs and vaccines used by the
armed forces. By design, it's more complete and accurate than VAERS. Unlike
VAERS, its data isn't open to the public.
EXPERTS: NO EXCUSE FOR SECRET DATA
The Institute of Medicine report that Grabenstein cited as supporting the
vaccine's safety and his decision to end the quarterly monitoring program
also says the DMSS database should be open to researchers outside the
government, with precautions to protect the privacy of individuals' health
records.
This hasn't been done. Grabenstein said the military had not been able to
figure out how to protect individuals' health records and make it work.
Strom of the institute panel and other experts say it should not be that
difficult. "There's no excuse," he said. "We use these kinds of data sets in
Medicaid and Medicare data all the time. There are technological solutions."
Cowan, another member of the panel, said the institute's recommendation was
based, in part, on the military saying it couldn't afford all the analysis
that the data was good for: "That way, you get the most of what the American
people have invested in."
Strom said keeping the data from the public only bolstered the perception
that the military was hiding the truth about the vaccine.
Walter Schumm is a professor of family studies and an expert on statistical
methods at Kansas State University. He said he and other researchers would
love to get the DMSS data. He's a retired Army colonel who's spent more than
a decade using statistical analysis to examine the vaccine's safety - after
friends and others in uniform began complaining about health problems after
the shots.
Schumm has used other data made public on the anthrax vaccine to publish
several scientific papers that poke holes in the safety assertions made by
Pentagon doctors and researchers.
Good science involves people with different approaches to the same problem
having a chance to test their theories, Schumm and others say. Their
findings might cement the safety assertions, he said, but no one knows for
sure until the military loosens its hold on the facts and data.
He said, "If you let independent people have the data, you risk losing
control. In combat, letting things get out of control gets people killed, so
loss of control is a very sensitive issue. I'm just sure they're trying to
protect their program."

Victims of vaccine?
N.C. troops say military program is unsafe
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/9763416.htm?1c
ELIZABETH LELAND
Charlotte Observer
Sun, Sep. 26, 2004
Two days after a military nurse injected Lavester Brown with the anthrax
vaccine at Pope Air Force Base near Fayetteville, his heart failed. Brown
was 34, an avid athlete, career military. Doctors had warned him to
avoid vaccinations, he said, because of a reaction to a malaria drug in
the early '90s. But when Brown told superiors, he said, they warned he
could be kicked out of the military if he didn't get vaccinated for
anthrax.
Brown was afraid: of the vaccine, of losing his job. He had a wife and
four young children to support.
"I kept telling them, `I can't take the shot.' "
The vaccination is mandatory, part of the military's war on terrorism.
Brown had been in the Air Force 14 years and was trained to follow
orders. So when a commander, a major, a captain and a first sergeant all
ordered him to be vaccinated, Brown, a technical sergeant, rolled up his
sleeve and took the jab.
He is now awaiting a heart transplant.
Thousands of soldiers have suffered unexplained illnesses after getting
the anthrax vaccine, ranging from muscle aches to death. The federal Food
and Drug Administration says the vaccine has no more side effects than
other vaccines, but cases like Lavester Brown's raise troubling
questions:
Is the vaccination safe?
Should the military require troops to take it?
There was concern about the anthrax vaccine long before the threat of
global terrorism.
In the 1990s, the FDA found problems with quality control procedures at
the only U.S. company that makes the vaccine, then owned by the state of
Michigan. The FDA warned that if the problems were not corrected, the
company could lose its license. The state halted production in 1998 and
began renovations, then sold the plant to BioPort.
After terrorists hijacked planes on Sept. 11, 2001, and anthrax-laced
letters killed five people and infected at least 13 others, demand for a
vaccine erupted. In January 2002, the FDA gave BioPort approval to
distribute its vaccine to the military. The FDA and the Department of
Defense and BioPort all say the vaccine is safe. A vocal group of current
and former military personnel, doctors and members of Congress claims it
is not. Three lawsuits challenging the vaccine are now in federal court.
To the emergency room
Brown knew nothing of the controversy on Friday, Feb. 27, when he got the
fourth in a series of six anthrax shots.He rarely got sick, not even a
cold. He didn't drink. He didn't smoke. He stood 5 feet 11 1/2 inches and
weighed 207 pounds, but so much was muscle, he looked lean. The day after
the fourth anthrax shot, Saturday morning, he played basketball at the
gym as usual but quickly tired. He went to the emergency room that night,
he said, and a military doctor diagnosed a gastrointestinal infection.
By Sunday, he felt as if his body was filling up with fluid. The muscles
in his neck throbbed and bulged. He had trouble breathing. Back at the
emergency room that night, he said, a doctor again diagnosed
gastrointestinal infection. Something else is happening, Brown remembers
saying. I can't breathe.
He said his wife, Ebony, insisted on X-rays. "When they looked at the
X-rays," Brown recalled, "the doctor got this look on his face. I knew
something was terribly wrong." Brown said his heart was so
enlarged, it had almost stopped pumping. He now takes medication to keep
it beating until a transplant becomes available. He has dropped to 151
pounds, and walking only a few feet exhausts him. Friday, he was
medically retired from the Air Force.
Before he got sick, Brown sometimes worked two jobs to provide for Ebony
and their four children, ages 5 to 12. Now Ebony works and the children
help care for him, and that's been a tough transition. "I wish we had
done our homework before Lavester got in line (for the vaccine)," Ebony
said. "We trusted the military."
Mandatory shots
Until recently, anthrax had been considered primarily a livestock
disease. People can be infected in three ways -- through skin contact, by
eating infected meat or by breathing airborne spores -- but it's rare.
The military became convinced that Iraq had developed biological weapons,
including anthrax, and might pack its Scud missiles with the deadly
bacteria. Nearly everyone who inhales anthrax dies if not treated.
In 1998, the Defense Department made vaccinations mandatory.
Since then, about 1.2 million military personnel have received the
vaccine, six doses over 18 months, followed by yearly boosters. (Several
hundred thousand, a Pentagon spokesman said, got the vaccine during the
1991 Persian Gulf War.)
Out of 4.7 million doses given since 1998, the government says it has
received 3,817 reports of adverse reactions, from headache, fatigue and
fever to cancer, cardiac arrest and autoimmune diseases. The reaction
rate, the government says, is about the same as for other adult
vaccinations.
Studies have reached conflicting conclusions.
The Pentagon cites a 2002 report by the Institute of Medicine, a private,
nonprofit scientific group, that said a better vaccine is needed, but
that the current vaccine is "acceptably safe and effective." Other
studies link the anthrax vaccine to Gulf War illness, a medically
unexplained fatigue suffered by veterans of the first Gulf War. One study
found more adverse reactions to the anthrax vaccine than to other
vaccines, and urged doctors to report all reactions so the scope of the
problem could be determined.
Many cases, critics say, still go unreported.
Dead at 29
Christine Nilson, who lives in Wilmington, hadn't heard about the
controversy over the anthrax vaccine until after her husband, Erik,
died.Now she's convinced it killed him. Erik Nilson flew CH-46
helicopters for the Marine Corps and was vaccinated twice, before two
separate six-month deployments to the Mediterranean.
Soon after he came home for the second time, in October 2001, Christine
noticed the whites of his eyes had yellowed. Doctors at Walter Reed Army
Medical Center in Washington discovered bile duct cancer, a slow-moving,
usually fatal cancer that most often attacks people over 60.
Nilson was 29 and had a 2-year-old son, Luke.
He was, Christine said, "a man's man," who loved hunting, fishing and the
Marines. He had had a rough childhood, she said, and often told her he
wanted nothing more than to be a good father.
Six months after the cancer was discovered, Erik Nilson died.
Christine Nilson said no one from the military ever mentioned a possible
connection with the anthrax vaccine. The national Vaccine Adverse Events
Reporting System has no record of Nilson's death.
But the more Christine Nilson read, the more she believed there was a
connection.
"There is," she said, "no other explanation for it."
Rapid-acting diseases
Other service members have died of rapid-acting diseases after getting
the vaccine, including Army cook Sandra Larson of Kansas. Four weeks
after her sixth anthrax shot, she was diagnosed with aplastic anemia, a
rare disorder resulting from failure of bone marrow to produce blood
cells.
She died two months later. She was 32.
The package insert on the vaccine, approved by the FDA in 2002, cites her
death and the deaths of five other vaccinated military members. But a
panel of civilian doctors concluded that none of the deaths was related
to the vaccine.
The Pentagon has linked only one death to the vaccine: Rachel Lacy, a
22-year-old Army reservist, who died in April 2003 of a pneumonia-like
illness after receiving five vaccines, including anthrax. The Pentagon
said
the vaccines may have triggered the illness that led to her death, but
that "the evidence was not conclusive."
Critics say the government is stonewalling the way it did with the
herbicide Agent Orange in the Vietnam War and with Gulf War illness.
"The first thing they do is fight, deny, obfuscate ...," said Steve
Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center, an
advocacy group for veterans. "Meanwhile people are getting sick." About
10,000 Vietnam veterans receive disability benefits because of exposure
to Agent Orange, and tens of thousands of others suffer illnesses. An
estimated 100,000 Gulf War veterans suffer a range of symptoms, including
memory and thinking problems, fatigue, joint pain, depression, anxiety,
insomnia, headaches and rashes.
No proof, no medical help
Robinson said he has spoken with hundreds of veterans who said they had
adverse reactions to the anthrax vaccine, but they can't prove it and are
not getting the medical help they need. They complain of chronic fatigue,
bone and muscle pain, migraine headaches, short-term memory loss and
cognitive impairment."While anthrax is a threat," Robinson said, "the
American public, much less the military, should not be given an inferior
vaccine."
Meryl Nass, an internist in Bar Harbor, Maine, who has testified before
Congress about the vaccine, said she has treated dozens of soldiers and
corresponded with thousands more.
"I've seen so many people with the exact same thing, the same story," she
said. "They can't think straight. They have pain in different parts of
their bodies ... and they're fatigued." Usually, she said, they have
something else wrong, too: multiple sclerosis or lupus or a sleep
disorder.
As a doctor, Nass said, the last few years have been an emotional roller
coaster "watching 1 million be vaccinated when I knew at 100,000 what was
happening."
Forced vaccinations
In federal court, two lawsuits are pending against BioPort, a third
against the Food and Drug Administration, the Defense Department and the
Department of Health and Human Services.
The lawsuits challenge whether the vaccine is safe, effective, even
necessary.
On Dec. 22, 2003, U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan in Washington, D.C.,
blocked the Pentagon from forcing soldiers to get vaccinated. He ruled
that the FDA had never approved the vaccine for use against inhaled
anthrax. The military, he said, could not make troops "serve as guinea
pigs for experimental drugs."
Eight days later, the FDA approved the vaccine against inhaled anthrax.
Although Sullivan called the timing of the order "highly suspicious," he
lifted his injunction.
The military once again ordered vaccination.
Refusal, court-martial
As many as 500 active-duty personnel have been dismissed from the
military for refusing vaccination, according to congressional testimony.
At least 100 have been court-martialed.Tom Kaufmann, an airman first
class at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, refused to be
vaccinated in December 2002.
He had read about problems at the manufacturing plant, he said, as well
as about illnesses among people who got the vaccine. Kaufmann, now 22,
was demoted, then discharged under "conditions other than
honorable."
"My first sergeant repeatedly called me a coward, saying I was afraid of
war, afraid of serving my country," Kaufmann recalled. "I told them that
I wanted to deploy. I wasn't against the war."
He was, he said, only against the vaccine.
. Anthrax comes from the Greek word for "coal" because infected skin
forms ugly black lesions. . The rod-like bacteria were discovered in the
19th century. Louis Pasteur created the first vaccine in 1881. . Anthrax
spores can live in soil for decades. People contract the disease in three
ways: through skin contact, eating infected meat or breathing airborne
spores.
Most Common Adverse Reactions
erythema, headache, arthralgia, fatigue, fever, peripheral swelling,
pruritus, nausea, injection site edema, pain/tenderness and dizziness.
Less Frequent Adverse Reactions
cellulitis, cysts, pemphigus vulgaris, endocarditis, sepsis, angioedema
and other hypersensitivity reactions, asthma, aplastic anemia,
neutropenia, idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura, lymphoma, leukemia,
collagen vascular disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple
sclerosis, polyarteritis nodosa, inflammatory arthritis, transverse
myelitis, Guillain-Barré syndrome, immune deficiency, seizure, mental
status changes, psychiatric disorders, tremors, cerebrovascular accident
(CVA), facial palsy, hearing and visual disorders, aseptic meningitis,
encephalitis, myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation, syncope,
glomerulonephritis, renal failure, spontaneous abortion and liver
abscess. Infrequent reports were also received of multisystem disorders
defined as chronic symptoms involving at least two of the following three
categories: fatigue, mood-cognition, musculoskeletal system.
Fatalities
cardiac arrest (2), myocardial infarction with polyarteritis nodosa
(1),aplastic anemia (1), suicide (1) and central nervous system lymphoma
(1)
SOURCE: FDA-approved package insert for anthrax vaccine
Elizabeth Leland: (704) 358-5074; eleland@charlotteobserver.com.
Other recent articles:
The shots of war
http://www.sptimes.com/2004/09/17/Floridian/The_shots_of_war.shtml
"Cristina Kutz thinks the anthrax vaccinations that she and other troops
must undergo devastated her health. Her complaints are not unique, but
doctors don't back her up."
By SUSAN ASCHOFF, Times Staff Writer, Published September 17, 2004

Mon May 21, 2007 8:34 am (PST)
Report: Thousands of Soldiers Sickened by Vaccine
A U.S. military health officer says thousands of U.S. troops have had
severe reactions to some of the vaccines they received before going
overseas — and the Pentagon is covering up the problem.
Symptoms range from joint aches and pains — to death, according to the
officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to protect his
job.
One victim is former Marine Lance Corporal David Fey of Clermont County,
Ohio, TV station WLWT in Cincinnati reported.
Fey said that on Nov. 28, 2005, he was one of a group of Marines who lined
up for an undisclosed injection.
After receiving the shot, Fey gained 30 pounds of water, his eyes swelled
up, and he developed a rash on his hand, he told WLWT.
He wound up in a hospital back in Ohio, close to death from kidney
failure. He survived, but says he is still in pain and awaits a kidney
transplant.
Fey’s mom Cindy began examining her son’s medical records, and she said
the shot he received was not listed in the records. The military claimed
he never received a shot.
Eleven months later, those records were changed, with a handwritten note
stating that the shot was a flu vaccine.
The military health officer said the number of troops who have gotten sick
after receiving vaccines is in the thousands, and he believes U.S. troops
are receiving experimental vaccines.
The Defense Department insists that the vaccines given to the troops are
safe.
But the officer told WLWT: “This is the worst cover-up in the history of
the military. When the issue of the use of the vaccine comes out, I
believe it will make the Walter Reed scandal pale in comparison.”
Editor's Note:
a.. Doctor Warns of the Hidden Dangers of Vaccines.

Vaccine survey shows trouble at DAFB
Review of data shows those who got anthrax shot at Dover were more likely
to fall ill
By HIRAN RATNAYAKE and LEE WILLIAMS / The News Journal
10/19/2004
http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/10/19vaccinesurveysh.html

www.milvacs.org
Take the time to visit this website. This touching poem reveals the heart of
website.
We will not desert you.
You, who have donned the uniform of our country and pledged your life to
defend us,
We pledge to defend you with our honor, our work, the sweat of our brows,
Until you are no longer a medical experiment;
Until your pain is treated, and treated correctly;
Until your voice is heard and you are no longer ignored;
Until your sacrifices are recognized and you no longer have to defend
yourself against your own government.
You do us honor in the face of those who would shame you.
We will walk with you.
We will not desert you.

http://www.channel4.com/apps26/news/news_story.jsp?storyId=851048
Squalene found in Anthrax vaccine
Breaking News: Britain
Published: 17-Mar-03; 03:23
By: ITN
Samples of anthrax vaccine have been found to contain a banned substance
which could threaten troops' health.

Nov 25 2002
http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0100local/page.cfm?objectid=1240
1732&method=full&siteid=50081
By The Journal
Army veterans have branded a new report into Gulf War Syndrome commissioned
by military top brass a "whitewash" after it said exposure to noxious
chemicals was not the cause of their illnesses. The report, produced by the
Government-backed Gulf War Illness Research Unit (GWIRU), concluded that
health problems reported by veterans could not be blamed on vaccines used
during the 1991 war, as some had claimed. The findings were last night
greeted with anger by Shaun Rusling, North-based chairman of the National
Gulf Veterans' Association, who said the report lacked both impartiality and
credibility.
Many Gulf War Syndrome sufferers, backed by alternative academic research,
believe that their condition is related to the use of organophosphates in
insect repellent issued to soldiers fighting in Iraq and Kuwait. Others have
linked the symptoms - which include muscle fatigue, loss of co-ordination
and even problems encountered by sufferers of autism - to the use of
vaccines and even the depleted uranium ammunition during the conflict. The
Journal-backed campaign for justice for sufferers has now been running for
almost a decade.
The MoD funded the latest research, carried out at Guy's, King's and St
Thomas's Joint School of Medicine in London, in what they say was the most
intensive neurological study of Gulf War soldiers in Britain to date.
Forty-nine veterans with neurological symptoms - national estimates say a
total of 35,000 are suffering some sort of illness - were given exhaustive
medical examinations, alongside a further 29 who had experienced no
problems. The results were then compared to servicemen who had fought in
Bosnia, as well as other personnel.
While the research team found there was no evidence that Gulf War veterans'
symptoms were linked to brain damage, they did agree that their general
health was poorer than that found in other groups of soldiers. That, says Mr
Rusling, who served as a medic during the Gulf War, is a complete
contradiction. "This is not surprising, given that the paper was funded by
the MoD. Veterans were exposed to low level radiation, classified vaccines
and anti-nerve gas pills in the Gulf. "This has become a national disgrace,
but the more the MoD tries to hide this away, the more they will be
disbelieved. "All these desperately ill servicemen can't be wrong, but the
MoD seems to be well and truly above the law."
But Professor Simon Wessely, who co-authored the report, said it was now
clear that the health effects plaguing many of those who served in Operation
Desert Storm was not associated with the brain or nervous system. "There is
no smoking gun," he said. "There is no new disease that causes Gulf War
Syndrome. There is a Gulf War health effect."
However, Malcolm Hooper, Emeritus Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at
Sunderland University who has advised several veteran's groups, also claims
the findings are seriously flawed. He believes the problems stem from damage
to the central nervous system. "For this survey not to find any evidence of
neurological damage makes me very suspicious," he said. "I find this
research unpersuasive and statistically insignificant." A spokesman for the
Ministry of Defence said: "We note that the authors found no evidence for a
specific neuro-muscular disorder that could be linked to deployment in the
Gulf conflict. This should reassure all veterans.".

VOLUME 38, NO. 34, September 24, 2002
Gulf War syndrome linked to anthrax vaccine
http://www.medicalpost.com/mdlink/english/members/medpost/data/3834/57A.HTM
By Pam Harrison
NEW ORLEANS - Symptoms of the elusive Gulf War Syndrome have now been linked
to antibodies that target squalene, an experimental adjuvant used in some
batches of anthrax vaccine received by 2.4 million U.S. military personnel
as protection against the threat of bioterrorism.
Dr. Pamela Asa and colleagues from the Tulane University medical school
here examined the association between symptoms of the syndrome and the
anthrax vaccine used during the Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program (AVIP)
initiated by the U.S. government in 1997. Researchers initially
tested serum samples from six anthrax vaccine recipients and all six
tested positive for anti-squalene antibodies. They then tested sera from
25 vaccine recipients and 19 controls who had not received the vaccine.
Thirty-two per cent tested positive for anti-squalene antibodies compared
with 16% of controls. However, when researchers divided recipients into
groups according to the lot of vaccine received, they found four lots of
vaccine had been given to 17 of the 25, and in this group, eight subjects
or 47% tested positive for anti-squalene antibodies.
None of the recipients who had received the vaccine from any other lot
used during the AVIP campaign tested positive, a significant difference
between the two groups despite the small number of samples tested,
researchers note. Results of the study were reported in Experimental and
Molecular Pathology. "Our testing for anti-squalene antibodies in persons
receiving anthrax immunization as part of AVIP identified many
antibody-positive individuals," researchers write. This is in contrast to
the absence of anti-squalene antibodies observed in sera collected prior
to immunization, they add. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration
dismissed the amount of squalene found in certain lots of the anthrax
vaccine as being too low to have an immunological effect.
But the immune system is "exquisitely sensitive to small quantities of
antigen" and no lower safety limits have been set for squalene when used
as an adjuvant in a vaccine. Symptoms of the syndrome include joint and
muscle pain, dizziness, chronic headaches, low-grade fevers and memory
loss.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7-492718,00.html
The needle and the damage done
By Tim Reid
London Times
26 November 2002
Hundreds of American soldiers have suffered serious illness after being
compulsorily injected with a controversial Anthrax vaccine, a batch of which
has been found to be contaminated
ON THE MORNING of December 17, 1998, Ronda Wilson, a supremely fit,
strikingly beautiful American helicopter gunship pilot, was heading for
military stardom. Just 21 and the only woman in her squadron, she had
recently defeated her 63 male fellow pilots to earn the coveted Top Gun
award in her first gunnery flight test. She was without peer in her cavalry
unit, so skilled at handling the OH-58 Delta Warrior, armed with Hellfire
missiles and .50-calibre machine guns, that she was described by her
commanding officer as “one of the most outstanding pilots of her
generation”.
On that morning, at Fort Stewart, Georgia, she received a routine order that
was ultimately to destroy her faith in the military family and American
government which she loved beyond question, and which she says “I was
willing to die for”. She was told to “go get your jabs”.
She was never told what the injection was for, and felt no need to ask. It
was, she later discovered, the first in a six-dose course of anthrax
vaccination. It was the moment she became part of the US government’s
compulsory, highly ambitious anthrax vaccination programme for all 2.4
million of its military personnel; the project was authorised by President
Clinton himself, it had begun eight months before, and it was halted 18
months later amid damning congressional verdicts, lawsuits and accusations
of a top-level cover-up.
There were many things Wilson was not told about the 0.5ml phial of milky
liquid that was being injected into her arm. It was manufactured by a
company that today, after a new lease of life for the vaccination programme,
has begun to distribute millions of doses to immunise “high-risk” US troops
heading to the Persian Gulf for an attack on Iraq. (British soldiers will
not be immunised with this vaccine, but with a home-grown version, produced
at Porton Down).
Critics of the vaccine, who include congressmen, senior military officers
and more than 450 American servicemen who have been court-martialled or
forced to leave the military for refusing to take it, say its ability to
combat inhalation anthrax has never been proven and it has never been tested
on humans; it has never been licensed to combat inhalation anthrax; and its
long term effects have never been known. Those claims are supported by a
congressional committee which issued a scathing and alarming report into the
efficacy and supervision of the vaccine, and the immunisation programme, in
April 2000.
Its critics also claim it is being forced on the country’s soldiers as part
of a politically-inspired attempt to persuade the American public that an
effective vaccine against an anthrax terror attack exists, and that its
soldiers are safe from Saddam Hussein’s chemical and biological arsenal.
The Pentagon, and BioPort, the manufacturer, together with the Food and Drug
Administration, which licenses US drugs, fiercely deny these claims. The
Times has looked at thousands of pages of government, FDA, Army,
congressional and medical reports stretching back 30 years. The
extraordinary story of this anthrax vaccine, suddenly thrust on to centre
stage in a new age of global terror, is one of high-level politics, furious
scientific dispute, big business and great controversy.
One thing is certain — this vaccine has a history. Questions persist on two
levels: the ability of the company that manufactures it to produce it
safely, and the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine itself. There is
testimony and documentation that raise the question of why the American
military establishment and successive White House administrations have
persisted with a company and a vaccine that by their own admission have
suffered problems. It is a history that the hundreds of thousands of US
troops about to receive the compulsory immunisation, and who have no right
to refuse it, are not being told about.
Of all the things Wilson was not told about her first jab, perhaps the most
crucial was this: that 10 months earlier, in February 1998, after an
inspection of the Michigan laboratory that manufactures the vaccine, the
plant had its authority to make the vaccine suspended by the FDA.
The inspection followed five years of warning letters citing concerns over
the plant’s record-keeping and violations in safety, potency consistency and
sterility. The February 1998 FDA report, which effectively prevented the
plant from manufacturing fresh supplies of the vaccine for three years, and
a copy of which has been obtained by The Times, is damning. The 95-page
report found lots of the vaccine contaminated, a filtration process not
authorised by the FDA, problems with cleanliness and the sterility of
equipment and a failure to ensure a uniform potency of the drug.
“The firm routinely redates Anthrax Vaccine lots that have reached their
labelled expiration date,” the report says. And it states: “Lot FAV036 was
at room temperature for 20 hours, the filling operation was aborted, it was
placed back in the refrigerator.” According to military records it was a
dose from Lot FAV036 that was given to Wilson that December morning, eight
months after the FDA report had been sent to BioPort.
“The patient reported no significant reactions with the first shot,” her
final military medical report states — written in April 2001 when a
depressed, emaciated and mentally confused Wilson was discharged from her
unit — “except for an immediate large painful local reaction at the
injection site (described as being slightly smaller than a golf ball). The
pain extended from her shoulder to her elbow. The military medical community
reassured her this was normal. She also reported the onset of about three
headaches a week.”
After her second jab, from a different lot, in January 1999, she developed
“irritability, loss of memory, fatigue. By late February to early March
nausea and diarrhoea started. One week after her third anthrax vaccine dose
her gastro-intestinal symptoms worsened further, evolving into her current
disabling state of illness.”
That current state is pitiful. Wilson, who four years ago was in superb
health and in charge of one of the most potent weapons in the US armoury,
can barely drive a car. She has lost a third of her body weight and suffers
such agonising cramps every day that she is forced to curl up in a fetal
position for hours at a time. She has stiff joints, chronic fatigue, anaemia,
difficulty with simple sums, memory loss, blackouts, permanent abdominal
pain and, according to her medical report, “loss of cognitive function”.
She is sure the anthrax jabs caused her physical and mental degeneration,
but understands the difficulty in proving it. The final medical report
concluded: “There were no other risk factors present . . . that could
account for her symptoms. The anthrax vaccination may have adversely
affected her immunological balance. There is a clear temporal association
with the onset of her illness and her anthrax vaccination. While it is not
possible to scientifically prove causality between anthrax vaccination and
the onset of her illness, it is impossible to disprove causality.”
Wilson understands those problems of proof. What has destroyed her trust in
everything she once held dear — the US military, the US government and her
husband, a fellow pilot who has now left her — is that for 18 months she was
led to believe she was a freak, the only soldier to have become ill after
the injections, a strange one-off. Military doctors would diagnose stress,
Aids, leukaemia, anything except a possible link to the vaccination. And,
she says, as soon as she became ill, “they couldn’t wait to get rid of me”.
But in the summer of 2000, at the Walter Reed Army Medical Centre in
Washington DC, she met another soldier reduced to a sad husk by, he claimed,
an anthrax jab. He began to tell her what he had learnt about the vaccine,
and about the hundreds of soldiers who claim it has made them chronically
ill with fatigue, auto-immune diseases, severe joint pain and infertility.
It was a story that left Wilson feeling “betrayed by everything I once
believed in”. Sitting in her rented flat in Savannah, Georgia, and often
close to tears, she asks: “How could they not tell me the history of this
drug, to make me believe I was an aberration?”
Jon Irelan, a retired Army major and US Ranger, was on a tour of duty in
Saudi Arabia in 1999 when he was given four anthrax jabs. Soon he was losing
his hair and suffering fevers and muscular weakness, mood swings and
bed-sweats. Ultimately he discovered that his testicles had shrivelled up
and died. He will be on testosterone injections for the rest of his life.
“Right from the beginning they refused to send me to an American medical
facility,” he says. .“They kept sending me to Saudi doctors. They told me it
was a freak reaction. There were guys being airlifted to the Army Hospital
in Germany for ingrowing toenails. I thought I was an anomaly.”
In June 2000 Irelan, back in the US, contacted his congressman, Washington
State’s Jack Metcalfe, who sat on the House Government Reform Committee
which was investigating the vaccine. “His office told me I was not alone.
Then I started receiving calls from others, telling me I was not crazy. The
calls have not stopped. “I would have been happy to accept this if I had
been told the problems with the vaccine. Shit happens. But they treated me
like a dog.”
In October 2000, Irelan gave evidence before the House committee. “Members
of Congress,” he said, “I appear before you today to tell you that I would
willingly lay down my life for the United States of America. But what I wish
someone would explain is why it has been permitted to perpetrate this
unproven drug on my fellow soldiers.” It was a question worth asking,
because a long paper trail shows how concerned the US Government has been
about the vaccine for more than 15 years.
The first anthrax vaccine was designed in the 1950s to protect wool-mill
workers from cutaneous anthrax, which enters the body through breaks in the
skin. In 1970 the federal government issued the only licence to manufacture
a similar vaccine to the Michigan Department of Public Health. That later
became the state-owned Michigan Biologic Products Institute (MBPI). That
licence was based on a scientific study of an earlier vaccine which had
suggested an effectiveness against inhalation anthrax. “There was a
presumption of effectiveness, but it has never been tested, which is a legal
requirement,” says a congressional aide on the House Government Reform
Committee, which had called for the immunisation programme to be suspended
in April 2000.
By the late 1980s MBPI, with antiquated facilities, was making small batches
of the vaccine, about 15,000 to 17,000 doses every four years, selling them
mostly to people in the animal hides business. It was the only US company
making an anthrax vaccine. With the reduction in the relevance of nuclear
weapons, the Cold War now over, the US Army had begun to take an interest in
chemical and biological warfare. It investigated the possibility of
contracting MBPI to supply the US military with the vaccine. This was before
vaccinations became politically sensitive, and the Army and Pentagon
statements are now a matter of public record. They are striking in their
bluntness.
In 1985 a US Army report stated: “There is no vaccine in current use which
will safely and effectively protect against all strains of the anthrax
bacillus. A licensed vaccine against anthrax . . . is currently available
for human use. The vaccine is, however, highly reactogenic, requires
multiple boosters to maintain immunity and may not be protective against all
strains of anthrax bacillus.”
In 1989, a year after the Army had gone ahead with ordering 300,000 doses
from MBPI, a letter from the Pentagon to Senator John Glenn stated: “Current
vaccines, particularly the anthrax vaccine, do not readily lend themselves
to use in mass troop immunisation for a variety of reasons, a higher than
desirable rate of reactogenicity, and, in some cases, lack of strong enough
efficacy against infection by the aerosol route of exposure.” Then came the
Gulf War. Amid claims that the vaccine may have caused the illness of
thousands of troops after 150,000 were vaccinated — allegations never proved
— hearings were held by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
In December 1994 it stated: “The efficacy of the vaccine against biological
warfare is unknown.” In the 1994 medical textbook Vaccines, Colonel Arthur
Friedlander, the US Army’s chief anthrax vaccine researcher, wrote: “The
current vaccine against anthrax is unsatisfactory for several reasons. The
vaccine is composed of an undefined crude culture . . . the degree of purity
is unknown . . . the presence of constituents that may be undesirable may
account for the level of reactogenicity observed.” This is the same vaccine
— the same ingredients, if not the same batch — being administered to troops
today. In October 2000, Col Friedlander gave evidence to the House
committee. He said: “This vaccine is safe and effective, and it’s the best
vaccine we have to protect against this disease.”
Col Friedlander says he has taken the vaccine himself. There is no reason to
believe his assertion before the committee was not genuinely held. One
thing, however, had changed: the determination of the US government to
immunise the entire military.
Throughout the 1990s, MBPI had been manufacturing millions of doses in the
conditions so damned by the February 1998 FDA inspection, as political
demands for the vaccine grew. In 1996 the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi
Arabia killed 19 US troops. Pan-Arab terrorism had begun in earnest. The
spectre of biological terrorism was becoming a genuine political concern.
So the Army again looked at the anthrax vaccine. This time the plan was
bold: a mass immunisation programme for all 2.4 million servicemen and
women.
In 1995 the Army contracted the SAIC Corporation, consultants to the
Pentagon, to submit a plan that would enable them to obtain an FDA licence
for inhalation anthrax. In its report, the SAIC’s plan clearly identified
the vaccine’s legal status: “This vaccine is not licensed for aerosol
exposure expected in a biological warfare environment.” Under US law, the
lack of such a licence meant that soldiers could not be given the vaccine
without their “informed consent”, a hurdle that would have made a mass
immunisation programme impossible.
On September 20, 1996, MBPI submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND)
application to the FDA. Again, one of its purposes was clear: “To obtain a
specific indication for inhalation anthrax.” That IND application has never
been acted upon by the FDA. Six months later the FDA’s stance on the vaccine
appeared to change. In 1997 a new Defence Secretary, William Cohen, made
combating bio-terrorism a priority. On March 4, 1997, four days after the
retirement of the long-serving FDA Commissioner David Kessler, the Assistant
US Defence Secretary (Health Affairs), Dr Stephen Joseph, wrote to the
acting FDA Commissioner, Dr Michael Friedman. Dr Joseph said the Defence
Department had “long interpreted” the vaccine as being effective for
inhalation anthrax. This was six months after the IND application.
Dr Friedman replied on March 13. It was a response that seemed to clear the
regulatory hurdle for a mass immunisation programme: “While there is a
paucity of data regarding the effectiveness of Anthrax Vaccine for
prevention of inhalation anthrax, the current package insert does not
preclude the use.” The insert said the vaccine was licensed for “at risk”
industrial and veterinary workers. It did not specify the type of
infection.
Meanwhile, MBPI was in financial trouble. In June 1998 a private consortium
named BioPort, headed by a Lebanese businessman, Fuad El-Hibri, bought the
company for $24 million. A major shareholder and director of BioPort was
Admiral William Crowe, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under the
Reagan and Bush Senior administrations, and a friend of El-Hibri; the two
met while Crowe was Ambassador to the UK.
Less than a month after the sale of MBPI, BioPort landed an exclusive $29
million contract with the Pentagon to “manufacture, test, bottle and store
the anthrax vaccine.” Admiral Crowe has vehemently denied that he knew of
the deal before BioPort purchased MBPI. He also insists that the vaccine is
safe.
Within months, BioPort too was in trouble. Unable to rectify in time the
problems highlighted in the FDA’s February 1998 inspection report, the new
owner, like MBPI before it, was unable to ship any new vaccine. It appealed
to the Pentagon for more money. By June 2000 the Anthrax Vaccine
Immunisation Programme (AVIP) had all but ended, due in large part to
dwindling supplies. Not until January this year was BioPort authorised to
start shipping new vaccines. But between March 1998 and January 2000,
according to the Pentagon’s own figures, 2.1 million doses of stockpiled,
pre-February 1998 vaccines were administered to 535,000 troops. Only in
August did the FDA prohibit BioPort from using any pre-1998 vaccine. During
that period the Pentagon spent over $100 million of taxpayers’ money
renovating the plant. It is also paying about $20 a dose, more than three
times the original price negotiated three years ago. And critics point out
that no matter how much money has been spent renovating the plant and
cleaning up the manufacturing process, the vaccine itself, given to troops
heading to the Gulf today, has not changed.
Six months after the FDA inspection of the plant, Captain Tom Rempfer and
Major Russ Dingle, officers in the Connecticut Air National Guard, were
asked by their commanding officer to look into the vaccine. Misgivings about
the jabs had begun to spread, and it was felt that their investigation would
put the minds of fellow pilots at rest.
It didn’t. The two officers wanted to go public when they discovered the FDA
inspection report. Senior officers in their unit, they say, ordered them to
keep their discovery secret. They then refused to take the jab, and were
ordered to resign their commissions. Both pilots have filed federal lawsuits
against BioPort challenging the effectiveness of the vaccine. The sister of
Sandra Larson, a soldier who died three months after her sixth jab, has also
been joined by Ronda Wilson in suing BioPort. Their lawyer, Alan Milstein,
says he hopes to bring a class action involving hundreds of former
servicemen. Their cases, they say, have been greatly helped by the House of
Representatives.
In April 2000, after days of testimony, the House Government Reform
Committee released its verdict on the vaccine. It stated: “The AVIP
programme . . . leaves the Department of Defence captive to old technology
and a single, untested company . . . based on a dangerously narrow
scientific and medical foundation. The safety of the vaccine is not being
monitored adequately.” As a health care effort, “the AVIP compromises the
practice of medicine to achieve military objectives.”
It derided the “preposterously low” adverse reaction rates reported by the
Pentagon, which is “more concerned with public relations than effective
force protection”. It adds: “Adverse events following vaccination are
reported by women at twice the rate among men.” And it concludes: “AVIP
raises an ominous question: who protects the force from ill-conceived force
protection?” The House committee, chaired by Dan Burton and Christopher
Shays, both Republican congressman, recommended that the AVIP programme be
suspended. Lawrence Halloran, a senior aide to Shays, says: “The FDA was
leant on by the Department of Defence in 1997, and took a shortcut. They
interpreted the old licence on the fly, giving the vaccine approval. It is
not a standard you would find anywhere else. No other drug manufacturer
would be given approval for a product like this.
“The committee concluded that it is not licensed for inhalation anthrax.
There is no question it is harmful to some people’s health. To persist with
using this vaccine at the expense of developing a new one is a scandal.”
So how can the Pentagon be allowed to vaccinate troops with such a
discredited product? “Because they can,” Halloran says. “They felt a
desperate need to have something at hand, and this was already on the shelf.
After the Gulf War they panicked, and felt they had to do something. They
have the weight to intimidate the FDA into ignoring the problems.”
In August the FDA acknowledged problems with the vaccine. The product insert
was altered dramatically. It said the vaccine could harm people with
immunity disorders, could cause a host of serious long-term adverse
reactions and could already be responsible for six deaths and a number of
birth defects. According to the Pentagon, of the 535,000 troops inoculated,
1,578 have reported adverse reactions with 208 classified as “serious”.
The insert warnings were based in part on a report by the US General
Accounting Office earlier this year, which stated that adverse reactions
occur in five to 35 per cent of people who take the injection, vastly higher
than a previous Pentagon claim of only 0.2 per cent. The GAO also criticised
the pressure exerted on troops not to report adverse effects, so as not to
jeopardize their military careers.
James Turner, a Pentagon spokesman, says: “The vaccine is safe and
effective. Period.” He points to the FDA’s own evaluation of the vaccine.
Kim Brennan Root, of BioPort, refers to the product insert, which states:
“BioThrax is also indicated for individuals at high risk of exposure to
bacillus anthracis spores.” She says: “It doesn’t say it is licensed for one
type of anthrax over another. There are three types: inhalation, cutaneous
and intestinal. The critics keep pointing to the 1996 IND application. They
say the license does not specify inhalation anthrax. Well, the license
merely specifies that it protects against the disease, regardless of what
form you contract. If you follow the critics’ line of argument, we would
have to expose people to high levels of inhalation challenge. We have monkey
studies which support the effectiveness of the product for all three types.”
In August the FDA gave a 25-page, point-by-point response to a Citizen’s
Petition filed by Major Dingle. It stated that in 1972, when the FDA assumed
responsibility for regulating the drugs industry, independent panels
reviewed the vaccine, concluding that it is “safe and effective”. Referring
to its own February 1998 inspection of BioPort, the FDA states:
“Inspectional observations do not necessarily render the anthrax vaccine
unsafe or ineffective.”
Their assurances are of little comfort to Ronda Wilson. She says: “Everybody
said I should get over my anger. But anger is the only thing that gets me
out of bed in the morning. I have lost my marriage, my career, my dreams, my
future, my pleasures. I would have died for my country. But I didn't think I
would die like this.”

My name is Dennis Drew. I am an active
duty service member stationed at Ft. Hood, Texas. This is a summary of how
my life has changed after receiving the anthrax vaccine in March 2003:
I had just completed basic training in very good health and shape. I did
fracture my pelvis, but I kept on going, determined to finish. That has
healed now. I graduated March 19, 2003 and was then stationed at Ft. Hood,
Texas. On March 24, I received the anthrax and typhoid vaccines in
preparation for deployment. On March 27th, I woke up feeling ill. I felt
like I was getting the flu. I had body aches, sore throat, nausea and a
headache.
Later that day I started feeling worse. I began to get a sharp pain in my
chest and was having trouble breathing and started sweating for no reason.
On March 28th, I returned to Maine to see my family before I was to leave
for Iraq. I got worse as I was there and ended up going to Maine Medical
Center where I was diagnosed with severe pneumonia and myocarditis. My
symptoms have gotten worse ever since. I came back to Ft. Hood the first
week of April and went to the medical clinic for a follow up. I was told I
had permanent damage to my heart. I began feeling worse and eventually
checked in to the emergency room. They ran tests on me and even sent me to
San Antonio for additional testing. The doctors down there called me a
'medical mystery.' I have been to the hospital emergency room more times
than I can count and was made to wait hours before I was seen. Every single
time I was told that there was nothing wrong with me and they sent me home.
The last week of April my family moved down here and had to take care of me.
Now, I can hardly walk or stand for more than 5 minutes. I have chronic
headaches, muscle weakness, chronic fatigue, nausea, chest pains, numerous
colds, memory loss and a 30lb weight loss.
Over the past few months of dealing with this, my unit was not supportive.
They treated me terribly and a few of my superiors told me I was faking. I
went to sick call almost daily, which turned out to be the best thing I
could have done. There, I was always made to see different doctors and got
many different diagnosis; such as lupus, chronic myocarditis, lyme disease
and rheumatoid arthritis. However, blood tests later showed these diagnosis
to be false. My Commander noticed I wasn't getting better. In an attempt to
help me, he had me assigned to a doctor in internal medicine, Dr. Klotz.
After 2 or 3 visits and a few tests, Dr. Klotz said he didn't know what to
do for me anymore. He had suspected a vaccine reaction in the beginning and
filed a VAERS report to the CDC. When he told me he didn't know what to do
for me anymore, I asked to go to Walter Reed thinking maybe they could
determine if I was having a vaccine reaction. He told me I could not go
until he knew what was wrong. His suggestion was that I wait 3-6 months and
if I wasn't better, they would consider a discharge. I don't understand why
they would consider discharging me without sending me to Walter Reed. After
all, I thought I was supposed to be getting the best medical attention
possible. My whole experience thus far with the medical care at Ft. Hood has
been a joke. I ended up contacting Walter Reed myself and they wanted to see
me, but I couldn't go without a doctor here recommending that I needed to
go.
Eventually, with the help of a higher ranking friend, I was able to get in
touch with a doctor at one of the clinics. I met with him for almost 2 hours
and he recommended me to Walter Reed. I was then referred to Col. Dalzell at
the clinic to be my PCP. She also thought I was having a vaccine reaction
and with the help of Walter Reed, was able to get me there quickly. Finally,
on July 28th, after much difficulty from my unit, I arrived at Walter Reed.
However, right before I was supposed to leave for Walter Reed, I was made to
have a psychiatric evaluation performed by Major Jennifer Lang. I met with
her for an hour and we discussed my family, my frustrations with the medical
care I had been receiving and we also talked a little about my illness.
After just an hour of talking and no prior knowledge of my current medical
situation, she concluded that I have a somatization disorder- basically,
that I am making all of this up and just wanted people to feel sorry for me.
I thought it was absurd that she could even say something like that after
only 1 visit and no prior knowledge of what I had been going through. My
case worker at Walter Reed saw the diagnosis and thought it was premature
and unnecessary. After a having a variety of tests run on me at Walter Reed,
they determined that I had chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia caused
by the anthrax vaccine. I also have small vessel ischemia in my brain, but
they are still uncertain of its origin. I was also made to have a neuropsych
evaluation. After talking with the doctor for 30 minutes, he then handed me
off to his assistant and she administered the test. I just got the results a
few days ago and the doctors diagnosis was that I was a malingerer and that
I was suffering from somatization. I was really upset about this. I have no
reason to be making this up. Some people have suggested that it is
stress-related, but this cannot possibly be true. Yes, I have dealt with
many stressful circumstances recently, but I am no malingerer. When I was at
basic training I had to deal with not seeing my wife and son for 6 months. I
also missed the birth of my daughter and fractured my pelvis. All of these
events were stressful, but I was able to deal with them fine. My goal was to
retire from the military after 20 years of service, not to end up like this.
I can't pick my 2 small children up. I can't go places or do anything. It
has affected not only me, but my wife and children as well. I can't get a
second job to support my family and my wife can't work because I can't take
care of our kids or myself. Our finances have been destroyed. I hate not
being able to be the best husband, father and provider that I can be. If I
am making all of this up, I am losing a lot more than my health. This is a
large burden that my family and I have to carry around because not many
other people want to accept the blame for what has happened to me. This is a
great burden to deal with and it makes it even harder when I have people
that don't believe that I am truly sick. I have nothing to hide. I would
love to invite anyone who doesn't believe in the adverse reaction of the
anthrax vaccine to come spend a day in my home- to see first hand what my
family and I go through. We will fight for the rest of our lives so that
myself and other military personnel like me will be acknowledged as having a
reaction to the anthrax vaccine. We are not malingerers and we are not
fakers. We are just victims of wanting to serve our country. Even after all
I have been through, I still don't want out of the military. I am proud of
what I signed up to do. However, I have
been told that discharge is in my best interest and that is what will happen
to me.
We are people too with a real illness
and deserve to be treated fairly. These past 6 months I have tried to be
fair and respectful to the healthcare system of the military but I can't
stand by anymore. I realize that there could be some retribution from the
Army about this but I am an American citizen and I have the right to voice
my opinion. The best advice I can give to anyone suffering through any
vaccine is to be persistent- very persistent. Go to sick call as much as you
have to. Keep records of everything. My wife, kids and I will most likely be
dealing with this for the rest of our lives and we will fight until the day
we die for other people like us.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
Dennis W. Drew

|
Immunization Admininistered to Military
Personnel |
|
VACCINE |
USA |
USN/USMC |
USAF |
USCG |
|
Adenovirus 4&7 |
ER |
ER |
ER only for disease threat; not generally administered |
ER |
|
Anthrax |
ER, OA |
ER, OA |
ER, OA |
ER, OA |
|
Hepatitis A |
No |
ER, OA |
ER, OA |
No Academy |
|
Hepatitis B |
ER, OA |
ER, OA |
ER, OA |
ER, OA |
|
Influenza |
ER, OA |
ER, OA year-round |
ER year-round, OA OCT-MAR |
ER, OA |
|
MMR/MR |
MR
ER; OA without documentation
ROTC before summer camp
|
MMR
ER; OA without documentation
|
MR
ER screened serologically
Academy screens record, then serology (measles and rubella); gives
MMR
Other officer training: evaluate record; give MR |
MR: ER, OA
MMR: Academy |
|
Meningococcal |
ER |
ER |
ER |
ER, Academy |
|
Pneumococcal |
No |
USMC-San Diego |
No |
No |
|
Tetanus-diphtheria |
ER, OA
ROTC before summer camp |
ER, OA |
ER, OA |
ER, OA |
|
Typhoid |
No |
NROTC for summer cruise to high risk area |
No |
No |
|
Varicella |
No |
ER who are susceptible |
Academy |
No |
|
Yellow Fever |
No |
ER, OA |
No |
ER,OA |
KEY: ER =enlisted recruit; OA =officer accessions (includes Academy
unless specified); Academy = service academy
Note: The Armed Forces began to include hepatitis B vaccine in their list of
basic immunizations for new recruits in 2002.
Source: "A Report for The Armed Forces Epidemiological Board" August 1999
[43]

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/17/health/17TROO.html?tntemail1
BIOLOGICAL DEFENSES
Pentagon Faces Difficulties in Smallpox Shots for Troops
By DENISE GRADY
"
But the presence of people in the military who must avoid the vaccine may
pose logistical difficulties. Such people must also avoid close contact with
others who have been recently vaccinated, because for two to three weeks the
vaccination site can shed the live virus, vaccinia, used in the vaccine.

Australian SAS could be offered experimental vaccines
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/21/1040174434938.html
By Fia Cumming, Political Correspondent
December 22 2002
The Sun-Herald
Australian SAS troops are likely to be offered experimental vaccines against
anthrax, mustard gas and bubonic plague if they are deployed to a war on
Iraq.As a US decision on whether to attack Iraq looms, preparations for an
Australian contribution are winding up. Vaccination plans for British and
American troops are already under way, but the Australian Defence Department
will not reveal which vaccines may be offered to Australian soldiers. A
spokeswoman said the information could be used by other countries.
"It's a matter of operational security," she said. "We vaccinate in line
with a threat and risk assessment, based on what operational environment
they are entering into." Iraq is known to have had stocks of VX, a liquid
nerve poison, sarin and tabun nerve gases and anthrax, and is suspected of
having other biological and chemical agents.Australian troops - mainly SAS -
may be offered the vaccines on a voluntary basis, because of the problems
which arose after the Gulf War. American, British and Australian defence
personnel said they developed mysterious and lingering illnesses, known as
Gulf War syndrome, as a result of the vaccines.
The Howard Government last weekend received 50,000 imported doses of
smallpox vaccine as a precaution against a terrorist attack. But because of
its risks, the vaccine will not be used unless the disease is released by a
terrorist. Australian Defence Association executive director Michael
O'Connor said providing vaccines was normal when troops went overseas.

Gulf War report a whitewash - veterans
|
|
|
Army veterans have branded a new
report into Gulf War Syndrome commissioned by military top brass a
"whitewash" after it said exposure to noxious chemicals was not the
cause of their illnesses.The report, produced by the Government-backed
Gulf War Illness Research Unit (GWIRU), concluded that health problems
reported by veterans could not be blamed on vaccines used during the
1991 war, as some had claimed.
The findings were last night greeted
with anger by Shaun Rusling, North-based chairman of the National Gulf
Veterans' Association, who said the report lacked both impartiality
and credibility. Many Gulf War Syndrome sufferers, backed by
alternative academic research, believe that their condition is related
to the use of organophosphates in insect repellent issued to soldiers
fighting in Iraq and Kuwait.
Others have linked the symptoms -
which include muscle fatigue, loss of co-ordination and even problems
encountered by sufferers of autism - to the use of vaccines and even
the depleted uranium ammunition during the conflict. The
Journal-backed campaign for justice for sufferers has now been running
for almost a decade. The MoD funded the latest research, carried out
at Guy's, King's and St Thomas's Joint School of Medicine in London,
in what they say was the most intensive neurological study of Gulf War
soldiers in Britain to date.
Forty-nine veterans with
neurological symptoms - national estimates say a total of 35,000 are
suffering some sort of illness - were given exhaustive medical
examinations, alongside a further 29 who had experienced no problems.
The results were then compared to servicemen who had fought in Bosnia,
as well as other personnel. While the research team found there was no
evidence that Gulf War veterans' symptoms were linked to brain damage,
they did agree that their general health was poorer than that found in
other groups of soldiers. That, says Mr Rusling, who served as a medic
during the Gulf War, is a complete contradiction.
"This is not surprising, given that
the paper was funded by the MoD. Veterans were exposed to low level
radiation, classified vaccines and anti-nerve gas pills in the Gulf.
"This has become a national disgrace, but the more the MoD tries to
hide this away, the more they will be disbelieved. "All these
desperately ill servicemen can't be wrong, but the MoD seems to be
well and truly above the law." But Professor Simon Wessely, who
co-authored the report, said it was now clear that the health effects
plaguing many of those who served in Operation Desert Storm was not
associated with the brain or nervous system. "There is no smoking
gun," he said. "There is no new disease that causes Gulf War Syndrome.
There is a Gulf War health effect."
However, Malcolm Hooper, Emeritus
Professor of Medicinal Chemistry at Sunderland University who has
advised several veteran's groups, also claims the findings are
seriously flawed. He believes the problems stem from damage to the
central nervous system. "For this survey not to find any evidence of
neurological damage makes me very suspicious," he said. "I find this
research unpersuasive and statistically insignificant." A spokesman
for the Ministry of Defence said: "We note that the authors found no
evidence for a specific neuro-muscular disorder that could be linked
to deployment in the Gulf conflict. This should reassure all
veterans." |
Exhaustive exams... I love it... My husband had one of
those 'exhaustive exams' because of his ongoing gastrointestinal problems
since the Gulf War. It lasted about 3 minutes, the Dr didn't even know how
to fill out the paperwork for the report to the administration, and NO ONE
followed up with my husband... makes me exhausted.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20021224-9999_1m24sick.html
Deadly bacteria infection overwhelmed MCRD recruit
By Jeanette Steele
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
December 24, 2002
All recruits entering MCRD are vaccinated
against the meningococcal bacteria, which usually affects young people .
Still, Malone said the vaccine isn't always effective, as in Zavala's
case.

From John Rappaport's StratiaWire's Newsletter:
Monday, December 23, 2002
UPDATE---SMALLPOX VACCINE OP
DECEMBER 23. I have had time to consult with several very good sources, and
this is what is happening with the smallpox vaccine. There is a full-court
press on the major media to keep them from saying, THE GOVERNMENT HAS
REVERSED ITS POSITION ON THE VACCINE. THE GOVERNMENT SCREWED UP BIG-TIME.
How long this pressure will succeed we don’t know. But so far the media
campaign of OMISSION is working. The dumbed-down public is buying the
moment-by-moment coverage without connecting the dots.
Too busy shopping and making plans for the holidays. In point of fact, the
government could have begun leaking its reversal-of-position info a lot
earlier, but now is perfect. Xmas rules all. The amazing “confession” data
re the vaccine FROM THE MAINSTREAM PRESS is a series of planned leaks. This
is all orchestrated, for reasons I’ve been mentioning in recent articles.
It’s being made to look like responsible medical bureaucrats have the public
interest at heart. Some of them do. But overall, this is a story about heavy
protection of the vaccine industry from exposure, since the smallpox vaccine
is so dangerous and toxic.
The CDC is now scrambling to do two things: one, tell those thousands of
community vaccine centers they have been setting up, all across America, to
back off on the smallpox shot; and two, retain the STRUCTURE of those
centers, a new infrastructure for all sorts of medical OPS (covert
operations), including, of course, vaccines to be given in the event of a
PURPOSELY STAGED “biowar attack.”
However, because the prior propaganda about the importance of getting the
smallpox shot was so successful, there will be people who insist on getting
the vaccine. Some of them will get very sick, and some will die.The
government is not willing to simply say, “Well, we warned you.” That is not
enough. That is not going to carry the day. So as many of these deaths as
possible will be attributed to other causes. But it is likely there will be
problems. As I write this, legal experts are working to figure out how the
government should deal with the liability, and PR firms are weighing in,
too, to concoct spin trips to minimize bad press. Odds are, the vaccine
manufacturers will stay out of the spotlight.
Whatever heat there is to take, the government will take it. This, in fact,
was the whole point of the VAERS system of liability payouts that was put
into effect in 1986. Get the drug companies off the hook and involve
claimants in a maze of government pros who could stall God from making it
rain. Okay? So now we have to ask, if the government has been making an
amazing reversal of opinion and policy in the last week on the smallpox
vaccine, why did they ever support mass vaccinations in the first place? Why
say yes and then say no later on, when the liability exposure is so fraught
with danger?
This part of the story is definitely DEVELOPING, as they say in the news
business.
Was Bush told to launch the mass vaccination program by people who were
stupid, who didn’t understand what could happen? Did Tommy Thompson, Bush’s
secretary of health and human services, tell him to do this? Thompson knows
nothing about these matters, as far as the science is concerned. If the
urging for a green light came from Thompson, then HE had been briefed by
others first. Was Bush urged to give the green light by George Tenet, the
CIA director? Did Tenet think he had good information that a smallpox
bio-attack might be imminent? If it was Thompson or Tenet, who had briefed
these men first? We know that Bush is impulsive, and that he gets advice
from his people and tends to jump into action without reflection.
There is another possibility. Somebody ran an OP on Bush. Somebody wanted
him to do exactly the wrong thing. Somebody wanted to him to be the dupe for
an eventual vaccine disaster of enormous proportions. A Gerald Ford with his
absurd swine flu vaccine fiasco. Only much worse. Can you imagine the damage
Bush would have suffered (and could still suffer) if he had given the final
okay for a mandate to vaccinate the whole nation? People dying like flies,
photos, the whole war on terrorism cast as a medical screw-up of the first
order?
Bush’s Waterloo.
Judging from the rising tide of negative opinion about the vaccine coming
from the CDC and NIH over the last few months, it’s unlikely that the
original instigator for this mass vaccination program came from official
channels at these two giant federal agencies. And you see, as long as the
major media refuse to pursue the story of the government 180-degree
turnaround on the smallpox-vaccine issue, reporters are not going to ask
Bush, “Who convinced you this was a good idea in the first place?”
I have spoken with my prime source on propaganda matters, Ellis Medavoy. He
said, “You have to look for layers of people here. You have to build a chain
of people to see where the idea for this mass vaccination came from. It’s
quite possible that someone within the intelligence cartel was the real
source. Someone who WANTED a disaster. Because disasters are what create the
kind of chaos certain people want. (I have referred to these elements in
past articles as the Plan B people). They are not satisfied with the
slow-drip method of gaining more control over the global population. They
want to burn down everything to the ground and build a steel-trap society on
the ruins.”
Bush is still up against it. The Army is vaccinating lots of soldiers. How
successful will the cover-up of deaths be? Well, it’s a lot easier to manage
that behind the military walls than out in the public. Bush is still on the
hook as the dupe. How do you make a dupe? You feed him information which
merges with his general outlook, you give him a detailed suggestion as to
action, and you stand back and let him go to work.
In the case of instituting that VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting
System) in 1986 that took vaccine manufactures off the liability-payout
hook, the federal government allowed anti-vaccine activists to propose
VAERS, activists who thought that GOVERNMENT was a better protector of the
people than DRUG COMPANIES.
Hello? The medical monopoly IS a joint venture of government and drug
companies. More coming… Although I haven’t been able to obtain the medical
records of those Marines in San Diego who are falling ill and dying, I
believe that at least some of them are the victims of the smallpox and/or
anthrax vaccine. I’m still looking for better confirmation. This ranks as a
maybe right now.
Meanwhile, CNN reports that hundreds of sailors aboard the USS Roosevelt
have come down with the flu. Of course, no details on exactly how the blood
of these people was tested to make that diagnosis---and we don't know
whether the sailors have recently been vaccinated. The ship is in the
Atlantic Ocean on exercises, and is third in line to go to the Middle
East---so it's possible the crew has received smallpox shots. If this
outbreak is really a vaccine reaction, it's being covered up. Maybe we're
seeing a reaction to a flu vaccine.
MSNBC is reporting on a new survey done to see what Americans know and don't
know about smallpox and the vaccine. The conclusion? Americans are confused
about the most elementary facts. There is a clue here for us: The complete
government turnaround on ITS position vis-a-vis the vaccine is now being
laid off on the public---"The government is not talking out of both sides of
its mouth, it's the public that has all the wrong ideas." And this MSNBC
piece also tells us how the press is going to worm its way out of
confronting the White House about that 180-degree turnaround---again, the
"confusion" is going to be laid at the door of the public. Repulsive.
US soldiers are caught in the crossfire of the government's 180 re the
vaccine. As far as we know, the smallpox vaccinations are proceeding in the
military. This is happening with NO announced evidence that any nation is
preparing to use, or can use, smallpox as a bio-weapon. If Bush publicly
calls off the vaccine program for the military, then he exposes the whole
hoax. The Pentagon brass tend to view "their boys" as the healthiest
specimens in the world, and so they convince themselves that the vaccine
will do little harm.
UPDATE: A few hours after I wrote that last paragraph, MSNBC posted a report
on the first round of military smallpox shots---ONE THIRD OF THE SOLDIERS IN
THE INITIAL SMALL GROUP WHO WERE CALLED IN FOR THEIR SHOTS WERE EXEMPTED
FROM GETTING THEM, BECAUSE OF PRIOR EXISTING CONDITIONS, OR BECAUSE THEY
WERE LIVING WITH PEOPLE WHO MIGHT EXPERIENCE A SEVERE REACTION IF THE VIRUS
FROM THE VACCINE JUMPED FROM THE RECIPIENT TO THEM.
This represents yet another fast-breaking phase in the complete government
turnaround re this vaccine. BOOM.
However, this "careful medical screening" the Army is doing right now to
identify those who should be exempted from the shot? What will happen soon
when the big wave of 500,000 soldiers is due for the vaccine all at once?
The usual style is, get in line, roll up your sleeve, keep moving, keep your
mouth shut. That's exactly how they can process so many people. They are
going to sit these 500,000 guys down, one at a time, and put them through an
extensive interview to determine whether they should get the shot? No
possible way.
So there are three choices. One, they quietly cancel the whole vaccine
campaign. Two, they shoot up all the soldiers and lie about the damage and
death that actually results. Three, they stage a bio-war attack with the
smallpox germ and thereby justify giving them all the shot---in which case
vaccine deaths are blamed on the "bio-attack."
NOTE: I'M NOT DEFENDING THE IDEA OF GIVING ANYBODY THIS SHOT. I'M DESCRIBING
HOW THE HEALTH AUTHORITIES ARE WORKING THEIR VARIOUS SCAMS.
There are still very important snakes in the grass. As Jane Orient, MD,
points out, the Homeland Security Act, which was passed without a single
congressional hearing or testifying witness, contains, in Section 304,
Subsection C, a provision that empowers the secretary of health and human
services (Tommy Thompson, at the moment)to declare states of emergency. He
can order "countermeasures" against bio-attacks. He can order quarantines
and detainments for "categories of individuals" he invents according to his
own guidelines. This broad power, undefined, opens the door for all sorts of
medical/police actions.
So although Thompson says he's not taking the smallpox vaccine himself,
don't assume we are looking at a moment of enlightenment.
“What good fortune for those in power that the people do not think.” ~Adolf
Hitler
"Through clever and constant application of propaganda people can be made to
see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most
wretched sort of life as paradise." ~Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, 1923
“It also gives us a very special, secret pleasure to see how unaware the
people around us are of what is really happening to them." ~Adolf Hitler


Our veterans were abandoned
BY CONN HALLINAN
Special to The Examiner
AS THE U.S. RAMPS up for invading Iraq, we should know that we are
sending our troops into the most toxic battlefield on earth.
And should those soldiers suffer the huge number of disabilities that
Gulf War I vets do, they can expect their government, in the words of U.S.
Rep. Christopher Shey (R-N.C.), to have "a tin ear, a cold heart and a
closed mind."
For 11 years, more than 100,000 Gulf War vets have complained of chronic
fatigue, headaches, joint pains, memory loss, cancer and birth defects. For
11 years the Department of Defense (DOD) has known the cause but
systematically denied that the disabilities were anything but psychosomatic.
But, layer by layer, the lies have come undone. A recent study in a
British medical journal demonstrated that British Gulf vets were three times
as likely to be disabled as all other vets.
The study is hardly a bolt from the blue. The Centers for Disease
Control concluded in 1995 that Gulf War vets suffered illnesses at 12 times
the rate as non-Gulf War vets. The stonewalling started when young
soldiers were inoculated with an experimental anthrax vaccine that included
squalene, an additive with dangerous side effects.
The Defense Department denies the vaccine included squalene, but a
University of Tulane Medical School study found squalene antibodies in 36
out of 38 Gulf vets suffering from the syndrome and a high incidence of
similar disorders in vaccinated vets who never served in the Gulf. The DOD
won't release information on the vaccine because it is "classified."
The Pentagon also maintained that none of our troops had been exposed to
chemical weapons, in spite of the fact that Army logs indicated the presence
of chemical weapons on Jan. 20, 1991. When Sen. Donald Riegle (D-Mich.)
requested those logs, he was told they didn't exist. Eight months later the
logs were finally released -- with most of the pages missing.
It was not until 1998 that the DOD admitted that as many as 130,000
troops (the vets claim more) were exposed to chemical weapons after the
destruction of the Iraqi arms depot at Kamisiyah. The DOD says it never
said anything about the exposure because "scientific research and medical
research do not indicate that this type of exposure is harmful," according
to Pentagon spokesperson Lt. Col. Dian Lawhon.
But the Army never researched the matter and ignored a 1974 Swedish
study showing that small doses of chemical weapons did produce long-term
effects. The tragedy here is that because the Pentagon lied, the vets'
complaints were dismissed.
"Because doctors were told that chemicals had not been used, many
veterans were sent straight to the psychiatric department," said Paul
Sullivan of the Gulf War Veterans of Georgia. By July 1995, 95 percent of
vets seeking disability had been turned away because doctors thought they
were nut cases. When research was done, it was ignored. A 1997 University
of Texas Southwestern Medical Center study demonstrated that the interaction
of nerve gas pills (another experimental and dangerous drug given the
troops), insecticides and nerve gas produced a rare disorder called
"organophosphate-induced delayed polyneuropathy," which is essentially Gulf
War Syndrome.
With an Iraqi invasion looming, this is hardly an academic issue. As
Shaun Rusling, chairman of the British National Gulf War Veterans and
Families Association, said, "Our troops, who will be exposed to the same as
we were 11 years ago, need to know that should they be ill or injured, they
will get the best medical care and proper pensions."
The track record on our side of the Atlantic suggests quite the
opposite.
Comment: letters@examiner.com
Conn Hallinan is a provost at UC Santa Cruz.

Anthrax vaccine stories
Sgt. Sandra Larson's story:
http://www.house.gov/reform/hearings/healthcare/00.10.03/rugo.htm
Our Anthrax information web site: http://www.dallasnw.quik.com/cyberella/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Anthrax-no/files/VAERS.pdf
DESTROY QUARANTINED VACCINE:
http://www.PetitionOnline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?robi2662&1
PETITION TO OVERTURN/REPEAL FERES DOCTRINE http://www.i-charity.net/ptn/80
To visit Dr. Meryl Nass's web site, go to: http://www.anthraxvaccine.org
Tom Colosimo's website: http://www.tomcolosimo.com
Also visit: Anthrax Vaccine Benefit vs Risk: http://www.avip2001.net AND
http://www.MajorBates.com/
Anthrax Vaccine Network http://www.anthraxvaccine.net
Sgt. Sandra Larson's story:
http://www.house.gov/reform/hearings/healthcare/00.10.03/rugo.htm
http://www.house.gov/reform/hearings/healthcare/00.10.03/accountability.doc
Tom Heemstra's new book -
http://www.anthraxadeadlyshotinthedark.com/index.html

From a doctor who was damaged by the vaccine and is very ill..........and on
the anthrax-no list I'm on
All I can say is to take TONS of vitamin C in the form of Sodium Ascorbate -
everyone, especially husband.
I'll send the vitamin C info again to the list
Amy,
. I am a PFC in the us army.. tomorrow i will be given the anthrax .
vaccine.. I plan to refuse, i want to know what will happen to me, . what
I
should know, and what could help in my defense.. I am a . female, if that is
any sort of information, have been in for 2 1/2 years, and have around 9
months left in service.. I have had a perfect service record before.. what
can I do? help and advice, please?
First, see if you can get out legally without having to get the anthrax
immunization. If you have any significant illnesses at present -- old
injury or disease or disorder that impairs you in any way and it was NOT
self-induced for the purpose of your becoming disqualified or was otherwise
"illegal" in any other context -- you can request a
Fitness-for-Duty MEB/PEB designed to either result in your being physically
disqualified for continued military service or non-deployable outside
CONUS. This works even for conditions existing prior to your joining the
Army that were exacerbated by military service. (See the regulations for
guidance.) It's not much of an idea but it's an idea.
Consult a civilian attorney first.
Officially, the order to get the anthrax shot is still considered legal. If
you refuse to obey it you'll get whatever the Army wants to throw at you for
disobeying a legal order. Consult a civilian attorney first. If you're
wealthy enough, you can take the DOD to court about the legality of the
order. This will take several years and several thousands of dollars, but
with a good attorney who know his way around the errors in AVIP, you should
win for yourself and all those who sue
DOD on the same grounds afterwards. Consult a civilian attorney first.
If you take the shot, monitor your health carefully. Be sure you keep
copies of ALL your medical records, including laboratory tests and x-rays.
Document the dates you get all your shots and the dates you reported to sick
call for local or systemic reactions to them. When you get sick enough to
present unmistakable physical signs of your
anthrax-induced autoimmune disease to your Army physician, get a diagnosis
first and then request a Fitness-for-Duty MEB/PEB. If they let you separate
rather than giving you the Disability Retirement you have coming to you, be
sure that within four months of your separating from active duty in the Army
that you get a Fitness-for-Duty MEB/PEB. A
separation physical alone is never enough. YOU MUST GET THE PRE-SEPARATION
MEB/PEB. This guarantees that the Army knows you're sick and if they don't
give the 100% Disability Retirement you deserve as a sick anthrax shot
recipient, you can take them to court once you've separated to get all the
benefits you have coming to you. It also makes it automatic to get VA
Service Connection for your illnesses after you separate. Consult a
civilian attorney.
I know this wasn't very helpful, but it's where things stand now.
Nevertheless, it's kind of generic in the sense that it's applicable to all.
Best of luck,
Frank Fisher, MD
Previously: LTC USAFR MC FS

NATIONAL GULF VETERANS & FAMILIES ASSOCIATION OFFICE TEL.
NO. 01482 808730 OR FAX 01482 808731
24 HOUR HELPLINE 01482 833812 FAX NO 01482 833816
URGENT PRESS RELEASE - MONDAY 6TH JANUARY 2003
ANTHRAX VACCINE GIVEN TO TROOPS PREPARING FOR GULF WAR CAUSES VACCINE DAMAGE
AND ILL HEALTH
EX SOLDIER WINS LAND MARK CASE AT LEEDS FOR VACCINE DAMAGE - OSTEOPOROSIS
Former Army Royal Engineer Soldier Mr Alex Izett from Glasgow recently won
a landmark case against the Ministry of Defence at an Independent Tribunal
hearing in Leeds. Alex who had been waiting 3 years to have his case heard
for Osteoporosis and depression caused by vaccinations classified secret
given to him before the Gulf War. The Tribunal found Mr Alex Izett had
depression and osteoporosis from the vaccinations given at the time of the
Gulf War 1990-91. It must be noted Mr Alex Izett did not serve in the Gulf
War he was vaccinated to go but did not go!!!
The Tribunal findings:
Mr Rudin Chairman of the ENT/31692/2002 Leeds found
1. We accept you were vaccinated and we looked at the MoD letter 24.1.01 we
note the posity of the vaccination date we therefore accept the evidence
Autoimmune induced osteoporosis caused by vaccines.
2. We have also looked at psychiatry report dated 29-2-01 and accept
classified secret injections not listed in Army Medical Documents and that
you have depression.
3. We also note exposure to squalene, further we have looked at Dr Juliet
Compston's report endorsed by Prof. Simon Wessely of the Kings College
London, we concur and endorse the findings
Mr Izett was represented by Mr Roy Gibson of the National Gulf Veterans &
Families Association based in Hull, who stated "This is a very significant
case that shows the vaccines given to Mr Izett at the time of the Gulf War
caused his ill health of depression and osteoporosis, it is of course
significant that the Ministry of Defence denied everything! I would imagine
the Ministry of Defence are very concerned.
THIS ANTHRAX VACCINE IS CURRENTLY BEING GIVEN TO SOLDIERS OF 2 AND 3 PARA
WHO ARE EXPERIENCING FLU LIKE SYMPTOMS ALREADY.
For further comment ring NGVFA on 01482 833812 or Alex Izett on 0049 5439
6094600
mcjock@t-online.de

Peer in plea over Gulf War veterans
Manchester Evening News - 10:00am Dec 13
MANCHESTER peer Lord Morris has accused the Ministry of Defense of causing
distress to thousands of Gulf War veterans suffering a mystery illnesses.He
said it was "doubly distressing" for veterans, some of them terminally ill,
to have to wait until next year for a vital report on their illnesses.
Lord Morris has campaigned to prove that the illnesses were caused by a
cocktail of injections given to the troops, but the MoD has so far refused
to accept that there is such a thing as Gulf War syndrome. "Why are some
illnesses treated as Gulf War-related in the US but not here?" asked Lord
Morris in the Lords. "Why, 12 years on, when we could soon be involved in a
second Gulf War, have we not learned the lessons of the first?"
Lord Morris said the MoD had been defeated in several court cases when they
refused to hand over Army pensions to people with Gulf War illnesses. And he
pointed out that a vicar, Gulf War veteran the Reverend David Peachell was
discharged by the Church of England on the grounds of Gulf War illness and
given a pension. Lord Morris asked what implications the case would have for
other servicemen and women.
The Defence Minister Lord Bach said that despite the Church of England's
decision the MoD continued to believe that no Gulf War illness had been
identified. But he insisted that even though there was no recognition of
Gulf War syndrome that did not prevent veterans getting a pension. He said
more than 4,800 Gulf veterans had received pensions, one in four of them for
disablement accepted as linked to their service in the Gulf.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2638125.stm
Wednesday, 8 January, 2003, 10:02 GMT
Troops fears over anthrax vaccine Soldiers at Army Infantry Training School,
north Yorkshire Troops will not be forced to have vaccines, say ministers
Troops being sent to the gulf ahead of a possible war with Iraq have
expressed concern about the safety of anthrax vaccines they are being given.
The Gulf War Veterans and Families Association says it has been inundated
with enquiries from servicemen worried about the possible side-effects of
the vaccine.
The group said it had also heard from troops who said they had become ill
after receiving the jab. Individuals who have contacted our helpline have
said they are feeling ill and their mates are feeling ill Tony Flint, GWVFA
However, ministers have insisted the vaccine is safe and that no one will be
forced to have it against their will.
Tony Flint of the GWVFA said its telephone helpline had received many calls
in recent weeks from concerned troops.
The GWVFA represents thousands of servicemen who believe their health
suffered after they were given a cocktail of vaccinations in the 1991 Gulf
War.
Worried
Mr Flint told the BBC: "Regular servicemen have been phoning us worried
about the vaccine, asking for our advice, because they know, like we know,
the vaccines are a major cause of our illnesses. "From what we have learnt
so far, members of the Parachute Regiment have already had the anthrax
vaccine and they are reporting to us that they are
getting side-effects. "Individuals who have contacted our helpline have said
they are feeling ill and their mates are feeling ill."
I can assure you the vaccine is safe
Dr Lewis Moonie, Defence Minister
Mr Flint raised concern over the tests carried out on the vaccines before
they were given.
"The British haven't done any real test work on it all," he claimed. "All
our evidence comes from the States and from their evidence, 30% of those
that receive the vaccine become ill and six have died." Joyce Riley, of the
American Gulf War Association, also expressed concern. "My concern about the
anthrax vaccine is that it has been proven to be
unsafe. It is not a tested vaccine. "What we are seeing from those who have
been given the vaccine is usually
something to do with blackouts, with seizures and motor problems.
"We are finding that these people become affected by skin lesions, they
develop sores and problems that just never go away." Vaccine 'is safe'
But defence minister Lewis Moonie insisted that the vaccine is safe. He told
the BBC: "I can assure you that it has been given to many, many people over
a long period of time and there has never been a case of serious
side-effects. Not one case. "Of course it's been tested. It is not widely
tested, because anthrax is not a common disease, but it is given very
widely.
"I can assure you the vaccine is safe. It has side-effects - all vaccines
like this do.
"You may get soreness at the site of injection and you may get a flu-like
illness after it. But there are no serious complications." Dr Moonie added:
"It is being offered to people who may be going into a theatre where they
may be exposed to it. "It's being offered to them on a voluntary basis and
nobody is compelled to have it." Troops were given large amounts of
information about vaccines they were offered and were able to discuss any
concerns with medical officers, he said.

Toxic ammo is tested in fish areas
U.S. Navy uses depleted uranium in coast waters; activists may go to court
By LARRY JOHNSON, Thursday, January 9, 2003
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/103402_fife09.shtml
The Navy routinely tests a weapon by firing radioactive, toxic ammunition in
prime fishing areas off the coast of Washington, raising concerns from
scientists, fishermen and activists.
The Navy insists the use of depleted uranium off the coast poses no threat
to the environment. Depleted uranium, known as DU, is a highly dense metal
that is the byproduct of the process during which fissionable uranium used
to
manufacture nuclear bombs and reactor fuel is separated from natural
uranium. DU remains radioactive for about 4.5 billion years.
Cmdr. Karen Sellers, a Navy spokeswoman in Seattle, also said there are no
hazards to the servicemen and women on board the ships, adding that "all
crew members are medically monitored" to ensure their safety.
But a coalition of Northwest environmental and anti-war activists say they
are considering seeking an injunction to halt the tests.
"The Navy is willing to put us all at risk, including its own sailors, to
improve its war-fighting capabilities," said Glen Milner, ofGround Zero
Center for Nonviolent Action, one of the groups weighing a suit to stop the
Navy tests.
Milner received information on the Navy's tests of depleted uranium
ammunition off the coast in a memo released in response to a Freedom of
Information Act request.
No major studies apparently have been done on the effects of such weapons in
the ocean. Where depleted uranium munitions have been used in combat on
land, such as in Iraq during the Gulf War, or in tests on land, such as
Vieques island in Puerto Rico, they not only give off relatively small
amounts of radiation, but produce toxic dust that can enter the food chain.
Seattle environmental attorney David Mann asked, "How can the Navy fire
depleted uranium rounds and spread radioactive material into prime fishing
areas off our coast?"
Sellers, however, said that only 400 to 600 rounds would be fired during a
typical test at sea. And even though these tests have been going on since
1977, she said Navy environmental experts say that the DU dissolves very
slowly
in the ocean.
"It would be too diluted to distinguish from natural background uranium in
the sea water," she said.
The weapon in question is the Phalanx, also known as a Close In Weapons
System. Such a system is on virtually all U.S. Navy combat ships. It
includes radar and rapid-fire 20mm guns. The guns are capable of firing up
to 3,000 or 4,500 rounds per minute of depleted uranium, a superhard
material prized for its armor-piercing ability.
The Defense Department says the military uses the munitions "because of DU's
superior lethality against armor and other hard targets."
Although depleted uranium emits radiation, a second, potentially more
serious hazard is created when a DU round hits a hard target. As much as 70
percent of the projectile can burn on impact, creating a firestorm of
ceramic DU oxide particles. The residue of this firestorm is an extremely
fine ceramic uranium dust that can be spread by the wind, inhaled and
absorbed into the human body and absorbed by plants and animals, becoming
part of the food chain.
Once in the soil, DU can pollute the environment and create up to a
hundredfold increase in uranium levels in ground water, according to the
U.N. Environmental Program
The Defense Department said DU munitions are "war reserve munitions; that
is, used for combat and not fired for training purposes," with the exception
that DU munitions may be fired at sea for weapon calibration purposes."
Another Navy spokeswoman described those firings at sea as "routine" and
says they occur regularly off both the East and West coasts.
"If the firing is with DU, it's probably with what we call the Close in
Weapons System, and it is routine," said Lt. Brauna Carl, a Navy spokeswoman
in Washington, D.C., and a former gunnery officer who has worked with DU
weapons.
When asked if the tests of DU rounds posed any health hazards, she replied,
"God, I hope not. All I know is I haven't started glowing."
But Milner says, "It just makes sense that if DU can contaminate land and
get into the food chain, then it would do the same thing in the sea." Robert
Alverson, president of the Fishing Vessel Owners Association in Seattle,
said he was "very troubled" to hear that the Navy was using depleted uranium
off the coast of Washington. "I don't like what I'm hearing," he said.
The Navy memo obtained by Milner described a June 2001 operation by the USS
Fife, an Everett-based destroyer. The memo said the Fife would conduct
gunnery operations with depleted rounds in what was described as areas W237C
and W237F.
These areas are designated Navy Warning Areas and are about 25-100 miles off
the coast between Ocean Shores and Ozette, south of Neah Bay, according to
Milner. "These are certainly prime fishing areas" for some salmon, flounder
and other bottomfish, Alverson said. "It is folly to be testing anything in
this area that might contaminate the natural food supply."
"How would the Navy feel about eating fish caught there?" he asked. Alverson
said even the perception that fish might be contaminated could scare
consumers and have dire consequences.
"If any species ever turns up with radiation, it would be devastating to the
fishing industry," he said.
Leonard Dietz, a research associate with the private, non-profit Uranium
Medical Research Centre in Canada and the United States, said that the
degree of environmental contamination the DU rounds will cause in sea water
depends on what kinds of targets were hit and how much DU was fired.
"Corrosion of the DU by sea water would occur over a long time," said Dietz,
who with Asaf Durakovic, director of the center, and research associate
Patricia Horan, published a landmark study on inhaled DU that showed Gulf
War veterans still had DU in their urine nine years after the war.
"The end result is that the ocean becomes a dumping ground for the spent DU
penetrators and they add to the (natural) uranium content of sea water," he
said. The Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action is one of five peace and
environmental organizations already involved in a federal lawsuit against
the Navy for violations of the Endangered Species Act over the Trident D-5
nuclear missile upgrade at the Bangor submarine base.
DEPLETED URANIUM HAZARDS
The Pentagon has sent mixed signals about the effects of depleted uranium,
saying there have been no known health problems associated with the
munition. At the same time, the military acknowledges the hazards in an Army
training
manual, which requires that anyone who comes within 25 meters of any
DU-contaminated equipment or terrain wear respiratory and skin protection,
and says that "contamination will make food and water unsafe for
consumption."
Some researchers and several U.S. veterans organizations say they suspect
depleted uranium of playing a role in Gulf War Syndrome, the
still-unexplained malady that has plagued hundreds of thousands of Gulf War
veterans.
* On the Net:
Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action: http://www.gzcenter.org
U.S. Navy: http://www.navy.mil
Iraqi birth defects, Gulf War Syndrome linked to depleted uranium
P-I foreign desk editor Larry Johnson can be reached at 206-448-8035 or
larryjohnson@seattlepi.com
© 1998-2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,860598,00.html
Guardian | Mystery surrounds secret 1991 vaccines
Mystery surrounds secret 1991 vaccines
David Pallister
Monday December 16, 2002
The Guardian
Britain sent more than 53,000 troops to the Gulf war 12 years ago. They
faced the threat of chemical and biological attacks and a series of medical
counter measures were hurredly introduced. The range of vaccines was kept
secret, even from the troops, to prevent the Iraqis learning how they were
protected.
But with the politcal furore over Gulf war syndrome, the Ministry of Defence
published the full details - six years after the war - and admitted there
were "significant deficiencies" in the programme.
Each individual was given up to 12 vaccines. First there were the routine
ones to prevent disease: yellow fever, hepatitis B, typhoid, tetanus,
cholera and polio. Some received jabs for meningitis and hepatitis A.
Then there were the anti-biological vaccines for anthrax and plague. The
anthrax jab was given with one for pertussis (whooping cough) to make it
work quicker, although this combination had never been tested on humans.
Warnings about the risk from the Department of Health and the National
Institute for Biological Standards and control were ingnored. After the war,
research at Porton Down, the government's defence laboratory, concluded that
the use of pertussis was ineffective.
For protection against a chemical attack everyone took a tablet containing
the drug pyridostigmine bromide, which some scientists now believe may have
been a contributory cause of neurological problems in veterans. The troops
were also exposed to potentially hazardous organophosphate pesticides, one
of which was unauthorised and other, unidentified, ones were bought locally.
When veterans first started complaining of ill health, the most predominant
symptoms were similar to those for chronic fatigue. Others included:
headaches, memory loss, muscle pain, nausea, gastrointestinal problems, loss
of concentration, vision and balance problems and depression. It has been
established that veterans deployed to the Gulf are two to three times more
likely to report symptoms than those not deployed.
Dozens of research experiments have been carried out since the late 1990s
with the UK spending £8.5m and the US $213m (£133m). No conclusive results
have been made but the early UK concentration on whether post-traumatic
stress caused the illnesses has now largely been ruled out.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2002

Friday, 10 January, 2003, 12:44 GMT
Gulf war drugs 'linked to infertility'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2645315.stm
Gulf War troops took drugs to protect against disease
Drugs given to soldiers involved in the Gulf War may have caused infertility
and other sexual problems, a US government-funded study suggests.
Researchers say tests on rats have shown that some of the chemicals can
damage male reproductive organs. The drugs were given to soldiers to protect
them against insect-borne diseases and nerve-gas poisoning during the 1991
conflict. Veterans' groups say many of their members have suffered fertility
and other sexual problems since the war.
Dr Mohamed Abou-Donia and colleagues at Duke University Medical Center
tested the insect repellent DEET, the insecticide permethrin and the
anti-nerve gas agent pyridostigmine bromide on rats. The rats were given
equivalent doses to those given to soldiers.
Extensive damage
According to the researchers, these chemicals caused extensive damage to the
cells in the rats' testes when they were given together. The damage was even
more severe among those rats that were also exposed to moderately stressful
situations. The damage affected the part of the testes responsible for
producing sperm. The researchers have previously shown that the same
chemicals can cause devastating changes in rats' brains.
In a study published last year, they suggested the chemicals killed cells in
key areas of the brain responsible for muscle strength; balance and
coordination; memory, cognition and mood. In both tests, the rats appeared
physically normal despite extensive intensive cell damage.
"The chemically-treated rats don't look or behave any differently than
normal rats, just as the soldiers don't show any outward signs of disease,"
said Dr Abou-Donia. "But under a microscope you can see clear and
well-defined damage to a variety of testicular structures."
Further study
Dr Abou-Donia said he was planning further research to find out why the
chemicals acted in this way. "The military used these chemicals with the
best of intentions, to protect soldiers from indigenous diseases in the Gulf
War region. Without protection, there may have been thousands of deaths.
"But it appears that the precautions prevented one set of problems while
creating another.
"Now our task is to discern the mechanisms of illness in order to provide
the soldiers with maximum protection and the least risk of chemically
induced injury." The UK's National Gulf Veterans and Family Association
welcomed the study.
A spokesman said: "It backs up our experience over the last 11 years where
we have found many veterans and their partners have complained of burning
semen and high rates of gynaecological problems." The study is published in
the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health. It was funded by the US
Department of Defense.

Spate of Thyroid Cases Baffles Army
http://www.healthcentral.com/news/NewsFullText.cfm?id=510860
Several cases of Graves disease -- 62 times higher than expected in young
men
-- struck a Special Forces unit in the 1990s.
By Adam Marcus
HealthScoutNews Reporter
TUESDAY, Dec. 17 (HealthScoutNews) -- A dramatic spike in cases of an
overactive thyroid struck a U.S. Army Special Forces unit in the late
1990s, and Army doctors are at a loss to explain why. Military physicians
say the unit, based in Fort Campbell, Ky., had eight cases of apparent
Graves disease over a 21-month period ending in 1999.
The revelations about Graves disease come on the heels of an order by
President Bush -- whose mother has the condition -- that roughly a half
million military personnel receive the smallpox vaccine. Smallpox vaccine is
effective, but it causes deadly reactions in about one to two people per
million who receive the inoculation.

From: TRempfer@aol.com
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 10:27:43 EST
Subject: Insight Magazine: "Anthrax Program Reduced Reenlistments,
Retention"
Anthrax Program Reduced Reenlistments, Retention
Timothy W. Maier, Insight Magazine, Jan. 2003
When a scientist sent a letter to the president warning that the United
States faced great danger from weapons of mass destruction it was his intent
to encourage the administration to take precautionary measures. The letter
writer was Albert Einstein. His warning to President Franklin Roosevelt on
Oct. 11, 1939, came in the midst of an emerging threat from Nazi Germany. It
paved the way for the Manhattan Project, a nuclear program to counter
Germany's plan to build an atomic bomb. Fourteen months ago another letter
writer prompted the Bush administration to take precautionary measures
against weapons of mass destruction. This time the writer added a lethal
dose of anthrax that resulted in five deaths across the country and mass
panic in the nation's capital. If the intent was to push or redirect policy
concerning anthrax vaccination, the mission was accomplished. The attack put
the Pentagon's anthrax-vaccination program back on track. The six-shot
regime had been on the ropes after a series of congressional hearings and
critical reports by Army Times and Insight that questioned whether
inoculating 2.4 million troops would do more harm than good.
As Insight noted [see "A Dose of Reality," Sept. 20, 1999, and "Why BioPort
Got a Shot in the Arm," Sept. 20, 1999], hundreds of reservists, including
many trained pilots, had resigned rather than face a series of vaccinations
that in some cases had resulted in service personnel contracting aseptic
meningitis, Guillain-Barré syndrome and lupus. The Pentagon and BioPort
Corp., the sole provider of the anthrax vaccine, downplayed the risks and
insisted all was safe. Insight since has learned that in August 2001 senior
Pentagon officials explored alternative methods
of countering possible anthrax attacks, including developing better
antibiotics to fight the virus. Had this occurred it would have finished
BioPort, which had poured its resources into building a state-of-the-art
facility in Lansing, Mich., to mass-produce anthrax vaccines for the
military and eventually the public.
The program had been halted when the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
failed to approve a manufacturing license for BioPort. Even when the FDA
finally gave the green light in January 2001, the Pentagon did not
immediately roll out the program but continued to consider alternatives. The
anthrax scare that began in October 2001 seemed to settle the matter but
didn't. Not until May 2002 were vaccinations resumed even for a limited
number of "at-risk" troops — nearly eight months after the anthrax
attacks. And the identity of the troops receiving the vaccine remains a
military secret. Now the Pentagon has announced that substantial quantities
of vaccine will be manufactured and kept in reserve for civilian use in
homeland security.
Meanwhile, the FBI has been claiming that the anthrax attacks probably were
committed by a domestic terrorist with access to a military lab at Fort
Detrick, Md. The FBI still refers to Steven Hatfill as a "person of
interest" in the attacks, but he has not been charged. Hatfill is in fact a
bio-defense scientist who worked at Fort Detrick, but he has been an
outspoken critic of the nation's failure to develop defenses for biological
and chemical attacks.
Hatfill warned Insight in 1998 how easily a terrorist could shut down
Washington with a single dose of anthrax. When this magazine recently asked
for a follow-up interview, Hatfill attorney Victor M. Glasberg replied,
"It's not going to happen." Hatfill did hold a series of controlled press
conferences, proclaiming his innocence. "I went from being someone with
pride in my work, pride in my profession, to being made into the biggest
criminal of the 21st century for something I never touched. What I've been
trying to contribute, my work, is finished. My life is destroyed."
While the FBI explores other leads, and victims of the attack continue to
recover, the incident is far from forgotten. For a while the anthrax-letter
attacks seemed to quiet critics of the vaccination program. The armed forces
wanted to go to fight terrorism, reservists say, and under the circumstances
few were willing to be viewed as "too wimpy" to undergo the six-shot regime.
Congress meanwhile seems to have stopped questioning the program's value.
Since the anthrax attacks, Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the House
Committee on Government Reform, has remained silent rather than continuing
his inquiry into why reservists ordered to take the shots were quitting at
an alarming rate. Another frequent critic, Rep. Walter Jones, a North
Carolina Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, also has kept
quiet on the issue. In fact, a Jones congressional staffer tells Insight the
congressman has nothing to say about anthrax.
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit in June 2002 filed by a reservist who
charged the vaccine is an experimental drug and therefore cannot be
mandated, but critics of the program say an appeal could put the case back
in court by April 2003 [see "First Response to Terror," Jan. 26, 1998].
Other service personnel resisting the mandatory anthrax vaccinations are
preparing a class-action lawsuit, to be filed in the next few weeks, seeking
injunctive relief to stop the program, Insight has learned. Providing
ammunition for these lawsuits are decisions by the United Kingdom
to make anthrax vaccinations voluntary and by Canada to stop the program
altogether after its attempts to court-martial those who refused the shots
failed.
Now a 50-page General Accounting Office (GAO) report again has put into
question the safety of the vaccine. The GAO criticized the program after
conducting a survey with 843 randomly selected reservists from the Air Force
and National Guard.
The GAO review, which Rep. Jones ordered, reaffirms what Insight previously
had reported. Alarmed service personnel are avoiding the shots by leaving
the military at an alarming rate, and those who submit to the shots are
becoming ill at a far greater rate than the Pentagon claimed. According to
the GAO, between September 1998 and September 2000 about 16 percent of the
pilots and aircrew members of the Guard and reserve had transferred to
another unit (primarily to nonflying positions) to avoid or delay receiving
the anthrax shots, moved to inactive status or left the military. Another 18
percent said they intended to leave in the near future. Of those who changed
status or quit, 69 percent said it was because they didn't want to take the
anthrax shots.
Those who quit or were reassigned to nonflying positions were experienced
pilots with more than 3,000 flight hours on average. In addition, the GAO
noted that two-thirds of those surveyed did not support the vaccination
program. While the survey was conducted prior to the events of 9/11, which
may impact how reservists would respond now, the survey confirmed that the
Pentagon had failed to convince reservists that the shots were safe or
needed, ultimately resulting in the depletion of trained pilots. Moreover,
the GAO says in no uncertain terms that the Pentagon has put one over on
Congress by failing to produce data to support claims that the numbers of
those leaving are comparable with normal attrition rates.
Among those who took one or more shots, the GAO found that 85 percent
reported experiencing some type of reaction. The overall rate reported for
adverse reactions was nearly three times that published in the vaccine
manufacturer's product insert, which claimed only 30 percent would
experience some adverse reaction. Of those experiencing side effects, 24
percent had adverse effects considered serious enough for the shots to be
discontinued. These systemic reactions included malaise and lassitude,
chills and fever. The rate for these reactions was more than 100 times
higher than claimed in the insert provided to those taking the shots. The
rates may have been even higher, the GAO noted, because many adverse
reactions were not reported to military command for fear of loss of flight
status, negative effect on military or civilian careers and potential for
being ridiculed.
The GAO recommended that the secretary of defense direct the establishment
of an active surveillance program to identify and monitor adverse events
associated with each anthrax immunization. The program, the GAO suggests,
should ensure that appropriate and complete treatment and follow-up are
provided to those who have experienced adverse effects and to those who may
experience them in the future.
The Pentagon has refused to do so, citing a National Academy of Sciences
(NAS) claim that there are "no data that indicate the need for the
continuation of special monitoring programs." This "is misleading," the GAO
charges, because the NAS actually suggested that the Pentagon regularly
should study data for new trends and monitor reactions to vaccinations. Not
to do so would lead to continued depletion of reserve forces, the GAO
warned.
"Unfortunately, the actual losses and expected losses as a result of this
program represented some of the most experienced and highly trained
individuals in these services and are people not easily replaced," the GAO
noted. "It takes time and a great deal of money and other resources to
develop trained, experienced pilots and other aircrew members to support the
important missions of these reserve components, particularly in light of the
current battle against terrorism."
Online at:
http://www.insightmag.com/news/320556.html

The Truth About Anthrax And Biological Weapons
By Gary Krasner
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed—and
hence clamorous to be led to safety—by menacing it with an endless series of
hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." —H.L. Mencken
Infectious disease experts were among those hardest hit by the September
11th terrorist attack. Prior to the attack, many will recall that these
experts had been warning us to prepare for biological terrorism and new
exotic microbial epidemics. Their credibility may have seemed tarnished
after 6 thousand people perished from "mere" explosives, instead of
biological agents. However, they seem to have made a quick recovery.
Ironically, their past success in instilling inordinate fear of infectious
diseases has hampered even their own attempts to mitigate public alarm about
anthrax. Their cohorts in the media have had similar difficulties. Except
that the media's struggle to put the threat in proper perspective has been
hindered by their desire for high ratings and selling newspapers. They also
don't know enough to distinguish the genuine killing potential of chemical
agents, from the dubious threat of biological agents.
Here's the truth of the matter. Anthrax is a livestock pathogen. The spores
survive for about twenty years in the ground in rural areas. They normally
have no effect upon humans, because a few anthrax spores cannot create an
infection, and they do not come up from the ground in large quantities. A
human must inhale about 10,000 spores to get sick. And such concentrations
are never found in nature. Wool sorters inhale anthrax spores in small
quantities continually (150-700 per hour), and only if they get a large dose
will an infection begin. Some anthrax researchers who were interviewed in
the media said that they often don't even wear protective masks; they just
make sure not to draw close to it and breathe in the stuff.
Anthrax is what's called a "gram positive" bacterium. This means it has the
type of cell walls which are harmless, unlike the cell walls of "gram
negative" bacteria, which attack tissue. Therefore, anthrax can only attack
tissue by producing a special toxin which it excretes as a waste product.
One cell or spore does not produce enough toxin to start an infection.
Epidemiologically, anthrax more closely resembles a chemical toxin for
humans: it is dose-dependent and not contagious. Fatal human cases show
almost no bacteremia at all. Yet for some animals, there is
such a heavy bacteremia that it was once supposed that death occurred
through capillary blockade.
The reports of office or postal workers "testing positive" for anthrax are
totally useless without comparing them to the normal background incidence of
either asymptomatic carriers of the bacteria, or antibody positive
individuals. A guess would be that there may be 10% of the population that
are either carrying the numerous common wild strains, or who have residual
antibodies from exposure to any strain of anthrax that occurred sometime
during their lives, or from perinatal transmission, or even genetic
inheritance. In New York City, for example, at one point, out of 1300 people
who had been tested, only 4 people were found to have antibodies to anthrax.
Without comparing that ratio to what would be found during normal times, one
cannot claim that the immune response to anthrax among those 4 people was
the result of exposure from the recent mailings. (Excluding cutaneous cases,
of course.)
Increased surveillance in detection of anthrax spores in the environment is
also creating something of a paradox. But only because we have no data on
the normal presence of stray anthrax bacilli (virulent or not)—a microbe
that appears naturally in certain environments. Some anthrax spores detected
in very small quantities in "low profile" locations may
not necessarily be coming from terrorists. Confirmation that the spores were
processed in some fashion—electrostatic charge removed or coated with an
anti-caking agent to help them remain suspended in the air—would rule out
that they're naturally derived. But non-medical journalists do not know to
ask officials such questions.
Among those tested, the few with symptoms (fever, cough, muscle weakness)
may really just have the flu or a bad cold. Certainly, that infant with the
rash wasn't unusual, particularly if he had recently received routine infant
vaccinations. And anthrax wasn't even found at the ABC building where his
mother brought him. It was all assumptions: (baby rash) + (network
headquarters) = anthrax. The first man that had died came from a farming
region where anthrax was common.
But more likely he died from the antibiotics that were administered to him.
About a year ago, the NY Times reported that antibiotics could be leading to
the deaths of 98,000 Americans each year. A month later, researchers revised
that number down to 36,000, partly by eliminating antibody-resistant
infections from the total. Nevertheless, fully 10% of
our own body weight consists of bacteria. Bacterial cells outnumber total
body cells by ten to one. And only about 1% of all known bacterial strains
are pathogenic to humans. The other 99% are beneficial to us, and indeed,
vital to all life on earth. Therefore, the disruption in the vital
equilibrium of normal bacterial colonies in our bodies adversely
affects our biochemistry so extensively as to make such estimates impossible
to make. Thousands die from the flu alone each year—in actuality, from
complications from the anti-catarrhal effects of taking antipyretics and
antibiotics to suppress the symptoms.
The disequilibrium may even be the cause of major diseases. The epidemic of
Crohn's disease in the last fifty years, for example, started with the
introduction of antibiotics, and progressed in parallel with the increase in
antibiotic consumption. One hypothesis is that a mutated form of normal
bacterial flora morph into genetically super-resistant bacteria under
constant selection pressure from antibiotic usage. A British study that
tested 3545 subjects showed that the relative risk of developing Crohn's
disease was threefold, and 2.5 fold for developing ulcerative colitis, after
receiving live measles vaccination (vaccines contain antibiotics and other
agents that have a germicidal effect).
Adding to this, is the fact that drug effects are rarely cited as official
"cause of death", even when the cause is know to be a drug. And no
comprehensive records are kept of medication-related deaths. Doctors and
hospitals rarely report such deaths. That was the basis for a major study
published in The Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA),
April 14th, 1998. The paper analyzed 39 studies of ADRs (Adverse Drug
Reactions) in the United States to estimate the incidence of serious and
fatal adverse drug reactions in hospital patients. The authors estimated
that on average, 2,216,000 hospital patients experienced a serious ADR, and
106,000 deaths were caused by ADRs annually in the United States—making
these reactions the sixth, and possibly (at most) the fourth leading cause
of death. Furthermore, these figures were NOT due to mistakes by doctors in
prescribing drugs or by patients in using them.They were solely from the
effects of drugs that were properly administered.
Some health officials have been quietly acknowledging that detection methods
that would absolutely establish exposure or infection do not exist. No
cultural or biochemical characteristics serve to differentiate the
pathogenic strain of anthrax from the many non-pathogenic saprophytic
sporulating bacilli. And applying multiple antibiotics to a
culture—particularly in the absence of immune antibodies in the blood—to see
if it stops the growth, is too general and provides insufficient identifying
information about the strain of anthrax—only one of which is pathogenic.
Therefore, the invitro testing of blood cultures or nasal swabs is
unreliable. Other medical technologies used by microbiologists have their
own unique limitations. Gene testing—involving the amplification of a
molecular signal many thousand times—inevitably introduces quantitation
errors, and was never intended to distinguish different strains of bacteria.
Electron photomicrographs have also been somewhat overstated as a diagnostic
tool. First, as with stained cultures, what you see is a static picture of
the tissue sample while it's being bombarded with billions of electrons in a
vaccum—which is obviously in the absence of normal immune system effects.
What happened before and after is not
observed. Were the cells invaded, or did they eat the virus as food? Also,
the long and arduous preparation in making the sample "electron dense"
introduces numerous artifacts, to the extent that it's hard to be sure what
you started out with. If that's not enough, a computer graphic artist adds
colors to the photo-image, because electron microscopes "see" in black &
white only.
Noble Laureate, Kary Mullis, Ph.D., invented the PCR test for retroviruses.
In his newly released documentary, "Deconstructing The Myth Of Aids",
journalist Gary Null asked Mullis to explain the apparent growing HIV
epidemic. Dr. Mullis replied that what we were actually seeing was an
"epidemic of HIV testing": In the beginning of the crisis
very few tests were given. But as the scope of testing dramatically
increased, we started to see more positive results. This was not proof of a
growing epidemic.
Likewise, medical surveillance for anthrax toxicity—the symptoms of which
merely mimic the flu—increased dramatically in recent weeks. Consequently,
and not surprisingly, investigators found a handful of sick people that they
attribute to anthrax. In the absence of the anthrax scare, cases with these
symptoms would be hardly noticeable. As such, doctors wouldn't have bothered
to test them for anthrax, and these cases would have therefore been recorded
as an acute cold or flu, and treated with common antipyretics or
antibiotics.
WEAPONIZING ANTHRAX
The latest contrivance is that terrorists might weaponize anthrax by drying
a slurry and grinding it to particles 1-5 microns in size. (The bacteria are
1 by 3 microns.) The first problem is that the gunk would dry like glue; and
after grinding, it would still be glue. Even if it were washed first, the
bacteria would be sticky and would dry like glue. The second problem is that
bacteria do not tolerate grinding. They are as fragile as egg shells.
Grinding is how they are broken apart for biochemical tests. Even if only 1%
were broken, the result would be a sticky gum, not a powder; and more like
99% would be broken before getting 5 micron particles.
On eight separate occasions between 1990 and 1993, Japan's Aum Shinrikyo
cult tried to spray anthrax and botulinum toxins from trucks and rooftops in
Tokyo, and each time it failed. No one was infected, or at least no one
died. Main reason: The terrorists had problems developing effective spray
nozzles for aerosolizing the agents in the 1 to 5 micron range necessary for
them to lodge in the lungs.
The lethality of such airborne attacks depends largely on the size of the
particle dispersed. Particles in the 1 to 5 micron diameter deposit
efficiently in the lungs, while submicron particles tend to be exhaled.
Particles above 5 microns tend to become trapped in the upper respiratory
tract, where higher doses are required to start an infection. Those above 20
microns in diameter tend to settle to the ground quickly and, as a result,
do not travel far downwind.
Anthrax bugs can also be delivered in the form of liquid slurries.
Gastrointestinal anthrax is rapidly fatal in many cases. But experts say
reservoirs aren't an attractive target for terrorists, because they'd have
to dump large amounts of biological agents to overcome dilution. Also, water
supplies are filtered and chlorinated to kill naturally occurring
microorganisms, which would neutralize anthrax and other bacteria. In fact,
terrorist contamination of water supplies is extremely rare, according to a
study of such cases by Jessica E. Stern, author of "Would Terrorists Turn to
Poison?"
Aum Shinrikyo is the only example of a terrorist group that tried a
biological weapon for mass murder. The cult ended up turning to a
chemical—sarin gas—to attack Tokyo subway commuters, killing 12 and
hospitalizing about 1,000. In fact, threats or actual use of chemical or
biological weapons account for only 52 cases out of more than 8,000 in
the RAND Chronology of International Terrorism since 1968. Many are just
scares. Wilkening counts more than 120 anthrax hoaxes alone which have been
reported in the media nationwide since October 1998.
Biological warfare generally, is a flawed concept. The only route usually
considered is airborne, because bombs and missiles create the delivery
system. There is no natural disease in existence which is propagated in that
manner. Even the airborne diseases require close contact with the source
(infected person). The reason is because wind disperses the agents too
thinly, and gravity brings them down too rapidly. Increasing the quantities
massively will get a few persons, but only a few.
And then, very few of the diseases which are mentioned as biowarfare agents
are suitable for airborne dissemination. Brucellosis is not. It is
disseminated through body fluids. Plague is not. It is carried by insects
from the blood of one animal to another. The insects do not pick it up from
the ground. Government scientists even released airborn cholera in the NYC
subway system, with no effects. The only way biological warfare agents can
be used in a significant manner to create disease is to inject them into the
victims.
"CONTROLLED" EXPERIMENTS
And even then, mortalities are not likely caused by the biological agents
themselves. Biological pathogens used in serums on test animals, for
example, contain toxic preservatives and adjuvants that are injected
directly into their bloodstreams—bypassing normal immune system barriers.
These injected agents also contain protein growth mediums that supports the
pathogenic cultures. In the absence of digestive juices in the bloodstream,
they immediately start decomposing and yielding known endotoxins from normal
protein putrefaction. Consequently, animals often succumb to blood toxemia
or septicemia and die. Their deaths are erroneously attributed to the
pathogen being tested.
Volumes have also been written showing that animals make poor medical models
for human diseases. Animals also react to drugs, vaccines, and chemicals
very differently than humans, and also to other species of animals. Guinea
pigs die from penicillin, but they can safely eat strychnine—a deadly poison
for humans, but not for monkeys. Aspirin kills cats and sheep can swallow
enormous quantities of arsenic. It's the main reason drugs are recalled from
the marketplace, but only after a high enough death toll among humans is
finally noticed. It all amounts to a waste of human and animal life.
There's also evidence indicating how easily stressed lab animals succumb to
illnesses and die, from the poor conditions of their captivity, and the
artificial food and environment they're subjected to. All of these
additional factors contribute to faulty conclusions about the risk from
biological pathogens.
Pathogenicity is also a function of the general state of health of the host,
or target group. For example, the U.S. Government Bulletin, Hygienic
Laboratory, No. 123, February 1921, is a series of telling experiments that
were conducted by U.S. Government doctors to determine the true "contagious"
character of "influenza." To achieve their
objective, the experimenters subjected great numbers of volunteer Navy
personnel to "exposure" by various "known methods of transmission": Ten
volunteers were inoculated with secretions from the nose and throat and with
blood from typical cases of influenza. Thirty men were inoculated by spray,
swab or both of the nose and throat. Ten volunteers were placed close to
selected patients who had the flu and were then exposed by being coughed in
the face. The exposure continued for thirty minutes. Fifty volunteers were
subjected to the same procedure at another location. One hundred were
sprayed and dosed with cultures of the most virulent strains of flu possible
to obtain and observed for seven days. The results were: "no appreciable
reactions".
In nature, under normal conditions, maintaining health depends on keeping
the host and the pathogenic microbe in equilibrium. It does not merely
involve the total elimination of the latter. Yet it is this simplistic
approach that influences conventional medicine today.
Famed bacteriologist, Rene Dubös (inventor of streptomycin; 1968 Pulitzer
Prize winner) wrote a great deal on the limitations of the conventional Germ
Theory, and the aforementioned artifactual outcomes from laboratory
experiments. In his classic, Mirage Of Health (1959), page 89, he wrote:
"The ease and predictability with which Pasteur, Koch, and their followers
produced disease at will in experimental animals seem miraculous in view of
the difficulties that have so often been encountered in subsequent attempts
to produce disease in man. Their success seems incompatible with the course
of natural events. The fact of the matter is that Pasteur and Koch did not
deal with natural events, but with experimental artifacts. The experimenter
does not produce nature in the laboratory. He could not if he tried, for the
experiment imposes limiting conditions on nature; its aims are to force
nature to give answers to questions devised by man. Every answer from nature
is therefore more or less influenced by the kind of questions asked."
"The art of the experimenter is to create models in which he can observe
some properties and activities of a factor in which he happens to be
interested. Koch and Pasteur wanted to show that microorganisms could cause
certain manifestations of disease. Their genius was to devise experimental
situations that lent themselves to an unequivocal
illustration of their hypothesis—situations in which it was sufficient to
bring the host and the parasite together to reproduce the disease. By trial
and error, they selected the species of animals, the dose of the infectious
agent, and the route of inoculation, which permitted the infection to evolve
without fail into progressive disease.
Guinea pigs
always develop tuberculosis if tubercle bacilli are injected into them under
the proper conditions; introduction of sufficient rabies virus under the
dura of dogs always gives rise to paralytic symptoms. Thus, by the skillful
selection of experimental systems, Pasteur, Koch, and their followers
succeeded in minimizing in their tests the influence of factors that might
have obscured the activity of the infectious agents they wanted to study.
This experimental approach has been extremely effective for the discovery of
agents of disease and for the study of some of their properties. But it has
led by necessity to the neglect, and indeed has often delayed the
recognition, of the many other factors that play a part in the causation of
disease under conditions prevailing in the natural world—for example, the
physiological status of the infected individual and the impact of the
environment in which he lives."
THE BIAS
Since allopathic trained people run the health bureaucracies, every
inflammatory (catarrhal) symptom of bodily elimination is assumed to be an
infectious disease. All evidence of malnourishment, toxemia, or a
toxicological agent is dismissed in favor of a microbiological agent—which
are plentiful and are readily available candidates to blame.
For the public health investigator, obscurity comes with the former. But the
latter will accompany research grants, a published article in a leading
journal, medical awards, recognition and prestige, and profits from
patentable test kits, treatments or vaccines. And of course, blaming a
microbial agent for a disease will always engender importance to the
institutions of infectious disease, and make the public feel dependant upon
their expertise, products and services.
The appendix contains a list of this historic bias, and the tragic
consequences of it.
THE "PROBLEM" FOR THE BIOLOGISTS:
While anthrax spores are resistant to heat and dryness, they're no match for
rain. A downpour would wash most of them out of the air, where they'd become
relatively harmless. Also, humidity and ultraviolet light decay the bugs. So
does oxygen. Anthrax and botulinum spores multiply only in the absence of
oxygen.
All these problems and more ranks anthrax and other biological agents as
very poor battlefield weapons. Uncontrolled variables as wind direction,
lengthy duration between infection and death, and all the rest makes
biologicals much more inferior as weapons than are chemical agents, which
can at least kill immediately and are more resilient to weather and
decompose more slowly. It is therefore rank stupidity to subject soldiers
heading to the battlefield with the debilitating and crippling effects of
vaccines for small pox, or anti-toxins for botulism, anthrax, and all the
rest. Those who can make onto the battlefield after all that are not left in
optimum health to deal with the rigors of fighting in a war.
Another aspect beyond normal biodegradability, is the "problem" of bacterial
Pleomorphism. Rod-shaped anthrax bacillus, for example, can literally
transform into the spherical coccus from exposure to ultraviolet light.
Pleomorphism refers to the transformation of one distinct strain of bacteria
into other strains within a single life cycle. For example, the virulent
tubercle bacillus could be made to degenerate into harmless non "acid-fast"
cocci, and then into "diphtheroid" coccobacilli, just by altering their food
or environment. This bacteriological phenomenon was observed throughout
history by the noted microbiologists Antone Bechamp, Altman, Cohn, DeBarry,
Dienkowski, Fremy, Galippe, Lankester, Koch, Kurth, Manwaring, Nagelli,
Portier, Rosenow, Serval, Zops, Metchnikoff, J.Tissot, Raymond Rife, and
currently, Gaston Nessons.
Since all strains of bacteria can potentially share all bacterial genes,
then strictly speaking, there are no fixed species in the bacterial world.
According to Canadian bacteriologists, Sorin Sonea and Maurice Panisset (The
New Bacteriology. Boston:Jones & Bartlett, 1983), all bacteria are one
organism, one entity capable of genetic engineering
themselves on a planetary scale.
Obviously, fixed species of bacteria is the central part of the biomedical
model of specific etiology of disease (classifying a specific germ as the
singular causative agent of a specific disease). Stability of the strain is
also essential for it is to be effective bio weapon. But Pleomorphism
implies that conventional infectious disease theory is based upon a faulty
construct. Indeed, highly processed and concentrated biological pathogens
aside, in the natural environment, the prior state of health of the host
will usually determine the virulence of any natural
exposure.
The threat of biowarfare is exaggerated through a combination of ignorance,
propaganda, and inordinate fears of infectious disease. Researchers, who
should know better and often do, are getting paid to produce the agents, so
they don't admit the futility of it. People without medical backgrounds
cannot realistically evaluate the claims. Recently, some biowarfare experts
have been candid about the low level of threat that anthrax poses. However,
CDC and other health officials have grossly overstated the threat. They want
the public to be frightened enough of microbial pathogens to: (1) acquiesce
to increased public funding for basic medical research, treatments and
prophylactics, (2)
value the role of infectious disease "experts" and elevate their status in
society, and (3) validate the disease paradigm—germ=disease; drug=cure;
vaccine=prevention—into which the medical profession has invested so much
in, and relies upon to sustain public perception of their importance. A
fearful public dependant on medical salvation is what sustains the
biomedical complex. In the distant past, it sustained religious
institutions.
The terrorists had to have planned the anthrax mailings prior to September
11th. They knew that targeting the major news outlets would have the maximum
media effect, regardless of the actual ineffectiveness of anthrax to kill
many people. So, while federal agents are busy sorting through the mails,
they can load rental trucks full of explosives, with
perhaps radioactive waste. If Westsiders complain about available parking
near Zabars today, tomorrow they might find their streets empty for the next
2000 years.
POSTSCRIPT:
The NY Times of Wednesday, October 30, 2002 carried an article by
Dr.Lawrence K Altman, MD on the follow up study of the Center for Disease
Control on last year's anthrax scare in news media offices, the US Senate
and the Postal Service. The study found that 56% of personnel advised to
take a regimen of antibiotics to prevent the consequences of exposure to
inhalation Anthrax, did NOT complete the full course of therapy advised.
Despite this, no cases of anthrax had developed, including some people who
took absolutely no medication.
Federal Health officials recommended 60 days of antobiotic therapy to over
9,300 workers exposed to anthrax spores in 4 states and Washington, DC. Of
these, 6,178 participated in the study. The group that did not take any
antibiotics was 13%, or 787. They didn't even fill the original prescription
for the antibiotic. Moreover, the study did not include
people who were told to stop taking antibiotics after laboratory tests
determined they had NOT been exposed to anthrax, The irony is that the
conclusion drawn by public health officials was that there must be "improved
compliance" in the future. "It undercored the importance of communicating
risks to individuals and of counselling
them." Instead, genuine scientists would have understood that a controlled
experiment had just taken place, and should have allowed for the hypothesis
that the antibiotic therapy has no efficacy.
[In December 2002, Dr. Anthony Fauci of HHS maintained that prophylactic
antibiotic therapy was what stemmed any outbreaks of anthrax symptoms during
the anonymous anthrax mailings. But he cited no studies to support
that contention.]
APPENDIX:
Thousands of lives have been sacrificed due to the bias in favor infectious
disease theory. The following are some examples:
—Scurvy was thought to be a microbial disease in the 19th Century, before it
was found to be a Vitamin C deficiency.
—The high mortality of the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-19 was thought to be
a contagious disease. Dr. Roger Cunningham isolated the gene fragment,
hemophilus Influenza from secretions the sick. Instead of being contagious,
this microbe is a normal inhabitant of our upper respiratory tract that
flourishes after we get ill; not before.
—The U.S. Public Health Service insisted for over 10 years in the 1920s that
pellagra was infectious, rather than a vitamin B deficiency as had been
proposed by Joseph Goldberger (Bailey, 1968).
—Tertiary syphilis is commonly blamed on treponemes, but is probably due to
a combination of treponemes and long-term mercury and arsenic treatments
used prior to penicillin, or merely to these treatments alone
(Brandt, 1988; Fry, 1989).
—"Unconventional" viruses were blamed for neurological diseases like
Kreutzfeld-Jacob's disease, Alzheimer's disease and kuru (Gajdusek, 1977).
The now extinct kuru was probably a genetic disorder that affected just one
tribe of natives from New Guinea (Duesberg and Schwartz, 1992). Although a
Nobel Prize was given for this theory, the viruses never materialized and an
unconventional protein, termed "prion," is now blamed for some of these
diseases (Evans, 1989c; Duesberg and Schwartz, 1992).
—Shortly after this incident, a virus was also blamed for
a fatal epidemic—the SMON epidemic—of neuropathy, including blinding, that
started in the 1960s in Japan, but it turned out later to be caused by the
prescription drug clioquinol (Enterovioform, Ciba-Geigy) (Kono, 1975;
Shigematsu et al., 1975).
—In 1976 the CDC blamed an outbreak of pneumonia at a
convention of Legionnaires on a "new" microbe, without giving consideration
to toxins. Since the "Legionnaire's disease" did not spread after the
convention and the "Legionnaires bacillus" proved to be ubiquitous, it was
later concluded that "CDC epidemiologists must in the future take toxins
into account from the start" (Culliton, 1976). The Legionnaire's disease
fiasco is in fact the probable reason that the CDC initially took toxins
into account as the cause of AIDS (Oppenheimer; 1992)."
—"The pursuit of harmless viruses as causes of human cancer, supported since
1971 by the Virus-Cancer Program of the National Cancer Institute's War On
Cancer, was also inspired by indiscouragable faith in the germ theory
(Greenberg, 1986; Duesberg, 1987; Shorter, 1987; Anderson, '99'; Editorial,
'99'; Duesberg and Schwartz, 1992).
—For example, it was claimed in the 1960s that the rare Burkitt's lymphoma
was caused by the ubiquitous Epstein-Barr virus, 15 years after infection
(Evans, 1989c). But the lymphoma is now accepted to be non-viral and
attributed to a chromosome rearrangement (Duesberg and Schwartz, 1992).
—Further, it was claimed that noncontagious cervical cancer is caused by the
widespread herpes virus in the 1970s, and by the widespread papilloma virus
in the 1980s—but in each case cancer would occur only 30 to 40 years after
infection (Evans, 1989c). Noninfectious causes like chromosome
abnormalities, possibly induced by smoking, have since been considered or
reconsidered (Duesberg and Schwartz, 1992).
—In addition, Ubiquitous hepatitis virus was proposed in the 1960s to cause
regional adult hepatomas 50 years (!) after infection (Evans, 1989c). In the
1980s the rare, but widely distributed, human retrovirus HTLV-I was claimed
to cause regional adult T-cell leukemias (Blattner, 1990). Yet the leukemias
would only appear at advanced age, after "latent periods" of up to 55 years,
the age when these "adult" leukemias appear spontaneously (Evans, 1989c;
Blattner; 1990; Duesberg and Schwartz, 1992).

Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2003 21:08:10 -0800
http://www.crosswalk.com/news/1182299.html
Anthrax Vaccine May Have Been Thrown Overboard, Vets Say
Mike Wendling, London Bureau Chief
London (CNSNews.com) - A veterans' organization says a stockpile of anthrax
vaccine found on a British beach may have been thrown overboard deliberately
by sailors deploying to the Persian Gulf. Jim Moore, a spokesman for the
National Gulf Veterans and Families Association (NGVFA), said Thursday his
organization has no conclusive
proof that the vaccine vials that washed up in Dorset, southern England,
were thrown overboard. But Moore noted that the circumstances surrounding
the vaccine find are suspicious.
"For anything to be accidentally washed overboard on an aircraft carrier is
highly unusual," he said. "This gives us cause for concern and there are a
lot of questions that need to be asked."
The organization said it has heard anecdotal evidence of mistiming of
vaccines from current service personnel. The NGVFA believes that improperly
administered vaccines might be one of the causes behind "Gulf War Syndrome,"
a mysterious collection of symptoms that is thought to afflict 5,000 vets in
Britain and 20,000 in the United States.
"People say you accept the risks when you sign up to join the forces," Moore
said. "That's true, but the risk you accept is one of an enemy bullet or a
landmine." "You don't accept the risk of being a guinea pig for a vaccine,"
he said.
"All the same mistakes made in the Gulf War are being made again." Earlier
this week, U.K. Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon announced that about 26,000
additional service personnel, or about a quarter of Britain's armed forces,
would be deploying to the Middle East in anticipation of possible military
action against Iraq.
Those numbers come on top of 5,000 British troops already dispatched to the
region. A Ministry of Defense spokeswoman, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said that an internal investigation into the vaccine find was
underway. "We wouldn't like to speculate on where the vaccine might have
come from at this stage," she said. "There has been a large amount of
speculation in the press and this isn't helpful. The investigation will
uncover the
source of the vaccine."
The spokeswoman said that "hundreds, possibly thousands" of doses were found
on the beach in Dorset, southern England. "Clean up is being handled by
local fire fighters," she said. "The vaccine poses no health risks to the
public, as there is no live anthrax contained within the vaccine." The
spokeswoman said the vials containing the vaccine were numbered and that the
MoD would eventually be able to trace the vaccine to a particular ship.
© Copyright 2002, Crosswalk.com. All rights reserved. Terms of Use.
A proud member of the Salem Web Network, a division of Salem
Communications Corporation

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2003-01-26-bank-usat_x.htm
Some troops freeze sperm before deploying By Valerie Alvord,
special for USA
TODAY SAN DIEGO
Fear of vaccines and chemical and biological agents has some servicemen
freezing their sperm before they ship out. Atwell says he was warned of
the risks of infertility by a buddy in his unit who said "he had become
sterile after a previous deployment and an anthrax vaccination."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2638125.stm
Wednesday, 8 January, 2003, 10:02 GMT
Troops fears over anthrax vaccine Soldiers at Army Infantry Training School,
north Yorkshire Troops will not be forced to have vaccines, say ministers
Troops being sent to the gulf ahead of a possible war with Iraq have
expressed concern about the safety of anthrax vaccines they are being given.
The Gulf War Veterans and Families Association says it has been inundated
with enquiries from servicemen worried about the possible side-effects of
the vaccine. The group said it had also heard from troops who said they had
become ill after receiving the jab. Individuals who have contacted our
helpline have said they are feeling ill and their mates are feeling ill
Tony Flint, GWVFA However, ministers have insisted the vaccine is safe and
that no one will be forced to have it against their will. Tony Flint of the
GWVFA said its telephone helpline had received many calls in recent weeks
from concerned troops. The GWVFA represents thousands of servicemen who
believe their health suffered after they were given a cocktail of
vaccinations in the 1991 Gulf War.
Worried
Mr Flint told the BBC: "Regular servicemen have been phoning us worried
about the vaccine, asking for our advice, because they know, like we know,
the vaccines are a major cause of our illnesses. "From what we have learnt
so far, members of the Parachute Regiment have already had the anthrax
vaccine and they are reporting to us that they are
getting side-effects. "Individuals who have contacted our helpline have said
they are feeling ill and their mates are feeling ill."
I can assure you the vaccine is safe
Dr Lewis Moonie, Defence Minister Mr Flint raised concern over the tests
carried out on the vaccines before
they were given. "The British haven't done any real test work on it all," he
claimed. "All our evidence comes from the States and from their evidence,
30% of those that receive the vaccine become ill and six have died."
Joyce Riley, of the American Gulf War Association, also expressed concern.
"My concern about the anthrax vaccine is that it has been proven to be
unsafe. It is not a tested vaccine. "What we are seeing from those who have
been given the vaccine is usually something to do with blackouts, with
seizures and motor problems. "We are finding that these people become
affected by skin lesions, they develop sores and problems that just never go
away."
Vaccine 'is safe'
But defence minister Lewis Moonie insisted that the vaccine is safe.
He told the BBC: "I can assure you that it has been given to many, many
people over a long period of time and there has never been a case of serious
side-effects. Not one case. "Of course it's been tested. It is not widely
tested, because anthrax is not a common disease, but it is given very
widely. "I can assure you the vaccine is safe. It has side-effects - all
vaccines like this do.
"You may get soreness at the site of injection and you may get a flu-like
illness after it. But there are no serious complications." Dr Moonie added:
"It is being offered to people who may be going into a theatre where they
may be exposed to it. "It's being offered to them on a voluntary basis and
nobody is compelled to have it." Troops were given large amounts of
information about vaccines they were offered and were able to discuss any
concerns with medical officers, he said.

http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/news/1945929/detail.html
Marine Faces Court Martial For Refusing Anthrax Vaccine
Fusco Says Internet Leads Him To Believe Vaccine Isn't Safe
POSTED: 9:32 a.m. PST January 30, 2003
UPDATED: 10:02 a.m. PST January 30, 2003
SAN DIEGO -- A Camp Pendleton-based Marine faces court martial and possible
prison time for refusing to be vaccinated against anthrax, it was reported
Thursday. Cpl. Anthony Fusco, a Santa Clarita native, was charged this month
with disobeying a lawful order and probably will be court-martialed in
February, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. Fusco, 22, a switchboard
operator, told the newspaper he believes the vaccine isn't safe, based on
his Internet research. "They haven't really done any studies on long-term
side effects," Fusco told the Union-Tribune. "I believe it's your own body.
It's your own right to put something in your body."
Fusco told the newspaper that he fears the vaccine might cause auto-immune
diseases and birth defects when he and his wife decide to have children.
Fusco is the only member of the 45,000-strong 1st Marine Expeditionary Force
charged with refusing the vaccination since the military resumed the program
last fall, 1st Lt. Dan Rawson, a Camp Pendleton spokesman, told the
Union-Tribune.
All members of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton and
Miramar Marine Corps Air Station are expected to get the shot if they are
likely to be deployed on combat-related service. Fusco is accused of the
same offense for which at least 37 service members were convicted when they
refused inoculations in the late 1990s.
If convicted, Fusco could face a year in a military prison and a bad-conduct
discharge.

Marine charged after refusing anthrax shot
Prison, bad-conduct discharge possible
By Jeanette Steele
STAFF WRITER
San Diego Union-Tribune
January 30, 2003
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/uniontrib/thu/metro/news_1mc30anthrax.html
CAMP PENDLETON – Cpl. Anthony Fusco has become the first San Diego
County-based Marine to face court-martial for refusing the anthrax
vaccination since the military resumed the controversial program last fall.
Fusco, a switchboard operator, said he believes the vaccine isn't safe,
based on his Internet research. "They haven't really done any studies on
long-term side effects," Fusco, 22, said in an interview. "I believe it's
your own body. It's your own
right to put something in your body." Fusco, a Santa Clarita native, was
charged this month with disobeying a
lawful order and probably will go to a special court-martial in February, he
said. If convicted, his maximum sentence would be a year in military prison
and a bad-conduct discharge.
Fusco is the only member of the 45,000-person 1st Marine Expeditionary Force
charged with refusing since the vaccinations resumed, said 1st Lt. Dan
Rawson, a Camp Pendleton spokesman. For the military community, it is an old
debate coming to the forefront again. Fusco is accused of the same offense
that at least 37 service members were
convicted of when they refused inoculations in the late 1990s. The Pentagon
largely suspended its anthrax vaccination program in 2001 because of low
supply from troubled manufacturer BioPort Corp. of Michigan.
With a potential war against Iraq, the Marines in September began
inoculating troops bound for the Middle East and Southwest Asia. All members
of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton and Miramar Marine
Corps Air Station are expected to get the shot if they might deploy.
The anthrax bacterium can be deadly, especially when inhaled. Spores enter
the lungs and migrate to lymph nodes, where they produce lethal toxins that
destroy vital organs. Five Americans died in late 2001 when anthrax-laced
letters circulated through the postal system. Rawson said the Marine Corps
has tried to educate troops about the safety of the vaccine – the same
version given to service members in the late 1990s.
"Whenever a Marine thinks about refusing the anthrax vaccine, that refusal
is thought to be a misunderstanding of the purpose and efficacy of the
vaccination," he said. "The Marine is given multiple opportunities to sit
down one on one with a number of individuals in the chain of command and
learn and have his questions answered. If that fails, charges can be
brought." Fusco said he fears the vaccine might cause autoimmune diseases
and birth defects when he and his wife decide to have children.
He studied a Web site called www.majorbates.com, which is a collection of
articles and documents about the vaccine. The site is run by retired Air
Force reservist Lt. Col. John Richardson, who launched it in 2000 after
fruitless attempts to get the military to change its mandatory vaccine
policy. Richardson disputes the military's claims of the vaccine's safety.
"Objective information makes me believe it's not safe," he said yesterday.
"I've talked to victims."
Fusco, who joined the Marine Corps in 1999 during the height of the earlier
courts-martial, said he had never heard of the controversy until he was
offered the shot, if he wanted it, while stationed in Japan later that year.
He declined. In December, he was ordered to be inoculated when his 13th
Marine Expeditionary Unit was scheduled for a six-month deployment to the
Persian Gulf in June. He refused. Fusco said he was removed from his unit
and initially was offered
nonjudicial punishment, which he intended to accept to avoid a negative
discharge. With hopes of becoming a police officer, he worries that a
bad-conduct discharge could hurt his chances. Then his superiors told him
the deal was off, Fusco said. Now he has been told he faces a special
court-martial, the second-highest kind of military trial.
Fusco said he still hopes for a less-severe general discharge. But if he
doesn't get it, he won't be sorry. "Even if it's hard for me, I'll do my own
business or something," Fusco said. "I'll make it. "I still don't hate the
Marine Corps. I just think what they are doing is very wrong."
Jeanette Steele: (760) 476-8244; jen.steele@uniontrib.com
Copyright 2003 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
====================================================
Two show 'significant adverse effects' to vaccine
By Sandra Jontz, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, January 30, 2003
http://www.stripes.osd.mil/article.asp?section=104&article=12226&archive=true
WASHINGTON — Two military members recently showed “significant adverse
effects” to the smallpox vaccine, though the symptoms are not
life-threatening, defense officials said. One of the two patients began
showing the adverse signs over the weekend and the other on Tuesday, Army
Lt. Col. John Grabenstein, deputy director for military vaccines, said
Wednesday during a health conference.
Because the two cases are being reviewed, he declined to provide
information such as the patients’ sexes, ages, whether they are deployed
overseas or serving in the United States, active duty or guard or reserve,
or give a general description of the side effects and what type of medical
treatment the two are receiving.
However, once their case reviews are complete, which should occur within
the next few days, Grabenstein said mu ch of that kind of information would
be made public, to include being posted on the Defense Department’s
official smallpox Web site: www.smallpox.army.mil .
“We want the whole story correct the first time,” he said.
Since President Bush ordered on Dec. 13 a mandatory smallpox vaccination
program that eventually will tap roughly 500,000 troops, about 3 percent of
those vaccinated have lost one or more days at work or reported side
effects such as fever or malaise, Grabenstein said. There have been no
reported deaths.
To date, roughly 3,000 military health-care workers have gotten the
vaccine. The number in the operational force is not releasable to the
public, he said.
However, both the Center for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food
and Drug Administration are updated weekly on the number and health status
of vaccinated troops.
Targeted troops include those on emergency response teams, troops deployed
to the front battle lines, and those living in high-risk areas of the
globe. For security reasons, the high-risk areas are not being publicly
identified.
It has been reported that troops deployed to the Middle East region have
been vaccinated.
Side effects from the vaccine range from flulike symptoms to, in extreme
cases, death. Experts have estimated that one to four people out of every
million vaccinated could die from the vaccine.
In the past, about 1 in 1,000 vaccinated people experienced reactions that
were serious, but not life-threatening, according to the Web site. Most
reactions involved the spread of vaccine virus elsewhere on the body.
The vaccine is made from a live virus, and if the inoculation site is
touched, and people touch another part of their body, it can spread.
Historically, roughly 30 percent of those exposed to the disease die.
And while the program is mandatory, some servicemembers with health
conditions will be exempt, including those with compromised immune systems
(such as those who are HIV positive), skin conditions like eczema, cancer
patients, and women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Servicemembers who are HIV positive can still serve; however, they are not
deployable.

About 209,000 Gulf War veterans have filed claims with the Veterans
Administration, and 161,000 of them are receiving disability payments.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/06/health/06NERV.html
Drug Tested in Gulf War Is Approved for Troops
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr.
The Food and Drug Administration gave final approval yesterday to a drug
used to help protect troops against one type of nerve gas that might be used
in any war with Iraq. The drug, pyridostigmine bromide, was used, on an
experimental basis, in the Persian Gulf war in 1991, and some groups argued
that it could have been a cause of gulf war syndrome. The syndrome is
vaguely defined, but veterans complained of fatigue, rashes, headaches,
muscle pains and memory loss.
But an F.D.A. spokesman said several postwar studies "all assert that you
can't attribute any aspects of gulf war syndrome to this drug." Much higher
doses of the drug are used to treat myasthenia gravis, a neuromuscular
disease, the spokesman, Dr. Robert Temple, said, adding that the drug does
not pass the blood-brain barrier, which protects the brain. It was approved
for myasthenia gravis in 1955.
At the front, pyridostigmine bromide is taken in tablets three times a day
by troops in danger of being exposed to soman nerve gas. Soman is one of
several nerve gases that kill by paralyzing the breathing muscles. The drug
does not protect against sarin, a better-known, slower-acting gas in the
same family.
The pills protect the periphery of the body. If troops are exposed to gas,
they must immediately stop using them and inject themselves with atropine
and pralidoxime, drugs that can reach the central nervous system and that
already have F.D.A. approval. Troops are also supposed to wear gas masks and
chemical protection suits.
In the gulf war, pyridostigmine bromide was considered an investigational
drug. Yesterday's agency approval was based on tests in guinea pigs and
monkeys. The drug cannot ethically be studied in humans because they would
have to be exposed to nerve gas.
F.D.A. rules issued last June allow for approval of drugs for humans based
on their effectiveness in animals when it is not feasible to do human tests,
Dr. Temple said. Because of the possibility of war with Iraq, "there was
interest in having the drug approved," he said. Dr. Mark B. McClellan, the
F.D.A. commissioner, said the approval would "help protect American troops
and others from nerve agent attacks."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/military/20030208-
9999_7m8kuwait.html
2 Marines who balked at vaccine deployed
Both go to Kuwait, face penalty later
By Jeanette Steele
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
February 8, 2003
Two Marines who refused the military's mandatory anthrax vaccination
are among thousands of Camp Pendleton-based troops deployed to
Kuwait, according to officials.
The 1st Marine Division is deferring punishment and will allow them
to serve in "duties that will not . . . unduly jeopardize them or
their fellow Marines," said 1st Marine Division spokesman 2nd Lt.
Eric Knapp.
There are no plans to court-martial them while in Kuwait, he said.
That departs from previous Marine actions on anthrax refusal, which
involved removal from deployment status and quick punishment.
It's unclear whether the two Marines have been charged, but in past
years the Marine Corps has court-martialed others who refused the
controversial vaccination. At least 37 service members were tried for
refusing the vaccine when it was first mandated in the late 1990s.
Another Pendleton Marine, Cpl. Anthony Fusco, currently faces court-
martial for the same offense, which is disobeying a lawful order.
The Marines said preparation for a possible war and a commander's
judgment influence punishment decisions. The division commander is
Maj. Gen. James Mattis, who led the Marine forces into Afghanistan in
late 2001.
"Although swift disposition of disciplinary proceedings is preferable
in most instances, it is not unusual for operational commitments to
delay such proceedings, especially when . . . related to real-world
contingencies," Knapp said.
A Marine spokesman at the Pentagon said the two will face punishment
later.
"All Marines who continue to refuse the anthrax vaccination will be
held accountable . . . for disobeying orders, eventually," said Lt.
Col. Stephen Kay, a Marine headquarters public affairs officer.
One of the Marines is Lance Cpl. Kevin Lotz, a 21-year-old machine
gunner stationed at the Twentynine Palms Marine base. His division is
headquartered at Camp Pendleton. The other Marine's name wasn't
available.
Lotz's mother, Kathleen Lotz of Arcata, said she's disappointed the
Marines would punish him after he serves in a potential combat zone.
"I can't believe they would put a Marine on the front lines, fighting
a war and risking his life every day, then bring him home only to
court-martial him and give him a bad conduct discharge," Lotz said.
"All I can do as a mother is pray for his safety while in Iraq and
trust in the history of honor the Marine Corps has."
By refusing the vaccinations, the two men put themselves at greater
risk in an anthrax attack, Marine officials said. Anthrax is a deadly
bacteria that the White House has said Saddam Hussein possesses and
may use against U.S. troops.
"They have been ordered to take the vaccine and counseled about the
necessity for protecting their bodies from the dangers of anthrax,"Knapp said. "We expect them to take the vaccine and fulfill their
enlistment oath."
All other division Marines have been vaccinated, he said.
Jeanette Steele: (760) 476-8244; jen.steele@uniontrib.com

http://www.scotlandonsunday.com/uk.cfm?id=71872003
Sun 19 Jan 2003
Troops fear jab more than germ war
JASON ALLARDYCE
MORE than half of all British troops will go to war in Iraq without anthrax
vaccinations because they fear the side-effects on their health more than
the risk of germ warfare, Scotland on Sunday can reveal. Thousands of
members of the Royal Navy, army and Royal Air Force have rejected the MoD’s
strong recommendation that they accept jabs to protect against chemical and
biological attacks.
If war breaks out, the majority of forces personnel who would fight in the
Gulf would do so without protection against an anthrax attack. Their
decision - which comes as Britain prepares to deploy a further 14,000
soldiers to the Gulf tomorrow - will acutely embarrass ministers because it
suggests soldiers, pilots and sailors do not believe government assurances
that the vaccine is safe.
Last night, opposition politicians accused the government of mishandling its
vaccines policy and jeopardising the lives of servicemen and women. Within
the Navy, which is central to Britain’s military build-up in the region, the
refusal rate is as high as 72%, the MoD has confirmed. Over half of RAF
personnel and a quarter of Army have also rejected the MoD’s medical
advice. The government is desperate to minimise British casualties in
another war against Saddam Hussein.
Concern about vaccination has been growing within the armed forces as a
result of publicity about the plight of Gulf War veterans. The government
still refuses to officially recognise Gulf War Syndrome, despite claims by
veterans that 500 have died and over 5,000 may be suffering from the
syndrome, which they blame on being inoculated against
biological weapons. A recent industrial tribunal ruling accepted a link
between the anthrax vaccine given to a 32-year-old Scottish soldier in 1991
and his osteoporosis and depression, which he blames for the break-up of his
marriage.
The symptoms experienced by former Army Royal Engineer Alex Izett could not
be blamed on anything he witnessed or experienced in the Gulf because,
although he was on standby for service, he was not sent there. Within a few
years of his vaccination, Izett developed stomach ulcerations, depression,
brittle bones and violent mood swings which led to him striking his wife.
He told Scotland on Sunday: "I asked at the time what was in the vaccines
and I was told, ‘You don’t need to know.’ I trusted them. I didn’t think my
government would do anything that would harm me. "Later I became withdrawn
and aggressive to the point that even a fly on the wall would annoy me. I
have no trust in the British government. They
have taken away everything I ever had: my livelihood, my marriage and my
health, and yet they have still not learned from their mistakes because they
are still administering these vaccines."
Similar concerns in the US, where anthrax vaccinations are mandatory, have
led to an exodus by highly trained and experienced pilots from the services
to avoid the vaccine. Opposition politicians and veterans campaigners voiced
grave concerns about the British vaccination programme. Tory defence
spokesman Bernard Jenkin said: "People obviously feel that Gulf War Syndrome
is far worse than anything they are going to get from the enemy. The
government has completely failed to build confidence in their vaccination
advice ."
The MoD confirmed that its medical officers currently recommend strongly
that all personnel receive anthrax vaccinations, which the government
insists are safe. The ministry refused to rule out mandatory jabs in future.
An MoD spokeswoman said: "We think it is safe, but like any other medicines
there are side effects. There is no evidence of long-term effects. We want
those serving in the Gulf region to have access to the very highest level
of protection available." But Maria Rusling, who manages the National Gulf
Veterans and Families Association, said she sympathised with the servicemen
and women who had turned down the vaccines.
"The government has not learned from its mistakes. They must prove that this
vaccine is safe and I don’t believe they have," she said. In response to the
high refusal rate among military personnel, Rusling claims some in the
service have been warned that ignoring the MoD’s advice to accept jabs could
jeopardise their career prospects although this is denied by the Ministry.
Tony Blair is expected to announce tomorrow that over 14,000 British
soldiers and at least 150 Challenger II battle tanks will be sent to the
Gulf to prepare for war as he steps up the pressure on Iraq. That will take
Britain’s military presence in the region to around 25,000 personnel as the
UN continues to scour the Gulf for Iraqi weapons of mass
destruction.
jallardyce@scotlandonsunday.com

3 Allege Reprisals Over Smallpox Shots
Three Civilians in Merchant Marine Say They Were Fired for Refusing
Smallpox and Anthrax Shots
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas Jan. 27 —
Three civilians in the U.S. Merchant Marine say they refused to be
vaccinated against smallpox and anthrax and were fired from the crew of a
ship loaded with Army vehicles. The ship's captain, Joseph Hood, said no
one had been fired and declined to comment about the shots. The three were assigned to the Cape Taylor, one of three "ready reserve"
ships docked at Corpus Christi. The ship is believed to be heading to the
Middle East with Army tanks and trucks. The three civilians are part of
the ship's crew of 27 and are among 20 who belong to the Seafarers
International Union. "If they do not replace us they cannot sail, and that is Coast Guard
rules," Erik Ortwein of Tacoma, Wash., told the Corpus Christi
Caller-Times on Sunday. "A lot of people are worried about this."
Ortwein, Lino Remorin of McAllen, Texas, and Jose Camales of Puerto Rico
said Hood fired them Sunday after they refused to sign papers committing
them to be immunized. They said Sunday was the first time they were told
the shots would be required. "They gave us no information," said Ortwein.
"No doctors, no physicals. I have no idea how this stuff was
manufactured."

Troops are offered a vaccine to protect against anthrax
More than half of British service people heading to the Gulf have refused a
voluntary Anthrax vaccination, the Liberal Democrats have revealed.
Defence spokesman Paul Keetch MP said that of the 16,538 service personnel
offered the jabs only 8,103 accepted.
That was despite the fact the government believes Anthrax poses a "real
threat to our armed forces", according to Defence Minister Lewis Moonie.
He said that there were "no reservations" over recommending the injection
but it would still remain voluntary "in accordance with long-standing
medical practice".
But that prompted Mr Keetch to accuse the government of failing to show
leadership over the vaccines.
"By making immunisation voluntary, the Government has sown confusion among
service personnel.
"Soldiers are being asked to judge for themselves the possibility of anthrax
infection in the Gulf. If the vaccine is safe and the threat real, why pass
the buck to our troops to decide?
"The government is exhibiting a real lack of leadership at a time when the
public expects clarity about the risks, and indeed the necessity, of war."
'No waiver'
Mr Keetch's comments come just days after the government rejected
suggestions troops were being asked to sign waivers to say they will not
claim compensation if they become ill after having vaccinations.
There had been reports that soldiers preparing to go to the Gulf were being
asked to sign the waiver when they were given jabs, including the anthrax
vaccine.
The wife of an RAF solider from Bury St Edmunds, wrote to the Daily
Telegraph to say her husband, who is about to leave for the Gulf, had been
asked to sign a waiver when he was offered vaccinations.
She wrote: "He was told, if he wanted to have these jabs, he had to sign a
disclaimer saying that, if he had illness in the future, he couldn't claim
compensation."
The National Gulf Veterans and Families Association said earlier in the week
that it had been contacted by a female member of 16 Air Assault Brigade who
said she had been asked to sign a waiver.
It has also expressed concerns over the safety of the vaccine.
Shaun Ruisling, chairman of the association, said: "These are great
concerns.
"It seems to be the case that soldiers are damned if they do have the
vaccine and damned if they don't."
'Opposite'
But Mr Moonie told the BBC that soldiers were "categorically not" being
asked to sign waivers.
"They are not being asked to sign.
"When someone refuses a vaccination, not when they take one, a record is
kept - signed by the doctor and the person - to say they understand they
have been offered the vaccination and they have refused to do it.
"So it's the exact opposite of what's being said."
Dr Moonie said the Ministry of Defence had very good public health reasons
for wanting its troops to take all the vaccinations on offer, including
anthrax.
He said they were told they should have the vaccines, but it was still
voluntary.
He said it was safe and had been given for many years without any cases of
serious side effects being noted.
However, he admitted that full immunisation took about six months, but there
was some immediate protection from the jab.

Listen to this <http://www.abc.net.au/am/2003/02/13/20030213am05.asx
story
[Requires Microsoft Media <http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/default.asp
Player]
This is a transcript of AM broadcast at 08:00 AEST on local radio.
Gulf War veterans health study to be released
AM - Thursday, February 13, 2003 8:14
LINDA MOTTRAM: The Federal Government is this morning rejecting claims that
it's deliberately withholding the first comprehensive study into the health
of Australia's veterans from the 1991 Gulf War.
The study has taken three years to complete and it is currently, as they
say, "at the printers", according to government sources, due for release
next week.
Jo Mazzocchi reports.
JO MAZZOCCHI: Public confusion over the anthrax vaccine is fast reaching new
levels of anxiety.
This caller to Perth Radio's 6PR identified herself as Delma, the mother of
a serving sailor who had refused an anthrax injection on the grounds it may
lead to infertility.
DELMA: She just said she'd refused the anthrax injection.
The only information they sort of gleaned was it can cause infertility,
possibly other things, they're not quite sure. So she refused to have it,
she's a young girl.
JO MAZZOCCHI: And in Darwin, Leslie Bullard is angry that his son, on board
HMAS Darwin, wasn't warned before he left Australia that he'd been
vaccinated against anthrax.
He's now emailed his son, advising him not to have any more anthrax
injections.
LESLIE BULLARD: I want my son to partake in the operations over there should
we need to go to battle, but I don't want him dead before he does go to
battle.
JO MAZZOCCHI: It's a public relations nightmare but Australian defence
authorities insist there is no cause for concern because the vaccine is both
safe and effective.
But families and loved ones of serving defence personnel say that is a claim
that should be proved.
Philip Steele is the chairman of the Gulf War Veterans and Peacekeepers
Association.
PHILIP STEELE: Well, they would have love to, or liked to have heard it from
the Department of Defence before hearing it in the media.
And they say that one side effect of the injections is possibly that women,
and men for that matter, will become sterile, but I don't think there is
anything proven and that's what the Government needs to do, come out and
say, here is a study into anthrax, it's safe, that type of thing.
JO MAZZOCCHI: The debate over the anthrax vaccine coincidentally comes at a
time when the first ever study into the health problems of Australia's Gulf
War veterans has just been completed. The study, commissioned by the Federal
Government, has been carried out by Monash University and it shows that Gulf
War veterans are at a greater risk
of developing psychological disorders such as post-traumatic stress,
depression and greater substance abuse.
It is believed the report shows there are no findings that Gulf War veterans
are at increased risk of any unique disorder, in other words, Gulf War
Syndrome. AM also understands the report examined anthrax and other related
vaccinations but the findings are inconclusive because a lot of veterans
simply couldn't recall what injections they'd received.
According to Labor's Federal Member for Cowan in Western Australia, Graham
Edwards, himself a Vietnam veteran, the report should be released
immediately.
GRAHAM EDWARDS: We know it's gone to the minister and we know that she's
sitting on it. It's a disgrace and she should have released it before those
troops were deployed. If she's now telling the people of Australia that it's
at the printers, then she's now contradicted herself in a serious way.
JO MAZZOCCHI: The Minister, Danna Vale, declined to be interviewed. A
spokeswoman from her office told AM the report was always scheduled to be
released shortly, but as is usual practice, it must first be examined by an
independent scientific advisory committee.
LINDA MOTTRAM: Jo Mazzocchi reporting.

The government's propaganda on Anthrax vaccination would have warmed the
cockles of Joseph Goebbels's heart (if he had one, that is). They have
played right into the hands of the anti-choice lobby by sneaking Anthrax
aboard our ships just before they departed and springing them, unannounced,
on unsuspecting service personnel.
That there have been objections to this tactic is not surprising. Though the
armed services train people to obey orders, they do not teach them to stop
thinking and any thinking person who can read and write would be able to
access much medical information on the dangers of this vaccine.
For instance, the following is a partial list of adverse reactions from the
package insert of the American Vaccine (being used on Australian Troops),
BioThrax. "cellulitis, cysts, pemphigus vulgaris, endocarditis, sepsis,
angioedema and other hypersensitivity reactions, asthma, aplastic anemia,
neutropenia, idiopathic thrombocytopenia purpura, lymphoma, leukemia,
collagen vascular disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis,
polyarteritis nodosa, inflammatory arthritis, transverse myelitis,
Guillain-Barré Syndrome, immune deficiency, seizure, mental status changes,
psychiatric disorders, tremors, cerebrovascular accident (CVA), facial
palsy, hearing and visual disorders, aseptic meningitis, encephalitis,
myocarditis, cardiomyopathy, atrial fibrillation, syncope,
glomerulonephritis, renal failure, spontaneous abortion and liver abscess.
Infrequent reports were also received of multisystem disorders defined as
chronic symptoms involving at least two of the following three categories:
fatigue, mood-cognition, musculoskeletal system.Reports of fatalities
included sudden cardiac arrest (2), myocardial infarction with polyarteritis
nodosa (1), aplastic anemia (1), suicide (1) and central nervous system
(CNS) lymphoma (1).
Now Mr. Editor, I challenge you - if you were to be offered a vaccine
listing these as side effects, would you be the first to roll up your
sleeve?
Meryl W Dorey
National President
The Australian Vaccination Network, Inc.
PO Box 177
Bangalow NSW 2479
02 6687 1699 - 0414 872 032
www.avn.org.au

This is a transcript of PM broadcast at 1800 AEST on local radio.
Sailors future uncertain after vaccination refusal
PM - Thursday, February 13, 2003 18:15
MARK COLVIN: Sailors from Australian vessels deployed to the Gulf have been
undergoing what are called 'debriefing sessions' in Western Australia today.
They're men and women who refused to accept anthrax vaccinations.
The stepfather of a woman sent back from HMAS Darwin says she's had to deal
with being called a coward, and fears an uncertain future in the Navy. The
stepfather, himself a former leading seaman, says she refused the
vaccination because she was afraid of becoming infertile.
David Weber reports.
DAVID WEBER: Luis Lim was in the Australian Navy for 18-years. He served
around the world, and received medals for his role in the East Timor
deployment. Mr Lim also received a long-service medal. Mr Lim says his
step-daughter's been having a rough time. He says she hasn't refused to
serve her country, but she has refused to be a guinea pig.
LUIS LIM: She's had a lot of turmoil in her mind and in her heart. The crew
members who remained chastised them, they accused them of being cowards. The
senior officers on the ship have told them that they're not welcome on the
ship anymore, not even to attend the ship's ball, and some other personnel
have said that they should have their medals taken away from them for
service that they have already participated in.
DAVID WEBER: Given that attitude, can you understand why they needed to send
her back?
LUIS LIM: The Navy seems fairly bureaucratic in this. Half the British Army
in the Gulf region have refused the anthrax needles, and logistically
speaking, they can't just send everyone home. I can understand the Navy
wanting to give their personnel the best health care available, but to say
that they're unfit to serve because they might get anthrax, it seems to me
that it's strange when they're there to fight. And the main area of concern
should be the enemy, not anthrax.
DAVID WEBER: The woman was concerned about possible infertility. Mr Lim says
she's now worried she may have jeopardised her career.
LUIS LIM: Along with termination of a career comes the possible loss of a
house. She's very worried about that. She doesn't want to step on people's
toes; she wants to keep her bridges intact, but at the same time her health
is more important, her long-term health is more important than a career.
DAVID WEBER: At this stage, has the Navy given any indication about what
they're going to do with her?
LUIS LIM: Unfortunately, they've only used standover tactics, veiled threats
of dismissal, veiled threats of being posted to a different state from where
she comes from.
DAVID WEBER: It's understood the woman attended a psychological debriefing
session at HMAS Stirling near Rockingham today. She was advised [to have]
two-weeks leave.
LUIS LIM: And officially, even though she's refused the injection, it's so
she can make up her mind.
DAVID WEBER: About what?
LUIS LIM: Whether to rescind that refusal or to maintain her position.
DAVID WEBER: So she may be allowed to go back to the ship if she decides to
have that injection?
LUIS LIM: Well, I think officially, she would be allowed to, but from the
opinion of, well... from the activities of the crew and the hierarchy on the
ship, she might not actually want to go back to the ship.
DAVID WEBER: A spokesman for the Defence Forces denies any of those who'd
refused anthrax vaccinations were even at HMAS Stirling today. But the
spokesman says they were expected to take part in debriefing sessions,
followed by leave and advice on their next postings. The spokesman says the
Navy had a duty of care to bring back those who refused vaccinations. He
says no one's being crucified over the issue.
MARK COLVIN: David Weber.
Transcripts on this website are created by an independent transcription
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/2690723.stm
Anthrax vaccine risk row
The government has denied troops are being asked to sign waivers to say they
will not claim compensation if they become ill after having vaccinations.
There had been reports that soldiers preparing to go to the Gulf were being
asked to sign the waiver when they were given jabs, including the anthrax
vaccine. The wife of an RAF solider from Bury St Edmunds, wrote to the Daily
Telegraph to say her husband, who is about to leave for the Gulf, had been
asked to sign a waiver when he was offered vaccinations.
She wrote: "He was told, if he wanted to have these jabs, he had to sign a
disclaimer saying that, if he had illness in the future, he couldn't claim
compensation." She added: "I am disgusted that these men and women are being
sent possibly to fight a war that no one wants and, besides worrying about
the immediate danger they could be exposed to, have the long-term worry of
'could I get ill from these inoculations and who will protect me if I do."
The National Gulf Veterans and Families Association said earlier in the week
that it had been contacted by a female member of 16 Air Assault Brigade who
said she had been asked to sign a waiver. It has also expressed concerns
over the safety of the vaccine. Shaun Ruisling, chairman of the association,
said: "These are great concerns. "It seems to be the case that soldiers are
damned if they do have the vaccine and damned if they don't."
But Lewis Moonie, defence minister told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that
soldiers were "categorically not" being asked to sign waivers. "They are not
being asked to sign.
"When someone refuses a vaccination, not when they take one, a record is
kept - signed by the doctor and the person - to say they understand they
have been offered the vaccination and they have refused to do it. "So it's
the exact opposite of what's being said."
Dr Moonie said the Ministry of Defence had very good public health reasons
for wanting its troops to take all the vaccinations on offer, including
anthrax. He said they were told they should have the vaccines, but it was
still voluntary. He said it was safe and had been given for many years
without any cases of serious side effects being noted.
However, he admitted that full immunisation took about six months, but there
was some immediate protection from the jab. "If anybody thinks they have
been asked to sign any kind of waiver, I would ask them to get in touch with
us, and we will put their minds at rest. "We have no intention of asking
people to sign waivers. We will not do it. And, as far as I know, we are not
doing it at present."

Judge dismisses lawsuit, expresses concern
By ROBERT WELLER http://www.trib.com/AP/wire_detail.php?wire_num=72861
Associated Press Writer
DENVER (AP) - U.S. District Court Judge Edward Nottingham dismissed a
lawsuit Friday by a female soldier given a less than honorable discharge for
refusing to be vaccinated against anthrax, but said he had concerns about
the military's program. Lawyers for ex-Pfc. Jemekia Barber argued the
military violated her constitutional rights by requiring her to be
vaccinated, even though it would have made it dangerous for her to become
pregnant for at least 18 months.
She was a newlywed and anticipated having children. Nottingham said allowing
the lawsuit to proceed ''would significantly interfere with the function of
the military.'' He added that Barber hasn't exhausted her options in the
military's justice system. Nottingham said he was not endorsing the
vaccination campaign, however. ''If the court were reviewing the program the
court would be very concerned by the questions raised by the plaintiff,''
Nottingham said. ''The military will be held accountable if it is using its
own soldiers as guinea pigs.''
Nottingham said there was no dispute that the effectiveness of the anthrax
vaccination remained unproven as given by the military. He noted that a
majority of courts have held that lawsuits can go ahead even though
administrative remedies remain, but in this case he was siding with the
minority opinion.
Legal analyst Scott Robinson said, ''There is no definitive Supreme Court
ruling on this precise issue. Certainly there are times when a trial judge
feels his hands are tied.'' Herbert Fenster, Barber's chief counsel, said
the judge had declared there was no proof the vaccine was effective. ''This
means the Army violated the law by requiring soldiers to be vaccinated,''
said Fenster. Fenster said the issue is more serious for female soldiers,
because the military acknowledges the vaccination could be a health threat
during pregnancy. Her constitutional rights were violated because she
effectively would have had to abstain from reproductive sex for at least 18
months, said Fenster.
''That was the main reason I didn't want to have the vaccination. We wanted
to have a family,'' said Barber, in a telephone interview. Fenster said the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade and other cases that the government
may not interfere in the reproductive process. ''Our courts have been
relatively diligent in keeping the government out of the bedroom. It would
be possible for this to have a chilling effect on a marital relationship,''
said Robinson.
The Army had suspended the anthrax program except for high risk areas
because of a shortage of vaccine. It was subsequently resumed and some
supplies made available for use by civilians. Barber, 27, was stationed at
Fort Carson, Colo., when she was discharged in 2000. Her husband, Rodney, a
private first class, also received a less than honorable discharge.

Military proposes serious relaxation of IND regulations
Tue, 28 Jan 2003
We are rapidly approaching The Brave New World. FDA bureaucrats are
attempting to institutionalize a double standard in human experimentaion by
resorting to a strategy of doublespeak. A Department of Defense memo states:
"DoD should continue to conduct trials when ethically appropriate and when
time and resources permit compliance with the [Federal] Food, Drug and
Cosmetic Act." The Nuremberg Code of 1947 applies to ALL human
beings--including military
personnel.
The DOD and FDA would establish different standards for some Americans--in
this case military personnel who are being singled out for "special
treatment" with drugs whose safety no one knows because they have never been
tested in clinical trials.
To accomplish this the FDA is creating a "new category" of drug approval for
unlicensed drugs. The category would be reserved for "products unlikely to
receive FDA approval under current rules but that have sufficient human safety and animal efficacy experience to permit military "use." The new
category would eliminate FDA labeling requirements that alert people about
the experimental nature of the product.
The FDA's cynical rationale defies logic: "the military often fields
products that have not been tested in humans "because of the great danger to
individuals of conducting human clinical efficacy trials."
Meryl Nass, MD., board member of The Alliance for Human Research Protection
is on the mark when she told BNA: "It is part of an ongoing DOD campaign to
free the military from basic human subject protections."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Bureau of National Affairs Army Researchers' Plan Seeks Exemption From FDA
Experimental Product Safety Rules By M. Alexander Otto
Under a plan proposed by U.S. Army human research regulators, the Department
of Defense could ignore key Food and Drug Administration safety standards
when administering experimental products to soldiers, according to an
October memorandum recently obtained by BNA from the U.S. Army Medical
Research Institute of Infectious Diseases Office of Human Use and Ethics.
Under current FDA rules, experimental drugs and devices can only be used in
well-controlled clinical trials that test safety and efficacy.
That means the principal investigator must supervise the administration of
the product and serious side effects must be reported to FDA within seven
days, neither of which are practical in combat situations, according to the
memorandum, dated Oct. 11, 2002. Investigational products also must carry
labels that state "Caution: New Drug-Limited by Federal (or United States)
Law to Investigational Use."
"This label can lead the war fighter to question the safety and/or
effectiveness of the product and may threaten operational objectives,"
according to the memo.
New FDA Category. The plan would exempt the military from the clinical trial
requirement. Instead, a joint military and FDA panel would review the safety
and efficacy of the agent, determine whether a clinical trial is feasible,
identify ethical obligations, and approve the product under a new FDA
category: "licensed for contingency."
The category would be reserved for "products unlikely to receive FDA
approval under current rules but that have sufficient human safety and
animal efficacy experience to permit military … use." The memo noted,
however, that the
military often fields products that have not been tested in humans "because
of the great danger to individuals of conducting human clinical efficacy
trials." "DoD should continue to conduct trials when ethically appropriate
and when time and resources permit compliance with the [Federal] Food, Drug
and Cosmetic Act," the five-page memo stated.
Some of the content for this position paper was added to the DOD Medical
Department legislative agenda, Dr. Arthur O. Anderson told BNA. Anderson is
chief of the USARMIID Office of Human Use and Ethics and Department of
Clinical Pathology. He co-authored the memo with Chris Beardmore, an
administrator in the Office of Human Use and Ethics.
Advocate Skeptical. The move would resolve ongoing conflict with FDA about
the use of experimental products. Following the Gulf War and action in
Bosnia, DOD was criticized for failing: to report adverse events, to
properly
label and track investigational products, and to ask soldiers' permission
before administering experimental agents.
Dr. Meryl Nass, an advocate for soldiers injured by anthrax vaccine,
botulinum toxin, nerve gas antidote, and other experimental products, takes
a dim view of the initiative. "It is part of an ongoing DOD campaign to free
the military from basic human subject protections," she said. Soldiers are
subject to military discipline if they refuse an experimental product. Those
injured have no recourse; soldiers cannot sue DOD for injuries received
while
in the service, Nass noted.
Copyright 2003, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington, D.C.

Sailors refusing anthrax vaccine picketed by peers
The Australian Navy has been accused of using standover tactics on sailors
being sent home after refusing anthrax vaccinations. Luis Lim says his
step-daughter is one of the sailors sent home from the Persian Gulf for
refusing the injections. Mr Lim says the sailors are being treated terribly.
"The crew members who remained chastised them, accused them of being
cowards," he said.
"The senior officers on the ship have told them that they are not welcome on
the ship, not even to attend the ship's vale, and some other personnel have
said that they should have their medals taken away from them for servicethat they've already participated in."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-13feb2003-48.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/13/business/13DRUG.html?pagewanted=2&th
New York Will Sue 2 Big Drug Makers on Doctor Discount
By REED ABELSON and JONATHAN D. GLATER
New York plans to sue two major pharmaceutical companies today, accusing
them essentially of paying doctors and pharmacists to choose the companies'
drugs over competing medicines.The state is joining six other states, including California and Texas, in a
growing legal attack on a longstanding practice that the states say has cost
state and federal governments and consumers hundreds of millions of dollars
in recent years.
The lawsuits contend that
GlaxoSmithKline and
Pharmacia, the two large drug companies, gave discounts to doctors and
pharmacies that bought their drugs. Doctors often buy and dispense
injectable drugs like chemotherapy medicines. Pharmacies buy drugs in bulk
to fill prescriptions, and sometimes recommend particular drugs to doctors.
The discounts work this way. The drug companies establish a price for the
drug that the government and insurance companies use to determine how much
to reimburse the doctors and pharmacies for the drugs they buy. The
companies then allow the doctors and pharmacies to buy their drugs at much
lower prices than the ones reported to the government. The doctors and
pharmacies then pocket the difference.
The lawsuits argue that the drug companies, doctors and pharmacists all
profit from this arrangement, at the expense of the taxpayer and the
patient, who has a higher co-payment.
The lawsuits are expected to be filed this morning in state court in Albany
by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who is holding a news conference to
announce New York's action. A third drug maker, Aventis, has been notified
that it may also be sued. Some cancer doctors have come under fire from
members of Congress and private
insurers for profiting from providing chemotherapy drugs to their patients,
but the states are now taking direct aim at the overall pricing practices of
some of the nation's largest pharmaceutical companies.
Regulators say it is easier to pursue the big drug makers for setting the
high prices, known as average wholesale prices, than it is to investigate
numerous individual doctors.
"What we're trying to do is focus on the entire practice, rather than a
particular drug from a particular company," Mr. Spitzer said in an interview
on Tuesday. "What underlies this is a larger failure of the marketplace to
properly price
drugs," he added. As an example of the problem, Mr. Spitzer cited
Adriamycin, a chemotherapy drug made by Pharmacia. According to his staff, a
doctor may pay as little as $7.40 for 10 milligrams of the drug after the
discounts from the drug maker. But Medicare would reimburse the doctor
$34.42, based on Pharmacia's average wholesale price, and a Medicare patient
in New York would make a co-payment of $8.60. The doctor would pocket
$35.62, the difference between the amount paid for the drug and the payments
received from the patient and from
Medicare.
Many of the companies and lawyers who defend pharmaceutical companies argue
that their pricing practices are legal, and say that attorneys general are
overreaching in their lawsuits. Any changes to the Medicare and Medicaid
reimbursement system, they say, should be made by Congress, which has so far
chosen not to act.
"The question from the standpoint of the policy makers is whether this is
the kind of promotion that they want to, as a policy matter, stop," said
James M. Spears, a lawyer with Ropes & Gray in Washington. "That's a
question for
Congress to answer."
But the state suits pose a worsening problem for pharmaceutical companies as
regulators examine health care costs amid a nationwide squeeze on state
budgets. Several states, including California, Texas, Minnesota and Nevada,
have filed suits against numerous drug makers in the last three years over
their prices, and they say they are prepared to expand their activities as
they gather more evidence.
In California, for example, the attorney general expects to file new suits
in addition to one filed there last month against
Abbott Laboratories and Wyeth. More states are contemplating lawsuits of
their own, and state attorneys
general have formed a working group to share information and discuss legal
strategies. Private lawyers, many of them veterans of the tobacco
class-action litigation, have also joined the fray.
Attorneys general are trying to use litigation to force companies to change
their practices, not just to win damages, said Jennifer Arlen, a law
professor at New York University.
"They're filing cases where they know full well that it's not clear that
they can win if they go to trial," she said. "But because they're not
seeking damages in many of these situations — they're seeking structured
settlements —they're often getting a big bang for the buck by filing their case."Although
the states are sharing information, they have filed separate lawsuits rather
than a single, unified suit, and they are using different laws and pursuing
different legal strategies. Several drug companies are battling to have the
lawsuits consolidated in federal court in Boston.
While the states are suing on behalf of their individual Medicaid programs,
which pay for drugs for the poor, some are also suing on behalf of state
residents covered under the federal Medicare program. Medicare does not pay
for most drugs, but does cover part of the cost of certain kinds of
medicines, like chemotherapy drugs administered in a doctor's office.
Patients are responsible for paying 20 percent of the bill."They're harmed
much more than the states," said Mike Hatch, the attorney general for
Minnesota, which sued Pharmacia last year.Regulators are also concerned that
cancer doctors may have a financial incentive to recommend inappropriate or
unnecessary chemotherapy because they are able to profit from prescribing
particular drugs. While New York is focusing on Pharmacia and
GlaxoSmithKline as makers of anti-nausea drugs, the lawsuits include all of
the drugs they make. (Aventis also makes anti-nausea drugs.) Medicaid is
significantly overpaying for many drugs, Mr. Spitzer said, although it is
unclear exactly how large those overpayments may be. "I sense there is waste
everywhere," he said.The New York suits charge Pharmacia and GlaxoSmithKline
with consumer fraud and making false statements to government health plans
when they establish the drug prices, as well as with commercial bribery for
trying to wield inappropriate influence on doctors' decisions. The suits
take advantage of a New York statute that makes it a crime to try to
interfere with the fiduciary relationship between a doctor and a patient.
Each drug company benefits if it can enlarge its share of the market by
inducing doctors to choose their drugs based on the difference, or spread,
between what doctors pay for the drug and the amount they are reimbursed,
Mr. Spitzer said. "They gain by marketing the spread." Pharmacia and
GlaxoSmithKline both argue that Congress has chosen to allow the current
system of setting prices for drugs to continue. Spokesmen for those
companies and for Aventis said they had not seen the suit to be filed today
and could not comment on it. A spokeswoman for Aventis said yesterday that
the company voluntarily stopped reporting an average wholesale price in
August 2001, but declined to say how the government now sets reimbursement
rates for its drugs."We really have to wait until we see and then review any
additional allegations," she said. But Mr. Spitzer defended his decision to
pursue the litigation, despite inaction by Congress and the government
programs. "Regulatory lapses elsewhere don't create a justification for the
perpetuation of a system that is broken," he said. The escalating price of drugs is motivating many states to try to
tackle these practices. In California, prescription costs for the Medi-Cal
program, which provides health insurance to low-income residents, doubled
from 1997 to
2001, even as the number of patients declined by 15 percent."The public
should be incensed that the pharmaceutical giants are fleecing the Medicaid
program," said Collin Wong, the director of the state attorney general's
bureau of Medi-Cal fraud and elder abuse. The Texas lawsuit, which was one
of the first to be filed, has turned up some evidence unfavorable to the
pharmaceutical companies, said Jeff Boyd, deputy attorney general for
general litigation.Some former drug company employees who were deposed have
provided evidence that manufacturers deliberately used the spread between
the government's reimbursement and the price paid by doctors to persuade
doctors to use their drugs. Mr. Boyd said he thought some drug companies
might try to avoid taking cases to a jury."We're hopeful that as some of
these dominoes begin to fall, some of these companies will see the writing
on the wall andcome forward and start trying to negotiate a resolution," he
said.

Gulf War vets walking wounded
Mysterious illness plagues ex-soldiers, adds to current fear
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0310prelude-azsyndrome10.html
Kerry Fehr-Snyder
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 10, 2003 12:00 AM
Before she went to the Persian Gulf as an Air Force reservist in Desert
Storm, September Amyx feared the worst: death.
But after a dozen years of being so sick she felt like she was "walking
hip deep in water," Amyx realizes that her fear was misplaced.
"I'm living death," said the 46-year-old Ahwatukee Foothills woman, who
recently moved to California.
A victim of "Gulf War Syndrome," Amyx has spent years trying to pinpoint
the source of her never-ending fatigue, anxiety, depression and "fibro
fog," a condition, which she says stems from fibromyalgia, that doesn't
allow her to think clearly.
Tens of thousands of servicemen and women returned from Desert Storm with
various ailments lumped together as "Gulf War Syndrome." The condition has
since been renamed "Multisymptom Undiagnosed Illness" and is characterized
by fatigue, insomnia, headaches, short-term memory loss, muscle aches,
vague skin rashes, weight loss and gastrointestinal problems such as
constipation and diarrhea.
The symptoms still plague veterans like Amyx, a reservist who loaded and
unloaded equipment in large C-5 cargo planes bound for the Persian Gulf
beginning in August 1990. She flew multiple missions to and from the gulf
as oil fields burned.
Others, like Frank Schmuck, believe they are cured after taking somewhat
radical measures.
The 36-year-old Tempe man was an Air Force pilot who flew several missions
to the gulf beginning in August 1990. By May 1991, Schmuck returned to the
states 40 pounds lighter, suffering from insomnia, fatigue and muscle
aches that made sitting in a chair excruciating.
"I had no meat on my bones," he said. "I felt like I had brain fog."
After researching his illnesses, a process that "was wearing me out just
trying to find a cause," Schmuck believes he was poisoned by a
preservative used in the multiple vaccines he was given before serving in
the gulf. The preservative, thimerisol, is an ethylmercury-based compound
that was used in childhood vaccines until 1999. Vaccine-makers, under
pressure from Congress, removed thimerisol from children's vaccines
because of its potential risk as a neurotoxin.
But the preservative remains in many adult vaccines, and Schmuck said he
believes he received more than the allowable limits by getting several
vaccinations at the same time.
"I'm the link between Gulf War Syndrome and autism," he said, referring to
theories that ethylmercury in childhood vaccinations may be responsible
for the growing number of autistic kids.
But Dr. Nanette Auriemma, a doctor with the Carl T. Hayden VA Medical
Centerin Phoenix who has treated more than 200 Gulf War Syndrome patients
for more than two years, is doubtful thimerisol is to blame.
Of all the studies looking for a cause, not one of them has pointed to
thimerisol, she said. Instead, environmental toxins are the likely cause,
she added.
"The problem is that most of these cases are just vague symptoms,"
Auriemma said.
Rather than trying to treat the varied symptoms, Auriemma and other
doctors refer patients to specialists for individual health problems after
adding them to a national registry of veterans with the syndrome.
More research is needed, she said, to find a source for the illnesses.
"I know that feeling of desperation that they get," Auriemma said of her
patients. "It's very frustrating for the patients and the doctors when the
tests keep coming back normal."
Recently, researchers found a link between Vietnam soldiers exposed to
herbicides such as Agent Orange and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Some
believe chemical exposure in the gulf may someday be linked to cancer the
same way.
Now a commercial pilot, Schmuck said he overcame the syndrome by having
several mercury fillings replaced in his teeth and undergoing a
controversial process known as chelation to remove heavy metals, namely
mercury, from his body.
"This mercury had obviously gotten to my brain," he said. "They (doctors)
have been trying to say it's all in our heads, and I do believe it's in
our heads. I felt like somebody had poisoned me." After regaining weight,
strength and energy, Schmuck got his pilot's license reinstated.
But he worries about troops headed to the gulf for a possible war in
Iraq." All you can do is ask for thimerisol-free (vaccines) if you're due
for multiple vaccines," he said. Other veterans share Schmuck's concerns
about another crop of vets returning home ill after the Iraq conflict is
over. "What I seem to be hearing from Persian Gulf vets is that they're
very concerned for the people going over there now," Auriemma said.

Navy investigates ship's commander after sailor's anthrax complaint
http://www.abc.net.au/news/justin/nat/newsnat-6mar2003-1.htm
A formal investigation is now underway into allegations a ship's commander
threatened a sailor with a discharge after he refused an anthrax
vaccination. The sailor was on his way to the Persian Gulf as part of
Australia's pre-deploment to the Middle East.
Leading Seaman Lorne Screaton is the second sailor from HMAS Kanimbla to
publicly allege he was harrassed by his senior officers after he rejected
a vaccination against anthrax. His wife, Janet, says he was threatened
with a discharge. "Basically, he would be subject to discharge, 'you were
no longer required by the Navy'," she said.
At least a dozen sailors have refused the vaccination but Leading Seaman
Screaton is the first to lodge a formal grievance complaint. Rear Admiral
Raydon Gates says the allegations are being taken seriously.
"We have received as of Friday the 28th of February a formal complaint
from Leading Seaman Screaton and that has now started to investigate that
complaint because we do take this is a formal complaint," he said. "This
is not talk, we have now started the due legal process, this is a very
serious matter."

Some Anthrax lawsuit info: http://www.sskrplaw.com/vaccine/
ANTHRAX CHRONOLOGY
1500 B.C. God smote the Egyptians with the ten plagues, the fifth of
which, dever, gives anthrax to livestock and the sixth, shachean, to
humans.
1600s Black Bane kills 60,000 cattle in Europe, later called anthrax from
the Greek for burning coal.
1876 German physician Robert Koch identifies the bacterium bacillus
anthracis as the cause of anthrax, the first microorganism linked directly
to a disease.
1881 Louis Pasteur develops first vaccine to immunize livestock from
anthrax using weakened bacterium.
1915 Norwegian police thwart first attempt to use anthrax as a weapon when
they arrest a German agent carrying two vials of the bacteria intended to
infect reindeer carrying supplies to allied forces in Europe.
1937 Japanese immunologist Ishii Shiro conducts experiments with anthrax
on Chinese prisoners in Harbin.
1942 England conducts experiments with anthrax at Gruinard Island off the
coast of Scotland poisoning the soil.
1943 United States develops anthrax weapons.
1943 President Roosevelt appoints George W. Merck, the president of Merck
Sharp and Dome, to lead the secret government program to develop
biological weapons at Fort Detrick in Fredrick, Maryland.
1945 Anthrax outbreak kills one million sheep in Iran
1950's George Wright develops original cutaneous anthrax vaccine which is
first produced by Merck Sharp & Dohme.
1950s Government erects building 470 at Fort Detrick, an eight story
factory for making anthrax.
1960 United States Army begins Operation Whitecoat testing weopanized
anthrax and the anthrax vaccine on Seventh Day Adventists.
1960 Dr. Phillip S. Brachman, Dr. Herman Gold, Dr. Stanley Plotkin, Dr. F.
Robert Fekevy, Milton Werrin, and Dr. Norman Ingraham conduct efficacy
study for cutaneous anthrax vaccine.
1962 In a report titled "Field Evaluation of Human Anthrax Vaccine,"
Merck researchers report the vaccine was still highly effective for
cutaneous anthrax, though the case study focused only on local and
systematic reactions
and not long term adverse effects.
1969 In a speech at Fort Detrick, Richard Nixon orders the end of the
United
States' offensive biological weapons program, stating: "The human race
already carries in its hands too many seeds of its own destruction.
1970 U.S. Food and Drug Administration approves anthrax vaccine.
1970 The United States Public Health Service issues the AVA license to the
state-owned facility operated by the Michigan Department of Public Health
for protection against cutaneous anthrax only.
1970-1990 Only a limited number of individuals receive the AVA as reported
by Dr. Kwai Chan's General Accounting Office Report to Congress.
1972 The United States, Soviet Union and more than 100 other nations sign
the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention outlawing the development or
stockpiling of biological weapons.
1972 Government establishes United States Army Medical Research Institute
of
Infectious Diseases, based at Fort Detrick, to develop and research
defenses
to biological weapons.
1973 FDA publishes standards for making, using and storing anthrax vaccine
at 21 CFR Section 620.20.
1978-80 More than 6,000 are infected and as many as 100 killed by human
anthrax epidemic in Zimbabwe.
1979 Approximately 68 people die at a Soviet Union military facility in
Sverdlovsk when weaponized aerosolized anthrax is accidentally released.
Mid 1980's After the efficacy of the AVA is demonstrated for cutaneous
anthrax, the FDA approves the AVA for two limited markets: 1) individuals
who may come in contact with animal products or high-risk persons such as
veterinarians and others handling potentially infected animals; and 2)
individuals engaged in diagnostic or investigational activities using
anthrax.
1982 Soviets build the Scientific Experimental and Production Base in
Stepnogorsk to manufacture lethal strain of anthrax.
1985 The Division of Biologic Standards, now the Food and Drug
Administration, begins licensing vaccines.
1985 The DoD issues a Request for Proposal soliciting the development of a
new anthrax vaccine. The Request for Proposal states that there is no
vaccine in current use that would safely and effectively protect military
personnel against exposure to anthrax.
1985 The FDA publishes a Proposed Rule for a specific product review of
the
AVA, stating that the vaccine's "efficacy against inhalation anthrax is
not
well documented."
1988 Iraq begins its biological weapons program as its war with Iran winds
down ultimately producing 1000s of gallons of anthrax.
1989 Assistant Secretary of Defense Robert B. Barker writes in a letter to
Senator John Glenn that "current vaccines, particularly the anthrax
vaccine
do not readily lend themselves to use in mass troop immunizations for a
variety of reasons.a higher than desirable rate of reactogenicity and, in
some cases, lack of strong efficacy against infection by the aerosol route
of exposure."
1990 On August 2, 1990, Iraq invades Kuwait.
1990 Army doctors Col. Takafuji and Col. Phillip K. Russell describe the
AVA
as a "limited use vaccine" and an "unlicensed experimental vaccine" in an
article "Military Immunizations," in Infectious Disease Clinics of North
America.
1990 The State of Michigan changes the name of the original facility to
the
Michigan Biologic Products Institute ("MBPI") in order to make the move
from
state owned and operated to private ownership.
1990 Despite the absence of any proof of safety or efficacy of the AVA,
about 150,000 U.S. troops and personnel receive at lease one dose of the
AVA
during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, purportedly for the
purpose of protection against inhalation anthrax if it were used as
biological weapons by Iraq.
1990 MBPI changes both the fermenters and the filters used in
manufacturing
the AVA without notifying the FDA causing a hundred fold increase in the
protective antigen levels in vaccine lots.
1990-93 Anthrax is released in Tokyo by the terrorist group Aum Shinrikyo.
1991 Despite the absence of any proof of safety or efficacy of the AVA,
about 150,000 of 500,000 U.S. troops and personnel receive at lease one
dose
of the AVA during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, purportedly
for
the purpose of protection against inhalation anthrax if it were used as
biological weapons by Iraq.
1991 On February 28, 1991, Iraq surrenders; as condition of surrender,
UNSCOM inspect Iraqi facilities confirming huge stockpile of weaponized
anthrax.
1991 MBPI and the U.S. Army enter into an agreement for the manufacture of
the AVA.
1991 In preparation for the Gulf War, U.S. troops receive anthrax vaccine;
hundreds later complain of a variety of autoimmune problems given the name
"Gulf War Syndrome" and believed by many to be adverse reactions from the
vaccine.
1991-2000 Hundreds of Gulf War Veterans complain of a variety of
autoimmune problems given the name AGulf War Syndrome@ and believed by
many to be adverse reactions to the vaccine.
1991 The U.S. Army, an agency of the DoD, awards MBPI the Commander's
Award for Public Service for their supply of the AVA during the Gulf War.
1993 In June 1993, Pentagon creates joint program office for biological
defense.
1993 MBPI fails an FDA inspection of its facilities.
1993 The Pentagon's deliberative process of mass vaccination of military
personnel with the AVA begins with the development and implementation of
DoD's Directive 6205.3, DoD Immunization Program for Biological Warfare
Defense.
1993 Ronda Wilson joins the U.S. Army.
1993 AUM Shinrikyo members fail in their attempt to spray anthrax from
aerosol device on roof in downtown Tokyo; 2 years later, they release
saran gas in Tokyo subway killing 12.
1994 On November 26, 1994, William Perry Deputy Secretary of Defense signs
order committing to program ordering troops to be given AVA.
1994 Senate report reveals the sale of Anthrax to Irag during its war with
Iran with approval by the U.S. Department of Commerce.
1994 Senate Report 103-97 calls the AVA "investigational."
1995 The FDA issues a warning letter to MBPI requiring it to remedy the
violations at its facility.
1995 The Department of the Army contracts with the Science Applications
International Corporation ("SAIC") to develop a plan to obtain FDA
approval
for a license amendment for the AVA in order to add inhalation anthrax
exposure to the product license and to enable BioPort to list on the
product
license that the AVA was effective against inhalation anthrax.
1995 The Army Joint Program Office for Biological Defense notes there was
insufficient data to demonstrate protection against inhalation anthrax.
1995 Sandra Larson joins the U.S. Army.
1996 The DoD seeks and receives permission from the FDA to begin
vaccinations of all military personnel without obtaining a new licensed
indication for the AVA.
1996 As part of the Army/SAIC plan, MBPI submits an IND application in
order
to modify the product's license to add an indication for inhalation
anthrax.
1997 MBPI executes another U.S. Army contract in order to maintain the AVA
stockpile.
1997 The FDA sends MBPI a Notice of Intention to Revoke because no real
changes had been made to the facility.
1997 MBPI fails another FDA inspection.
1997 Secretary of Defense William Cohen announces the Anthrax Vaccination
Immunization Program (AVIP) for all U.S. military personnel.
1997 Internal FDA memo describes use of DoD's use of the AVA as
experimental
requiring informed consent.
1997-2003 All military personnel, including new recruits, begin receiving
the six-shot series of the anthrax vaccination in the following
inoculation
program: 1) Phase 1: Forces assigned now or rotating to high threat areas
in
Southwest Asia and Korea; 2) Phase 2: Early deploying forces into high
threat areas; 3) Phase 3: Remainder of the force and new recruits; and 4)
Phase 4: To Continue the Program, annual booster shots.
1998 Anthrax vaccination plan for all military service members is approved
by U.S. Secretary of Defense William Cohen.
1998 The FDA issues a report finding that the manufacturing process for
Anthrax was not validated and listed 11 pages of quality control failures
for anthrax vaccine production, including reuse of expired vaccine,
grossly
inadequate testing and use of lots that failed testing.
1998 An FDA Inspection report dated February 28th reports that Lot Number
FAVO44, filled on January 7th had an "invalid" potency test on December 8,
1997. Also, Lot No. FAVO31 was partially formulated from sublots
contaminated with microorganisms.
1998 Army Secretary Togo West, Jr. takes steps to approve a request to
indemnify BioPort against all liability arising from "the unusually
hazardous risks associated with potentially severe adverse reactions and
the potential lack of efficacy of the AVA." The indemnification concerns,
according to Secretary West, were a result of the limited use of the
vaccine on too small a scale to permit accurate assessments of types and
severities of adverse reactions and, insufficient experience in mass
immunization programs to evaluate the efficacy of the vaccine.
1998 BioPort jointly purchases the state owned MBPI with former MBPI lab
directors for approximately $24 million.
1998 FDA suspends AVA shipments from BioPort because of questions about
the facility's quality control.
1998 Sandra Larson leaves for a year tour of duty at Camp Stanley, South
Korea. Sandra Larson receives her first of six AVA injections in the
18-month anthrax series on September 16. The Lot Number for this first AVA
injection is FAVO17. On September 30, October 13 and April 6, 1999 Sandra
Larson receives her next three AVA injections from Lot Number FAVO17.
1998 Ronda Wilson receives her first AVA injection from Lot Number FAVO36.
1999 Ronda Wilson receives her second AVA injection and immediately
thereafter she experiences numerous other symptoms including: unrelenting
nausea, stomach pain and seizure-like spasms.
1999 After Ronda Wilson receives her third AVA injection with Lot Number
041 she has significant memory loss and her bowel, small intestine, colon
and heart are all damaged.
1999 Sandra Larson receives her fifth AVA injection from Lot Number FAVO
44.
1999 Sandra Larson is relieved of her duties in South Korea and her new
orders require her to relocate to Fort Rile, Kansas.
1999 BioPort is still unable to ship the AVA and at BioPort's request the
DoD restructures BioPort's contract, providing BioPort with $24.1 million
dollars in relief, reducing the number of doses demanded to 4.6 million
and agreed to raise the price per dose to $10.64.
1999 Dr. Kathryn Zoon writes to Dr. Sue Bailey, Assistant Secretary of
Defense Health Affairs, reiterating her position that the AVIP follow the
FDA approved schedule.
1999 BioPort's manufacturing plant is found to have about 30 deficiencies
in safety, sterility and consistency.
2000 Office of the Inspector General, DoD, issues an audit report
D-2000-105, reporting that over $2 million in taxpayer funds advanced to
BioPort were not spent on improvements to vaccine production but spent on
office remodeling, furniture for the CEO, parking lot re-paving,
unwarranted travel expenses, unsubstantiated consulting costs, and an
unrelated medical program. Additionally, senior managers planned on
rewarding themselves $1.2
million in bonuses and a retired employee is collecting $10,000/month in
severance and consulting fees.
2000 The Full Committee on Government Reform adopts the Subcommittee
report recommending suspension of the AVIP.
2000 425,976 service members receive 1,620,793 doses of AVA.
2000 The DoD curtails the anthrax program because of vaccine shortages at
Bioport forcing some soldiers to actually suspend vaccination mid-process.
Still, BioPort is awarded a new contract which provides for $2-$2.5
million
per month to cover costs related to getting the company to pass FDA
approval of renovated anthrax production facilities.
2000 BioPort voluntarily recalls the AVA because wrong expiration dates
were put on the labels; at the same time, BioPort's scientists seek
royalties for their part in changing the anthrax vaccination process.
2000 Sandra Larson receives her sixth and final injection of the AVA from
Lot Number FAVO 31 on March 12 2000. Sandra Larson's blood capillaries are
bursting and she is experiencing heavy vaginal bleeding. On April 8th she
is
admitted to the hospital and on April 10th Sandra Larson is put into the
intensive care unit at Kansas Medical Center and is diagnosed with
aplastic anemia, where her bone marrow had stopped producing blood cells.
2000 On May 2nd, Sandra Larson is supposed to be transferred to Ft. Lewis
in order to be treated at Madigan Army Medical Center; however the plane
that is transferring her has to make an emergency landing at Travis Air
Force
Base in California.
2000 On June 12th, breathing through a ventilator, Sandra Larson goes into
a coma. On June 14th, as result of the inoculation of the AVA, Sandra
Larson dies.
2000 Richard Dunn, a BioPort employee required to take the AVA as a
condition of his employment, dies from an adverse reaction to the vaccine.
2001 Ronda Wilson is discharged from the U.S. Army.
2001 In the weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon
and World Trade Center, letters containing anthrax spores are mailed to
American Media in Miami, NBC, ABC, the New York Times, the New York Post
and Governor Pataki's office in New York City, and to Senator Daschle's
office in Washington D.C. One man dies after inhaling anthrax at the
offices of American Media, three postal workers die in Washington D.C.,
and more than a
dozen others are infected with cutaneous anthrax. Some call for the
anthrax vaccine to be available for postal workers and the general public.

Serve your Country? by dk 8:30am Wed Nov 13 '02 (Modified on 8:32am Wed
Nov
13 '02) article#1827
http://www.indymedia.org.nz/front.php3?article_id=1827
Trust USA Government? Big mistake.
Forced Vaccines Haunt Gulf Vets
02:00 AM Nov. 07, 2002 PT
It was, the doctor at the Long Beach Veteran's Administration Hospital
said,
an incidental finding. A little gray smudge on the X-ray, a blob next to
the
pituitary gland.
Six months later, University of California at Los Angeles surgeons worked
six hours to sever a tumor from the brain of a muscular, 25-year-old
ex-Special Forces Ranger and Gulf War veteran. The costly surgery was
performed at UCLA, the patient said, because VA doctors denied that the
"incidental finding" caused his excruciating, unremitting headaches. In a
1994 report called Human Experimentation and Other Intentional Exposures
Conducted by the Department of Defense, the Senate Committee on Veterans'
Affairs seemed to agree.
"The results of our investigation showed a reckless disregard that shocked
me," said Committee Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV. "The Pentagon ...
threw
caution to the winds, ignoring all warnings of potential harm, and gave
these (investigational) drugs to hundreds of thousands of soldiers with
virtually no warnings and no safeguards.
The report.
Human Experimentation and other Intentional Exposures conducted by the
Department of Defense
FOREWORD
During the last few years, the public has become aware of several examples
where U.S. Government researchers intentionally exposed Americans to
potentially dangerous substances without their knowledge or consent. The ,
which I have been privileged to chair from 1993-94, has conducted a
comprehensive analysis of the extent to which veterans participated in
such
research while they were serving in the U.S. military. This resulted in
two
hearings, on May 6, 1994, and August 5, 1994.
This report, written by the majority staff of the Committee, is the result
of that comprehensive investigation, and is intended to provide
information
for future deliberations by the Congress. The findings and conclusions
contained in this report are those of the majority staff and do not
necessarily reflect the views of the members of the Committee on Veterans'
Affairs.
This report would not have been possible without the dedication and
expertise of Dr. Patricia Olson, who, as a Congressional Science Fellow,
worked tirelessly on this investigation and report, and the keen
intelligence, energy, and commitment of Dr. Diana Zuckerman, who directed
this effort.
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, Chairman.
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER IV, West Virginia, Chairman
DENNIS DeCONCINI, Arizona FRANK H. MURKOWSKI, Alaska
GEORGE J. MITCHELL, Maine STROM THURMOND, South Carolina
BOB GRAHAM, Florida ALAN K. SIMPSON, Wyoming
DANIEL K AKAKA, Hawaii ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania
THOMAS A. DASCHLE, South Dakota JAMES M. JEFFORDS, Vermont
BEN NIGHTHORSE CAMPBELL, Colorado
Jim Gottlieb, Chief Counsel / Staff Director
John H. Moseman, Minority Staff Director / Chief Counsel
Diana M. Zuckerman, Professional Staff Member
Patricia Olson, Congressional Science Fellow
I. INTRODUCTION
During the last 5O years, hundreds of thousands of military personnel have
been involved in human experimentation and other intentional exposures
conducted by the Department of Defense (DOD), often without a
servicemember's knowledge or consent. In some cases, soldiers who
consented
to serve as human subjects found themselves participating in experiments
quite different from those described at the time they volunteered. For
example, thousands of World War II veterans who originally volunteered to
"test summer clothing" in exchange for extra leave time, found themselves
in
gas chambers testing the effects of mustard gas and lewisite.
1 Additionally, soldiers were sometimes ordered by commanding officers to
"volunteer" to participate in research or face dire consequences. For
example, several Persian Gulf War veterans interviewed by Committee staff
reported that they were ordered to take experimental vaccines during
Operation Desert Shield or face prison.
2 The goals of many of the military experiments and exposures were very
appropriate. For example, some experiments were intended to provide
important information about how to protect U.S. troops from nuclear,
biological, and chemical weapons or other dangerous substances during
wartime. In the Persian Gulf War, U.S. troops were intentionally exposed
to
an investigational vaccine that was intended to protect them against
biological warfare, and they were given pyridostigmine bromide pills in an
experimental protocol intended to protect them against chemical warfare.
However, some of the studies that have been conducted had more
questionable
motives. For example, the Department of Defense (DOD) conducted numerous
"man-break" tests, exposing soldiers to chemical weapons in order to
determine the exposure level that would cause a casualty, i.e., "break a
man."
3 Similarly, hundreds of soldiers were subjected to hallucinogens in
experimental programs conducted by the DOD in participation with, or
sponsored by, the CIA.
References:
1 Veterans at Risk: The Health Effects of Mustard Gas and Lewisite, Pechura,
C.M. & Rall, D.P. (Eds.) Institute of Medicine, National Academy Press,
Washington, DC, 1993, p. 65.
2 In a survey of 150 Persian Gulf War veterans conducted by Committee
staff,
15 of 17 military personnel receiving botulinum toxoid in the Gulf War
were
told they could not refuse the vaccination; 54 of 73 military personnel
receiving pyridostigmine were told they could not refuse the drug.
3 Veterans at Risk, op. cit., p. 36.
End of References:
4,5 These servicemembers often unwittingly participated as human subjects
in
tests for drugs intended for mind-control or behavior modification, often
without their knowledge or consent. Although the ultimate goal of those
experiments was to provide information that would help U.S. military and
intelligence efforts, most Americans would agree that the use of soldiers
as
unwitting guinea pigs in experiments that were designed to harm them, at
least temporarily, is not ethical.
Whether the goals of these experiments and exposures were worthy or not,
these experiences put hundred of thousands of U.S. servicemembers at risk,
and may have caused lasting harm to many individuals.
Every year, thousands of experiments utilizing human subjects are still
being conducted by, or on behalf of the DOD Many of these ongoing
experiments have very appropriate goals such as obtaining information for
preventing, diagnosing and treating various diseases and disabilities
acquired during military service Although military personnel are the
logical
choice as human subjects for such research, it is questionable whether the
military hierarchy allows for individuals in subordinate positions of
power
to refuse to participate in military experiments. It is also questionable
whether those who participated as human subjects in military research were
given adequate information to fully understand the potential benefits and
risks of the experiments. Moreover, the evidence suggests that they have
not
been adequately monitored for adverse health effects after the
experimental
protocols end.
Veterans who become ill or disabled due to military service are eligible
to
receive priority access to medical care at VA medical facilities and to
receive monthly compensation checks. In order to qualify, they must
demonstrate that their illness or disability was associated with their
military service. Veterans who did not know that they were exposed to
dangerous substances while they were in the military, therefore, would not
apply for or receive the medical care or compensation that they are
entitled
to. Moreover, even if they know about the exposure, it would be difficult
or
impossible to prove if the military has not kept adequate records. It is
therefore crucial that the VA learn as much as possible about the
potential
exposures, and that the DOD assume responsibility for providing such
information to veterans and to the VA.
References:
4 Testimony of Deanne Siemer, general counsel, Department of Defense,
hearing before the Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research,
Committee
on Human Resources, U.S. Senate, "Human Drug Testing by the CIA, 1977,"
September 20-21, 1977, pp. 157-168.
5 Testimony of Sidney Gottlieb, M.D., former CIA agent, hearing before the
Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research, Committee on Human
Resources, U.S. Senate, "Human Drug Testing by the CIA. 1977," September
20-21, 1977, pp. 169-217.
End of References:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. BACKGROUND
A. CODES, DECLARATIONS, AND LAWS GOVERNING HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION
The Nuremberg Code is a 10-point declaration governing human
experimentation, developed by the Allies after World War II in response to
inhumane experiments conducted by Nazi scientists and physicians. The Code
states that voluntary and informed consent is absolutely essential from
all human subjects who participate in research, whether during war or
peace. The Code states: The person involved should have the legal capacity
to give consent; should be so situated as to be able to exercise free
power of choice, without the intervention of any element of force, fraud,
deceit, duress, overreaching, or other ulterior form of constraint or
coercion; and should have sufficient knowledge and comprehension of the
elements of the subject matter involved as to enable him to make an
understanding and
enlightened decision. This latter element requires that before the
acceptance of an affirmative decision by the experimental subject, there
should be made known to him the nature, duration, and purpose of the
experiment; the method and means by which it is to be conducted; all
inconveniences and hazards reasonable to be expected; and the effects upon
his health and person which may possibly come from his participation in
the experiments.
6 There is no provision in the Nuremberg Code that allows a country to
waive informed consent for military personnel or veterans who serve as
human subjects in experiments during wartime or in experiments that are
conducted
because of threat of war. However, the DOD has recently argued that
wartime experimental requirements differ from peacetime requirements for
informed consent. According to the Pentagon, "In all peacetime
applications, we
believe strongly in informed consent and its ethical foundations.....But
military combat is different."
7 The DOD argued that informed consent should be waived for
investigational drugs that could possibly save a soldier's life, avoid
endangerment of the other personnel in his unit, and accomplish the combat
mission.
More than a decade after the development of the Nuremberg Code, the World
Medical Association prepared recommendations as a guide to doctors using
human subjects in biomedical research. As a result, in 1964 the Eighteenth
World Medical Assembly met in Helsinki, Finland, and adopted
recommendations to be used as an ethical code by all medical doctors
conducting biomedical research with human subjects. This code, referred to
as the Declaration of Helsinki, was revised in 1975, 1983, and 1989..
References:
6 The Nuremberg Code, from Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg
Military Tribunals, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1948.
7 55 Federal Register 52,814-52,817 (December 21, 1990), "Informed Consent
for Human Drugs and Biologics: Determinations that Informed Consent is Not
Feasible."
End of References:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
8 It differs from the Nuremberg Code in certain important respects. The
Declaration of Helsinki distinguishes between clinical (therapeutic) and
nonclinical (nontherapeutic) biomedical research, and addresses "proxy
consent" for human subjects who are legally incompetent, such as children
or adults with severe physical or mental disabilities
9 Proxy consent for legally competent military personnel who participate
in military research is not considered appropriate under the Nuremberg
Code or the Declaration of Helsinki.
On June 18, 1991, the Federal Government announced that 16 U.S.
governmental agencies would abide by a set of regulations, referred to as
the "Common Rule," designed to protect human subjects who participate in
federally
funded research.
10 The provisions of the "Common Rule," first promulgated for the
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) in 1974, described how
federally funded research involving human subjects shall be conducted.
However, local
Institutional Review Boards (IRB's) may revise or exclude some or all
consent elements if the research exposes subjects to no more than "minimal
risk," meaning "that the probability and magnitude of harm or discomfort
anticipated in the research are not greater in and of themselves than
those ordinarily encountered in daily life or during the performance of
routine physical or psychological examinations or tests."
11 IRB's vary greatly in their interpretation of the risks of daily life.
There are three provisions governing research funded by DHHS that are
intended to protect vulnerable populations, such as pregnant women and
fetuses, prisoners, and children.12 There are no special Federal
regulations
to protect military personnel when they participate as human subjects in
federally funded research, despite logical questions about whether
military
personnel can truly "volunteer" in response to a request from a superior
officer.
Current law prevents the Department of Defense from using Federal funds
for
research involving the use of human experimental subjects unless the
subject
gives informed consent in advance. This law applies regardless of whether
the research is intended to benefit the subject.
References:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Declaration of Helsinki, in European and Nordic Regulations and
Guidelines
for Good Clinical practice, Pharmaco Dynamics Research, Inc., July 1990.
The
Declaration of Helsinki was amended at the Twenty-Ninth World Medical
Assembly held in Tokyo, Japan, in 1975, the Thirty-Fifth World Medical
Assembly held in Venice Italy in 1983, and the Forty-First World Medical
Assembly held in Hong Kong in 1989.
9 Declaration of Helsinki, World Medical Association, in Biomedical
Ethics,
Third Edition Mappes T.A. & Zembaty, J.S., McGraw-Hill, Inc., 1991, pp.
211-213.
10 56 Federal Register 28,002-28,032 (June 18, 1991), "Federal Policy for
the Protection of Human Subjects."
11 "Research Involving Human Subjects," statement of Robyn Y. Nishimi,
Ph.D., Office of Technology Assessment, hearing before the Subcommittee on
Energy, Committee on Science Space and Technology, U.S. House of
Representatives, "Human Radiation, Experimentation, and Gene Therapy,"
February 10, 1994.
12 45 CFR 46 (Public Welfare), subparts B,C, and D, revised October 1,
1991.
13 10 U.S.C. (Armed Forces) and 32 U.S.C. 980 (National Guard) put limits
on the use of humans as experimental subjects.
B. MUSTARD GAS AND LEWISITE
13 According to a report published by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) last
year, approximately 60,000 military personnel Were used as human subjects
in the 194O's to test two chemical agents, mustard gas and lewisite. Most
of
these subjects were not informed of the nature of the experiments and
never received medical followup after their participation in the research.
14 Additionally, some of these human subjects were threatened with
imprisonment at Fort Leavenworth if they discussed these experiments with
anyone, including their wives, parents, and family doctors.
15 For decades, the Pentagon denied that the research had taken place,
resulting in decades of suffering for many veterans who became ill after
the secret testing. According to the 1993 IOM report, such denial by the
DOD continues: "This committee discovered that an atmosphere of secrecy
still exists to some extent regarding the WWII testing programs. Although
many documents pertaining to the WWII testing programs were declassified
shortly after the war ended, others were not."
16 Based on findings from the National Academy of Sciences, the Department
of Veterans Affairs recently published a final rule to compensate veterans
for disabilities or deaths resulting from the long- term effects of
inservice exposure to mustard gas and other agents which blister the skin
(these are called vesicants).
17 The final rule expands coverage to veterans exposed to mustard gas
under battlefield conditions in World War I (WWI), those present at the
German air raid on the harbor of Bari, Italy (WWII), and those engaged in
manufacturing
and handling vesicant agents during their military service. Thus, for the
first time, VA will compensate certain veterans for illnesses which may
have been caused by their exposure to vesicants over a century ago.
C. SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS
Many experiments that tested various biological agents on human subjects,
referred to as Operation Whitecoat, were carried out at Fort Detrick, MD,
in the 1950's. The human subjects originally consisted of volunteer
enlisted men. However, after the enlisted men staged a sitdown strike to
obtain more information about the dangers of the biological tests,
Seventh-Day Adventists who were conscientious objectors were recruited for
the studies.
18 Because these individuals did not believe in engaging in actual combat,
they instead volunteered to be human subjects in military research
projects that tested various infectious agents. At least 2,200 military
personnel who
were Seventh-Day Adventists volunteered for biological testing during the
1950's through the 1970's.
References:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14 Veterans at Risk, op. cit., pp. 3-4, 6-8, 50-52, 224-226.
15 Ibid., p. 65.
16 Ibid., p. 7.
17 Federal Register 41,497-42,500 (August 18, 1994), "Claims Based on
Chronic Effects of Exposure to Vesicant Agents."
18 Gene Wars, Military Control Over the New Genetic Technologies, Piller,
C. & Yamamoto, K.R., Beech Tree Books, William Morrow, New York, 1988, pp
44-45, 53.
End of References:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
19 Unlike most of the studies discussed in this report Operation Whitecoat
was truly voluntary. Leaders of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church described
these human subjects as "conscientious participants," rather than
"conscientious objectors," because they were willing to risk their lives
by participating in research rather than by fighting a war.
D. DUGWAY PROVING GROUND
20,21 Dugway Proving Ground is a military testing facility located
approximately 80 miles From Salt Lake City. For several decades Dugway has
been the site of testing for various chemical and biological agents. From
1951 through 1969, hundreds perhaps thousands of open-air tests using
bacteria and viruses that cause disease in human, animals, and plants were
conducted at Dugway.
22 For example, antigens produced by animals that had come in contact with
Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE), a disease usually found in
horses, were later found in animals around Dugway. Prior to the
identification of these substances in the Dugway vicinity, VEE had only
been identified in the rat population in Florida. Such a finding suggested
that VEE had been used in the open-air tests at Dugway or within
laboratories, and transferred to the nearby animal population.
23 In 1968, approximately 6,400 sheep died following the intentional
release of a deadly nerve gas from a plane. According to a veterinarian
who evaluated the sick and dying sheep, there was little doubt that the
sheep
had been poisoned with nerve gas.
24 The sheep and other animals in the area had depressed cholinesterase
levels suggesting organophosphate nerve poisoning. Initially, the
Department of Defense denied any responsibility for the accident, stating
that the sheep died from organophosphate pesticides sprayed on a nearby
alfalfa field. However, the nerve agent - was identified when the poisoned
sheep were autopsied, which made it clear that the deaths were not caused
by pesticides.
25 Eventually, the Department of Defense reimbursed the ranchers for their
animals.
References:
19 Ibid.
20 Ibid.
21 At least one Seventh-Day Adventist Church has held reunions of those
human subjects who participated in Operation Whitecoat. (Phone interview
by Committee staff with Dr. Frank Damazo, Frederick, MD, March 21, 1994.)
22 Hearing before the Subcommittee on Conservation and Natural Resources,
Committee on Government Operations, U.S. House of Representatives,
"Environmental Dangers of Open-Air Testing of Lethal Chemicals," May
20-21,
1969.
23 bid., pp. 6-7.
24 Testimony of Dr. D.A. Osguthorpe, veterinarian and consultant to Utah
State Department of Agriculture, hearing before the Subcommittee on
Conservation and Natural Resources, Committee on Government Operations,
U.S.
House of Representatives, "Environmental Dangers of Open-Air Testing of
Lethal Chemicals," May 20-21, 1969, pp 63-66.
25 Ibid., pp. 64-65.
It is unknown how many people in the surrounding vicinity were also
exposed to potentially harmful agents used in open-air tests at Dugway. In
1969, concerns were expressed at a congressional hearing about the
possible public
health implications of the VEE virus tested at Dugway.
26 Due to previous problems with dangerous organisms and chemicals, Dugway
has developed an active program of "simulant" testing. According to the
Department of Defense, simulants are harmless organisms or chemicals which
do not cause disease. However, during 45 years of open-air testing, the
Army has stopped using a variety simulants when they realized they were
not as safe as previously believed.
E. RADIATION EXPOSURE
Atomic Veterans
27 From 1945 to 1962, the United States conducted numerous nuclear
detonation tests: Crossroads (Bikini, Sandstone, Greenhouse, and Ivy
(Eniwetok Atoll); Castle (Bikini Atoll); Pacific Ocean 400 miles southwest
of San Diego; Redwing and Hardtack I (Eniwetok and Bikini Atolls); Argus
(South Atlantic); and Dominic (Christmas Island, Johnston Island, 400
miles west of San Diego).
28 The main goal was to determine damage caused by the bombs; however, as
a result, thousands of military personnel and civilians were exposed to
radioactive fallout. Similar tests were conducted within the continental
United States, including sites in New Mexico and Nevada.
29 Veterans who participated in activities that directly exposed them to
radioactive fallout are referred to as "atomic veterans."
Data obtained on some military personnel who were exposed to radioactive
fallout were collected after these men were unintentionally exposed.
However, some atomic veterans believe they were used as guinea pigs to
determine the effects of radiation from various distances, including those
at ground zero, on human subjects. Their suspicions are supported by a
1951 document from the Joint Panel on the Medical Aspects of Atomic
Warfare,Research and Development Board, Department of Defense, which
identified general criteria for bomb test-related "experiments" and
identified
29 "specific problems" as "legitimate basis for biomedical participation."
References:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26 Testimony of Hon. Richard D. McCarthy, a Representative in Congress
from the State of New York, hearing before the Subcommittee on
Conservation and Natural Resources, Committee on Government Operations,
U.S. House of
Representatives, "Environmental Dangers of Open-Air Testing of Lethal
Chemicals," May 20-21, 1969, pp 6-7.
27 Cole, L.A., "Risk and biological defense program," Physicians for
Social Responsibility Quarterly, Vol 2, No. 1, March 1992, pp. 40-50.
28 Compilation of Local Fallout Data From Test Detonations
1945-1962,extracted From DASA 1251, Vol I-Oceanic U.S. Tests, Contract No.
DNA 001-79-C-0081, May 1, 1979, sponsored by the Defense Nuclear Agency.
29 Ibid.
30 Secret document, Department of Defense, Research and Development
Board,Committee on Medical Sciences, Joint Panel on the Medical Aspects of
Atomic Warfare, 8th Meeting, Washington, DC, February 24, 1951.
End of
References:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
30 The National Research Council's Committee on the Biological Effects of
Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) have prepared a series of reports to advise the
U.S. Government on the health consequences of radiation exposure.
31 The first of these reports was not published until the late 1980's,
decades after military personnel were first exposed to ionizing
radiation.For the last 13 years, the VA has provided free medical care to
atomic veterans who have disorders they believe to be caused by ionizing
radiation, even if there is no conclusive evidence of the cause.
32 In addition, the VA provides monthly compensation to veterans who were
exposed to ionizing radiation during military service, who have illnesses
that are believed to be associated with their exposure. The lists of
compensable diseases have been revised as more research information has
become available. For example, on October 11, 1994, the VA announced that
tumors of the brain and central nervous system would be considered for
disability compensation for veterans exposed to ionizing radiation.
Radiation Releases at U.S. Nuclear Sites
33 In addition to detonation testing, radioactive releases were also
intentionally conducted at U.S. nuclear sites in the years following World
War II. According to the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), at least l2
planned radioactive releases occurred at three U.S. nuclear sites during
1948-1952. These tests were conducted at Oak Ridge, TN; Dugway, UT; and
Los Alamos, NM.
34 Additionally, a planned release occurred at Hanford, WA, in December
1949, which has been referred to as the Green Run test. It is not known
how many civilians and military personnel were exposed to fallout from
these
tests.
Other Exposures to Ionizing Radiation
In January 1994, the Clinton administration established a Human Radiation
Interagency Working Group to coordinate a Government- wide effort to
uncover the nature and extent of any Government- sponsored experiments on
individuals involving intentional exposure to ionizing radiation. The
working group represents the Administration's response to Secretary of
Energy Hazel O'Leary's promise to comb Government files for information on
hundreds of experiments conducted on people in the 1940's and 1950's.
To assist in identifying those people who may have been harmed by secret
experiments utilizing ionizing radiation, the Clinton administration
solicited complaints from possible victims by installing several telephone
hotlines. As of September 1994, 86 percent of the 21,996 callers to the
radiation hotline were veterans who believed they had participated in
various radiation "experiments
References:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
31 "Health Effects of Exposure to Low Levels of Ionizing Radiation," BEIR
V, National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington, DC,
1990.
32 Letter from Hon. Jesse Brown, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to Sen.
John D. Rockefeller IV, Chair, Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, May
31, 1994.
33 News release, Office of Public Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs,
Washington, DC, October 11, 1994.
34 Nuclear Health and Safety, Examples of Post World War II Radiation
Releases at U.S. Nuclear Sites," U.S. General Accounting Office, November
1993, GAO/RCED-94- 51FS.
End of references:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
35 A VA advisory committee has concluded that activities other than atomic
weapons tests and occupation force activities resulted in the exposure of
veterans to ionizing radiation during their military service prior to
1970.
36 The committee concluded that the records for many individuals who were
exposed to such activities are inadequate or inaccessible. Additionally,
the committee concluded that information pertinent to military exposures
is not always adequate to evaluate the health risks.
F. HALLUCINOGENS
Working with the CIA, the Department of Defense gave hallucinogenic drugs
to thousands of "volunteer" soldiers in the 1950's and 1960's. In addition
to LSD, the Army also tested quinuclidinyl benzilate, a hallucinogen
code-named BZ.
37 Many of these tests were conducted under the so-called MKULTRA program,
established to counter perceived Soviet and Chinese advances in
brainwashing techniques. Between 1950 and 1964, the program consisted of
149 projects involving drug testing and other studies on unwitting human
subjects.
38 One test subject was Lloyd B. Gamble, who enlisted in the U.S. Air
Force in 1950. In 1957, he volunteered for a special program to test new
military protective clothing. He was offered various incentives to
participate in the
program, including a liberal leave policy, family visitations, and
superior living and recreational facilities. However, the greatest
incentive to Mr. Gamble was the official recognition he would receive as a
career-oriented noncommissioned officer, through letters of commendation
and certification of participation in the program. During the 3 weeks of
testing new clothing, he was given two or three water-size glasses of a
liquid containing LSD to drink. Thereafter, Mr. Gamble developed erratic
behavior and even attempted suicide. He did not learn that he had received
LSD as a human subject until 18 years later, as a result of congressional
hearings in 1975.
39 Even then, the Department of the Army initially denied that he had
participated in the experiments, although an official DOD publicity
photograph showed him as one of the valiant servicemen volunteering for "a
program that was in the highest national security interest."
References:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
35 Information from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Congressional Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs, received at the
Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, September 21, 1994; in Committee
files.
36 Letter from Hon. Jesse Brown, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, to Sen.
John D. Rockefeller IV, Chair, U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs,
May 26, 1994.
37 Gene Wars, op. cit., pp 50-51.
38 Statement of David Gries, Director, Center for the Study of Human
Intelligence, CIA, hearing before the Subcommittee on Administrative Law
and Governmental Relations, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of
Representatives, "Government - Sponsored Tests on Humans and Possible
Compensation for People Harmed in the Tests," February 2, 1994.
39 Summary of testimony, Lloyd B. Gamble, LSD test subject, hearing before
the Subcommittee on Administrative Law and Governmental Relations,
Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives,
"Government-Sponsored Tests on Humans and Possible Compensation for People
Harmed in the Tests," February 2, 1994.
End of References:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 According to Sidney Gottlieb, a medical doctor and former CIA
agent,MKULTRA was established to investigate whether and how an
individual's behavior could be modified by covert means.
41 According to Dr. Gottlieb, the CIA believed that both the Soviet Union
and Communist China might be using techniques of altering human behavior
which were not understood by the United States. Dr. Gottlieb testified
that
"it was felt to be mandatory and of the utmost urgency for our
intelligence organization to establish what was possible in this field on
a high priority basis." Although many human subjects were not informed or
protected, Dr.Gottlieb defended those actions by stating, "...harsh as it
may seem in retrospect, it was felt that in an issue where national
survival might be concerned, such a procedure and such a risk was a
reasonable one to take.
G. INVESTIGATIONAL DRUGS USED IN THE PERSIAN GULF WAR
42 Under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act, all vaccines and medical
products must be proven safe and effective by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) in order to be sold and distributed in the United
States. This law also applies to medical products used by the Department
of Defense, even if given to U.S. troops who are stationed in other
countries.
FDA also regulates medical products that are proven safe and effective for
some uses or with specific doses, but not for other uses or other doses.
If the product is only sold at certain doses and not others, its use at
the non-approved dose would be considered investigational. If the product
is legally available for sale at the same dosage, physicians can legally
prescribe it; however, manufacturers can not advertise it for that
purpose. Such "off label" use is also considered investigational. So, for
example, a drug may be proven safe and effective to treat one kind of
cancer, but be considered investigational to treat a different disease.
Under current law, an unapproved vaccine or investigational use of a drug
could only be administered by the DOD under an Investigational New Drug
(IND) procedure
43 Under an IND, any individual who is given the investigational product
must give informed consent, i.e., must be told of the potential risks and
benefits of the product, orally and in writing, and choose freely whether
or
not to participate. In addition, the IND requires that the medical product
be distributed under carefully controlled conditions where safety and
effectiveness can be evaluated.
References:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
40 Ibid.
41 Testimony of Sidney Gottlieb, M.D., former CIA agent, before the
Subcommittee on Health and Scientific Research, Committee on Human
Resources, U.S. Senate, "Human Drug Testing by the CIA, 1977," September
20-21, 1977, p. 169. Actual wording is "convert means," which we took to
mean "covert means."
42 Ibid., pp. 169-217.
43 Federal Register 52,814-52,817 (December 21, 1990).
End of References:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
When the Department of Defense began preparations for Desert Shield and
Desert Storm in 1990, officials were extremely concerned that Iraq would
use chemical and biological weapons against the United States. Despite
years of
study and billions of dollars, the DOD lacked drugs and vaccines that were
proven safe and effective to safeguard against anticipated chemical nerve
agents and biological toxins. Therefore, DOD officials wanted to use a
medication (pyridostigmine bromide) and vaccine (botulinum toxoid) that
they believed might protect against chemical nerve agents and botulism.
Because the safety and effectiveness of pyridostigmine bromide and
botulinum toxoid had not been proven for their intended use, these
products were considered investigational drugs.
PYRIDOSTIGMINE BROMIDE is a chemical which enhances the effectiveness of
twodrugs, atropine and 2-PAM, which are proven effective for the treatment
of nerve agent poisoning.
44 Pyridostigmine is also a nerve agent itself. Nerve agents exert their
biological effects by binding to, and inhibiting, the enzyme
acetylcholinesterase (AChE) which normally shuts off the neurotransmitter,
acetylcholine (ACh). When levels of ACh increase, nerve impulses and organ
activity increase. When nerve and organ stimulation are excessive, death
can result.
There are two major categories of nerve agents, carbamates and
organophosphate (OP) compounds.
45 German scientists developed many of the OP compounds for warfare agents
and pesticides in the 1930's and 1940's. Examples of warfare agents
include tabun, sarin, soman, and VX. Many organophosphates permanently
inhibit AChE. This permanent effect, which can only be reversed when new
enzymes are synthesized, makes OP warfare agents extremely lethal.
Pyridostigmine bromide is a carbamate, rather than an OP compound.
46 Although it is a nerve agent, pyridostigmine has a reversible effect
which can protect the AChE form permanently binding to OP compounds. When
appropriate doses are selected pyridostigmine theoretically should not
cause
nerve agent poisoning and should help protect against some lethal chemical
warfare.
Efficacy. Pyridostigmine only works when taken in combination with other
drugs and only if taken before exposure to nerve gas.
47 Two antidotes to nerve agents, atropine and pyridine-2-aldoxime
methochloride (2-PAM), are reportedly enhanced if pyridostigmine has
already been given. Atropine and 2-PAM were included in the nerve agent
antidote
kits (Mark I) which were issued to U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf.
In research studies, animals given pyridostigmine, atropine, and 2-PAM
were more likely to survive exposure to one chemical nerve agent, soman,
than those given only atropine and 2-PAM. However pyridostigmine is unable
to
enter and protect the brain, so that animals exposed to soman can still
suffer convulsions despite the pyridostigmine pretreatment. 48 To protect
against brain damage from ongoing seizure activity, valium may also be
required following exposure to a warfare nerve agent. Similarly,
pyridostigmine may offer little protection against the damage caused by
nerve agents in the spinal cord
references:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
44 Sidell, F.R., "Clinical Considerations in Nerve Agent Intoxication,"
Chemical Warfare Agents, Somani, S.M. (Ed.), Academic Press, Inc., 1992,
pp. 155-194.
45 Ibid.
46 Ibid.
47 Ibid.
End of
references:-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
49 Safety. Pyridostigmine bromide is approved by the FDA for treating
myasthenia gravis, a neurological disease characterized by extreme
weakness. This disease occurs when individuals develop antibodies that
prevent ACh
from causing muscle impulses at the neuromuscular junction. Therefore,
treatment with relative high doses of pyridostigmine increases ACh to
levels that are able to overcome the "block" created by the antibodies. An
analogy
might be that of a fishing pond. The two ways to increase the number of
fish caught are to increase the number of fishing poles or to increase the
number of fish in the pond.
FDA and DOD officials claimed they were confident of the safety of
pyridostigmine as an antidote enhancer for chemical warfare protection
because it would be used at a much lower dose 50 in combat than normally
used for treating patients with myasthenia gravis. However, normal
patients and those with myasthenia gravis may not
respond similarly to the same dose of pyridostigmine bromide. Whereas the
dosage of pyridostigmine bromide for patients with myasthenia gravis may
reach 120 mg every three hours,
51 the dose for U.S. troops was only 30 mg every 8 hours. A good analogy
is the use of insulin for diabetes mellitus; very high doses of insulin
are sometimes necessary to treat diabetics, but similar doses could be
fatal for
non-diabetic individuals. Some scientists also question whether
pyridostigmine is completely safe even for treating patients with
myasthenia gravis. The proportion of patients with myasthenia gravis that
recover after surgical treatment (thymectomy) has decreased since
pyridostigmine therapy was introduced several decades ago.
52 Experts speculate that whereas the problems caused by myasthenia gravis
can be corrected by surgery, pyridostigmine may cause immune damage to the
neuromuscular junction that cannot be corrected by surgery. Since the
symptoms of pyridostigmine damage would be similar to the symptoms of
myasthenia gravis, any damage from the pyridostigmine would be extremely
difficult if not impossible to diagnose. In addition to its use for
myasthenia gravis, pyridostigmine bromide has been approved by FDA for use
with surgical patients; it is administered after surgery to reverse the
effect of anesthesia, which are neuromuscular blocking agents. The dose is
relatively small (l5 mg) and not repeated. This treatment does not provide
relevant information about the safety of repeated use of pyridostigmine by
healthy individuals, since the dosage is small and the patients have
received neuromuscular blocking agents.
References:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
49 Das Gupta, S., Bass, K-N., Warnick, J.E. "Interaction of reversible and
irreversible cholinesterase inhibitors on the monosynaptic reflex in
neonatal rats," Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, Vol. 99, 1989, pp.
28-36.
50 55 Federal Register 52,814-52,817 (December 21, 1990).
51 Drachman, D.B. "Medical Progress, review article: Myasthenia gravis,"
New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 330, No. 25, June 23, 1994, pp.
1797-1810.
52 Scadding, G.K., Havard, C.W.H., Lange, M.J., & Domb, I. "The long term
experience of thymectomy for myasthenia gravis," Journal of Neurology,
Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry, Vol. 48, 1985, pp. 401-406.
End of References:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The bromide that is included in pyridostigmine bromide pills is known to
sometimes cause problems referred to as "bromide intoxication" when used
for the treatment of myasthenia gravis.
53 Bromide intoxication may cause confusion, irritability, tremor, memory
loss, psychotic behavior, ataxia, stupor, and coma. Some patients with
bromide intoxication have a skin disorder of the face and hands resembling
acne. A 60 mg tablet of the commercially available pyridostigmine bromide
contains l8.4 mg bromide (30.6 percent).
54,55 FDA has not approved pyridostigmine bromide for repeated use in
healthy individuals as an antidote enhancer or for any other reason. Since
it would be unethical to expose individuals to potentially lethal chemical
weapons in order to evaluate the efficacy of pyridostigmine, this use has
only been studied on animals. The product is therefore an investigational
drug when used as an antidote enhancer for treating nerve gas poisoning.
BOTULINUM TOXOID is an unapproved vaccine that is used to protect
laboratory workers and others who are likely to be exposed to botulism.
Botulism is caused by at least one of seven neurotoxins produced by the
bacteria
Clostridium botulinum. When home-canning of food was common, food
poisoning was the most common cause of botulism in the United States; the
bacteria in the food produces a toxin which is eaten. Today, the most
common form of botulism occurs infants, since the bacteria that produces
the toxin can thrive in a baby's intestinal tract.
A botulism vaccine that is intended to protect against five of seven
neurotoxins (called A,B,C,D,E) is produced by the Michigan Department of
Health. This is called pentavalent toxoid. This vaccine is not a licensed
product and must be distributed as an Investigational New Drug (IND).
Efficacy. Desert Shield began on August 8, 1990. Since the air war did not
begin until January 16, 1991, and the ground war took place from February
24-27, 1991, the Pentagon had several months to review the possible use of
investigational drugs and vaccines.
In December 1990, the FDA advised the Department of Defense that it would
be unable to test the botulism vaccine for efficacy, presumably because of
limited time before the onset of the war. The FDA agreed to test the
vaccine
for safety, but these tests were not completed until late January 1991. At
a meeting of the Informed Consent Waiver Review Group (ICWRG) on December
31, 1990, a representative of FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and
Research
discussed the vaccine, explaining that the existing supply was nearly 20
years old and consisted of three lots, stored under continuous
refrigeration
References:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
53 Wacks, I., Oster, J.R., Perez, G.O., & Kett, D.H. "Spurious
hyperchloremia and hyperbicarbonatemia in a patient receiving
pyridostigmine bromide therapy for myasthenia gravis," American Journal of
Kidney Diseases, Vol. XVI, No. 1, July 1990, pp. 76-79.
54 Ibid.
55 Mestinon is the brand name for one form of pyridostigmine bromide
available in the United State
End of
References:----------------------------------------------------------------------------
56 Given the age of these vaccines, they were concerns about their safety.
The recommended schedule for immunization with the pentavalent vaccine
includes a series of three initial injections at 0, 2 and 12 weeks,
followed by a booster 12 months after the first injection According to the
Centers for Disease Control's Center for Infectious Diseases, subjects
given the vaccine did not have detectable antitoxin titers after the first
two shots in the initial series, which means that they were unlikely to be
protected at week 2.
57 If for any reason only two immunizations can be given, at least 4 to 8
weeks should elapse between injections if most individuals are to be
protected against the disease. 58 Safety. The Michigan Department of
Health reported that 4.2 percent of patients reported a sore arm or other
local reactions to the initial series of three shots, an 12.1 percent had
local reactions to the booster shots.
59 Almost 3 percent had systemic reactions such as general malaise, after
either the initial three shots or the booster shots. Because of the
relatively large percentage of adverse reactions new lots of the vaccine
were manufactured in 1971. However there is no evidence that the newer
lots produced fewer adverse reactions than the older lots.
In her review of the DOD's application for use of botulinum toxoid in the
Persian Gulf, an FDA reviewer pointed out that in 1973 the Centers for
Disease Control had considered terminating the distribution of the vaccine
because of the relatively large number of individuals who had negative
reactions to it.
60 The FDA reviewer also pointed out that "there are no efficacy data in
humans" and that the dose for humans was an estimate based on results from
guinea pigs. In addition, potency testing had suggested that the vaccine
would not be effective against two of the Persian Gulf War. According to
the Michigan Department of Health, the effects of the botulism vaccine on
pregnant women had not been studied prior to its use in the Persian Gulf
War.
ANTHRAX VACCINE is an FDA-approved vaccine that is considered safe and
effective for individuals whose skin may come in contact with animal
products such as hides, hair, or bones likely to contain the anthrax
infection. It is also recommended for veterinarians and others who are
likely to touch infected animals.
References:
56 Minutes of meeting of the Informed Consent Waiver Review Group (ICWRG),
Food and Drug Administration, December 31, 1990.
57 Ellis, R.J. Immunobiologic agents and drugs available from the Centers
for Disease Control: Descriptions, recommendations, adverse reactions, and
serologic response. Third Edition. Centers for Disease Control, Public
Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Atlanta, GA,
March 1982.
58 Middlebrook, J.L. "Contributions of the U.S. Army to Botulinum Toxin
Research," Botulinum and Tetanus Neurotoxins, Das Gupta, B.R., (Ed.),
Plenum Press, New York, 1993, pp. 515-519.
59 Informational material for the use of pentavalent (ABCDE) botulinum
toxoid aluminum phosphate adsorbed, Protocol #392, Centers for Disease
Control, Public Health Service, U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, May 1992.
60 Review by Ann Sutton to the IND record, November 14, 1990; in Committee
files.
End of references:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
61 However, the vaccine's effectiveness against inhaled anthrax is
unknown. Unfortunately, when anthrax is used as a biological weapon, it is
likely to be aerosolized and thus inhaled. Therefore, the efficacy of the
vaccine against biological warfare is unknown. It appears that there is
only one relevant animal study which showed that anthrax vaccine
apparently provided additional protection against relapse in monkeys
exposed to inhalation anthrax and treated with antibiotics.
62 Although the results of this study suggest the vaccine might protect
against anthrax that has been sprayed, it is not sufficient to prove that
anthrax vaccine is safe and effective as used in the Persian Gulf. The
vaccine should therefore be considered investigational when used as a
protection against biological warfare.
The anthrax vaccine is given as three injections 2 weeks apart, followed
by three additional injections given 6, 12, and 18 months after the
initial injection. If immunity is to be maintained, subsequent booster
injections of anthrax vaccine are recommended at 1-year intervals.
63 According to the Interagency Task Force on Persian Gulf War Illnesses,
one dose provides some immunity in 85 percent of those individuals
vaccinated.
64 According to the Michigan Department of Public Health which
manufactures anthrax vaccine, it is not known whether anthrax vaccine is
safe for pregnant women or their offspring.
References:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
61 Informational material for the use of anthrax vaccine adsorbed,
Michigan Department of Public Health, U.S. License No. 99, 1978.
62 Friedlander, A.M., Welkos, S.L., Pitt, M.L.M., et al. "Postexposure
prophylaxis against experimental inhalation anthrax," Journal of
Infectious Diseases, Vol. 167, 1993, pp. 1239-1242.
63 Anthrax vaccine adsorbed, package insert, Michigan Department of Public
Health, Lansing, MI, 1978.
64 Summary of the issues impacting upon the health of Persian Gulf War
veterans," Version 1.1, March 3, 1994.

Ready to deploy, reservist dies
April 11, 2003
BY ANA MENDIETA STAFF REPORTER
A young soldier from the south suburbs died of a mysterious illness before
she could fulfill her dream of serving her country on the front lines.
Rachael A. Lacy, a 22-year-old Army reservist from Lynwood, became ill
more than a month ago after receiving several mandatory
vaccinations--among them anthrax and smallpox--before her deployment to
the Middle East. She died
April 4. "Rachael left home a healthy young woman, and she became sick
shortly after she received her inoculations,'' said her father, Moses
Lacy, who buried his daughter Wednesday in Lynwood.
An Army spokeswoman at Fort McCoy, Wis., where Lacy was based, said there
was no indication any of the vaccinations Lacy received were involved in
her death. "But until the autopsy is done it's really hard to say,"
spokeswoman Linda Fournier said. She said it would be a month before all
autopsy results were received.
Lacy's father said she developed what doctors first thought was a cold or
a minor reaction to inoculations about five weeks ago. Her condition
worsened, she did not respond to treatment for pneumonia and doctors
looked
further, even calling a specialist from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention in Atlanta.
"They were just guessing; they had no idea,'' Moses Lacy said.
He said when his daughter could not breathe unaided and had an extremely
high fever, weakness, headaches and nausea, she was taken from the
military hospital to hospitals in nearby Sparta and LaCrosse, Wis., then
flown by
helicopter April 2 to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.
Rachael Lacy died there two days later. Her father said he was then told
she might have suffered from the immune disorder lupus, and her condition
could have been caused by the smallpox vaccination.
Rachael Lacy joined the Army Reserves in 1998 after graduating from
Thornton High School in Lansing. She was studying to become a nurse at
South Suburban College in South Holland and hoped to receive a master's
degree as well. A straight-A student, she had received state scholarships.
She was with the 452nd combat hospital support unit based in Fort McCoy.
She was a "fanatic" when it came to her health and she exercised
regularly,her father said. "All she kept telling me is, 'I want to get
better because I want to go with my unit.' I would like the 452nd unit to
know that although my daughter did not die in the battlefield in Asia, she
gave her life for her country that she loved, nonetheless," Moses Lacy
said. "They are soon to be deployed, and she will be with them in spirit."
Contributing: Brenda Warner Rotzoll

GULF WAR JABS 'LIES' BY HOON
Apr 27 2003
Exclusive by Mike Hamilton
A SOLDIER called up for battle in Iraq has fallen ill with suspected Gulf
War Syndrome after receiving five jabs in one day. he injections given to
Tony Barker, 45, contradict Government pledges that troops would not be
given the multiple vaccinations, blamed for making thousands of Gulf War 1
veterans sick. Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon told MPs in January: "A key
lesson learned about inoculations is that it is not sensible to inflict on
our forces a large
number simultaneously."
But last night Gulf War Syndrome expert Professor Malcolm Hooper said:
"Geoff Hoon is not telling the truth. This shows that the Government has
clearly breached its own guidelines." Tony was given five vaccinations -
hepatitis, typhoid, polio, diptheria and yellow fever - on February 17,
days after he was called up.
JABS: Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon
The father-of-one received an Anthrax 1 jab less than a week later.
Although he told medics he suffered from high blood pressure, he was
passed fit for service. HGV driver Tony was based at Camp Eagle in
northern Kuwait where he was given nerve agent pre-treatment and
anti-malarial pills. He also had a second anthrax jab on March 13.
The Royal Logistics Corps driver fell ill and collapsed after his blood
pressure soared. He was ordered to stop taking anti-malarial tablets, and
jetted home. Since returning his condition has deteriorated, and the
Territorial Army
Lance Corporal is set to be discharged. The news comes just two weeks
after the Sunday Mirror revealed reservist
sapper Stephen Cartwright was thought to be suffering from Gulf War
Syndrome.

FROM THE UNITED KINGDOM
http://www.yorkshiretoday.co.uk/ViewArticleMore2.aspx?SectionID=55&ArticleID
=471589&Page=1&ReturnUrl=NewsFrontMore.aspx
THE YORKSHIRE TODAY
Further wave of Gulf War illness feared
THOUSANDS of soldiers will fall sick in a wave of illness destined to
eclipse that which followed the first Gulf War, according to veterans
already glimpsing the first fresh cases of a controversial syndrome. A
soldier from Morley, near Leeds, has already fallen ill with suspected
Gulf War Syndrome after receiving five vaccination jabs in one day.
The national Gulf Veterans and Families Association, based in Hull, has
been fighting since the last conflict for recognition of Gulf War Syndrome
– an illness it says has ruined the lives of hundreds of soldiers. And
members warn that the effects of the most recent conflict will be worse
than before.
The warnings came as Lance Corporal Tony Barker, 45, spoke of how a
mystery illness has left him unable to work and suffering from exhaustion
and trembling hands since he returned from the Gulf. The Territorial Army
veteran was given five vaccinations for hepatitis, typhoid, polio,
diptheria and yellow fever on February 17. The father-of-one
received an anthrax jab days later. Although suffering from high blood
pressure he was passed fit for service. The HGV driver was based at Camp
Eagle in northern Kuwait where he was given nerve agent treatment and
anti-malarial pills. He also had a second anthrax jab.
The driver from the Royal Logistics Corps fell ill shortly afterwards as
his blood pressure soared. He was ordered to stop taking his anti-malarial
drugs and flown home. His condition has deteriorated and he is set to be
discharged.
He is unable to return to work. He told the Yorkshire Post: "I'm from the
old school and if somebody further
up the chain of command reckons you should do something, you do it. We
were given the option of not having the jabs but I thought the top brass
wouldn't give us it if it was dangerous.
"When I thought of Gulf War Syndrome until then I thought it was all about
trauma and things like that. The chemical side of it never occurred to me.
"I had my jabs and pills but then I got a chronic upset stomach. I
reported
to the medics, they took my blood pressure and I was on a plane home.
"When I got back I found I was exhausted and my hands were twitching. I
put it down to a change in sleeping pattern but five weeks later I'm still
the same. I'm starting to worry. I can't work as an HGV driver if I'm
exhausted. I've never felt like this before and I just keep thinking of
all those chemicals that were pumped through me. They're the same as the
lads from the first conflict got and look how they've suffered."
The vaccinations were in stark contrast to a Government pledge that troops
would not be given the multiple vaccinations blamed for making veterans
sick after the first conflict. Former Army paramedic Shaun Rusling leads
the Veterans' Association. He said that according to medical protocol
three doses should be given at three-week intervals, followed by a fourth
at six months to offer sufficient protection. He said: "We haven't even
seen the tip of the iceberg yet. These lads have been pumped full of the
same chemicals that made us ill. Then you've got the trauma of what
they've seen over there to go on top... "We're already getting calls on
our helpline from wives of soldiers concerned that their husbands are
acting strange since they returned." The MoD has said the anthrax jab had
been given to many hundreds of troops over the years and there was no
clinical evidence to suggest any had suffered a long-term ill-effect.
dave.mark@ypn.co.uk
FROM THE UNITED STATES
27 April 2003
Fort Drum soldier will be tried for refusing vaccine
The Associated Press
(April 28, 2003) — FORT DRUM — A 26-year-old Army reservist at Fort Drum
faces a court-martial for her refusal to receive an anthrax vaccine. Pvt.
Kamila Iwanowska said she resisted receiving the shots on religious and
medical grounds. Military prosecutors will try her for refusing to obey a
lawful order. The trial was to begin today, but was delayed for one to two
weeks. The Army said Iwanowska, of New York City, refused an anthrax shot
at Fort
Drum after reporting for pre-deployment processing with her unit in
January. Iwanowska said she considers the shot medically dangerous to
children she might have in the future, saying the long-term effects are
unknown. She also
said she could not take the vaccine because of the Roman Catholic religion
she practices and the respect it accords unborn infants.
The Pentagon insists the vaccination is safe, with severe adverse
reactions developing in about one in 100,000 vaccinations. Iwanowska was
demoted from the rank of specialist, said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a Fort
Drum spokesman.
Meanwhile, Pvt. Rhonda Hazley served a 14-day jail sentence and lost her
specialist’s rank following a court-martial last month. Hazley, of East
Dublin, Ga., said she refused the shot because she feared it could harm
her breast-feeding infant. In February, two Marines at Camp Pendleton in
California refused the anthrax vaccine. Both were deployed to the Middle
East and have courts-martial pending upon their return.
Two Air Force officers sued the Bush administration and the Pentagon last
year, challenging the mandatory anthrax vaccines for the nation’s 2.4
million service members.

Young Soldier Dies Weeks After Receiving Mandatory Vaccinations
A 22-year-old soldier died of a mysterious illness after receiving several
mandatory vaccinations, including anthrax and smallpox. According to the
girl’s father, doctors thought she had a cold or a minor reaction to
inoculations, but then her condition worsened and she didn’t respond to
treatment for pneumonia.
Two days before her death, she could not breathe unaided and had an
extremely high fever, weakness, headaches and nausea.Although an Army
spokesperson said there was no indication that vaccines were involved in
the girl’s death, her father was told that she might have had the immune
disorder lupus, which could have been caused by the smallpox vaccination.
The true cause of death will not be known until an autopsy is performed.
Chicago Sun Times April 11, 2003

Soldier hails Gulf case win
BBC News
5 May 2003
A former soldier says a tribunal's ruling on the connection between
injections and Gulf War Syndrome is "a great step forward" for
campaigners. A war pensions appeal tribunal ruled Alex Izett's brittle bone
disease could be linked to a cocktail of injections he had before the Gulf
War. Mr Izett - who served with the Royal Engineers - was never actually
sent to the conflict but developed unexpected illness in the same way as
many veterans. The Ministry of Defence has said it will not challenge the
finding made by the tribunal in December, but it does not agree with the
verdict. Army veterans have described the ruling as the first official
recognition of Gulf War Syndrome.
They have taken my dignity, my livelihood but they are not going to take
my life as well - Alex Izett It has taken until now to get the paperwork
confirming the findings from the War Pensions Agency. The tribunal found
that "the appellant was vaccinated with a concoction of drugs prior to
planned deployment in the Gulf War. "The concoction of drugs caused
osteoporosis." Mr Izett's condition left him unable to work and very
depressed. "I suffered the exact same symptoms as people who actually
served in the Gulf who also had the same inoculations," he told the BBC.
"My bones started to deteriorate, I lost muscles, I had stomach problems, I
had psychiatric problems. I am really depressed and I have also had two
suicide attempts."
'Official backing'
Mr Izett, 33, who is from Glasgow but who now lives in Bersenbruck in
Germany, said he was then diagnosed with osteoporosis. "I cannot lift more
than 20lbs. I can't pick my children up," he said. "I cannot work - I am
unemployed." No reputable medical authority whatsoever accepts the
existence of a syndrome called Gulf War Syndrome - Louis Moonie, defence
minister Mr Izett said the tribunal's finding was "a great step forward"
for other veterans. He said the MoD was being pushed into a corner and was
starting to make mistakes. "I'm glad we can use these mistakes which they
are making to prove they are wrong and prove they damaged our health which
they should pay fully-paid pensions for," he said. "I hope this judgment
will have a knock-on effect and that the MoD will now finally tell the
truth. "I just hope that this opens the floodgates for more cases to come
forward." Campaigners have seen his case as the vital link that proves
there is a problem specifically with the injections, something long
disputed by the government.
'No evidence'
Gulf War veterans believe the tribunal's decision constitutes official
backing for their position. Unlike an ongoing earlier case, the government
has decided not to challenge the verdict. The MoD said it still disagreed
with the verdict but could not find any grounds to contest it. Defence
minister Dr Lewis Moonie said he did not accept that the
injections caused the illnesses.
"There is no medical evidence to support that whatsoever," he told BBC
Radio 4's Today programme. "The tribunal ruling accepted that we could not
prove that the ill health was not due to the concoctions. "If you are
going to create a syndrome it has to be one that the medical profession
accepts because they are the ones responsible for
doing so. "No reputable medical authority whatsoever accepts the existence
of a syndrome called Gulf War Syndrome."
Research
Gulf War Syndrome is associated with a vast array of symptoms including
fatigue, nausea, fever and depression.
It has been attributed to injections, depleted uranium ammunition, or even
Iraqi chemical weapons, although many believe the nebulous condition could
be psychosomatic. The MoD has acknowledged the existence of the concept of
"symptoms and signs of ill-defined conditions" (SSIDC). But veterans feel
there has never been a proper investigation into the issue.
Dr Moonie said some additional experiments were taking place at Porton
Down research centre to look at long term effects but there was still no
evidence of "systematic harm" as a result of injections. Liberal Democrat
MP Paul Tyler, a member of the Royal British Legion Gulf War Group, said he
would be demanding a statement from the MoD this
week. "I will be asking the secretary of state to cut the legal waffle and
recognise that our troops, who put their lives on the line, deserve
better," he said in a statement. "Full recognition of the link between the
injections and their illnesses, and then appropriate compensation, is the
least they should expect."
(c) BBC MMIII
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3000739.stm

FROM THE UNITED STATES
27 April 2003
Fort Drum soldier will be tried for refusing vaccine
The Associated Press
(April 28, 2003) — FORT DRUM — A 26-year-old Army reservist at Fort Drum
faces a court-martial for her refusal to receive an anthrax vaccine. Pvt.
Kamila Iwanowska said she resisted receiving the shots on religious and
medical grounds. Military prosecutors will try her for refusing to obey a
lawful order. The trial was to begin today, but was delayed for one to two
weeks.
The Army said Iwanowska, of New York City, refused an anthrax shot at Fort
Drum after reporting for pre-deployment processing with her unit in January.
Iwanowska said she considers the shot medically dangerous to children she
might have in the future, saying the long-term effects are unknown. She also
said she could not take the vaccine because of the Roman Catholic religion
she practices and the respect it accords unborn infants.
The Pentagon insists the vaccination is safe, with severe adverse reactions
developing in about one in 100,000 vaccinations. Iwanowska was demoted from
the rank of specialist, said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a Fort Drum spokesman.
Meanwhile, Pvt. Rhonda Hazley served a 14-day jail sentence and lost her
specialist’s rank following a court-martial last month. Hazley, of East
Dublin, Ga., said she refused the shot because she feared it could harm her
breast-feeding infant. In February, two Marines at Camp Pendleton in
California refused the anthrax vaccine. Both were deployed to the Middle
East and have courts-martial pending upon their return.
Two Air Force officers sued the Bush administration and the Pentagon last
year, challenging the mandatory anthrax vaccines for the nation’s 2.4
million service members.

http://www.thisislondon.com/news/articles/5000823?source=Evening%20Standard
'War vaccines poisoned us'
By Rebecca Mowling, Evening Standard
27 May 2003
Four British soldiers who received jabs for the Iraq conflict are to sue the
Ministry of Defence claiming they are suffering from a new form of Gulf War
Syndrome. The revelation comes as a veterans' support group predicted today
that thousands of UK servicemen will come forward with mystery illnesses
linked to "vaccine overload".
Tony Flint of the National Gulf Veterans and Families' Association,confirmed
he now anticipates a fresh wave of health cases. "We are expecting at least
6,000 new cases as a result of the Iraq conflict - about 30 percent of the
22,000 troops who had the anthrax vaccination." The first four soldiers from
the latest conflict who are set to sue - two reservists and two regulars -
are blaming depression, breathing problems and eczema on injections they
were given before being sent to the Middle East.
Professor Malcolm Hooper, chief scientific adviser to the veterans'
association, said the MoD did not seem to have learned from "the mistakes of
the 1991 conflict" in relation to multiple vaccinations. "These guys are
clearly suffering from vaccine overload," he said. The key concern centres
on soldiers given anthrax vaccines on top of other more routine
inoculations. Professor Hooper added: "The problem was one which was there
in 1991. Our studies have shown that these people have excessive symptoms -
three to four-fold compared with people who have not been vaccinated in the
same way.
Concern about the long-term side-effects led to almost half the 45,000
British servicemen and women in the recent conf lict refusing vaccinations
against anthrax, fearing that they might be afflicted by the syndrome.
However, all four men are understood to have been given the anthrax
vaccination and had multiple jabs in one day before falling ill. Royal
Engineers reservist Stephen Cartwright was taken to hospital with a fever
and blistered skin after being given a number of jabs, including the
controversial anthrax vaccine. The 24-yearold spent four days in hospital
and was so ill he did not make it to the Gulf.
The second reservist, Tony Barker, 45, was given five vaccinations
-hepatitis, typhoid, polio, diphtheria and yellow fever on 17 February, days
after he was called up. The father-of-one received an anthrax jab less than
a week later. The Royal Logistics Corps driver fell ill in Kuwait after
being given nerve agent pre-treatment and anti-malarial pills. He also had a
second anthrax jab on 13 March.
Lawyer Mark McGhee, who is acting for the four men, said: "The symptoms that
these four individuals are experiencing are identical to those of the
individuals I represent in relation to the first Gulf war." The High Court
is due to rule within weeks on whether Gulf War Syndrome can be recognised
in law. But the MoD has also accepted that some troops returning from the
latest conflict may suffer long-term health problems as a result of the war
and has begun a screening programme.

http://home.abc28.com/Global/story.asp?S=1296706
Judge denies dismissal motions in anthrax vaccine case
Wednesday, May28, 2003, 2:58 AM
Fort Drum, New York-AP -- A military judge has upheld the legality of the
military's anthrax vaccination program.
The judge refused to dismiss the charge against an Army reservist facing a
court martial for refusing the vaccine.
Attorneys for Private Kamila Iwanowska argue the vaccine has never been
properly licensed by the government -- and is being used by the military
even though it isn't intended to treat inhalation infections. They also
contend she has already been punished by her company commander.
Iwanowska says she considers the anthrax shot medically dangerous to
children she might have in the future. She also cited religious reasons for
refusing it. The Pentagon says the vaccination is safe.If found guilty of
disobeying an order, Iwanowska could face a maximum of 12 months in jail and
a bad conduct discharge.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-anthrax29may29,1,292297
2.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dnation a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Soldier Is Discharged in Vaccine Refusal
From Associated Press
May 29, 2003
FT. DRUM, N.Y. — A military panel found an Army reservist guilty of
disobeying an order for refusing to take the anthrax vaccine and tossed her
out of the Army on Wednesday. The panel of eight officers — only two of whom
said during questioning that they have taken the six-shot regimen — took 40
minutes to return a guilty verdict against Pvt. Kamila Iwanowska and two
hours to determine her penalty: a bad conduct discharge.
Iwanowska, 26, admitted in a court "stipulation of fact" that she refused to
follow the verbal and written orders of her commanding officers. Army
prosecutor Capt. Leslie Rowley said the statement was all the proof the
panel needed.
Iwanowska told her superiors she considered the shot medically dangerous to
children she might have in the future, saying the vaccine's long-term
effects are unknown. As a Roman Catholic, she also cited religious reasons.
Since the vaccinations were made mandatory for U.S. military personnel in
1998, hundreds of service members have been disciplined or discharged for
refusing to take the shot. At least 37 have been court-martialed. The
Pentagon says the vaccination is safe, with severe adverse reactions
occurring in about one in 100,000 vaccinations. Iwanowska said she was
relieved to avoid a possible one-year jail term but may still appeal to
upgrade her discharge.
"I certainly expected some jail time," she said.
Prosecutor Maj. David Tobin had asked the panel to give Iwanowska six months
in jail, but said after sentencing that he was satisfied with the decision,
which now goes to Ft. Drum commander Maj. Gen. Franklin L. Hagenbeck for
approval. "I still believe the Army is a good place and I don't regret
joining," Iwanowska said after the verdict. "I don't regret what I did; I
just wish it had turned out differently."

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe/05/05/gulf.syndrome/index.html
Gulf War Syndrome case: Jabs link
LONDON, England --A British soldier has won a landmark judgment against the
government linking injections with his so-called Gulf War Syndrome.
A War Pensions Appeal Tribunal said that a "concoction of drugs" given to
Alex Izett before the first Gulf War in 1991 was responsible for his
osteoporosis, or brittle bone condition. Izett, a former Lance Corporal with
the Royal Engineers, was injected with the same drugs as those soldiers who
went to the war zone, despite not being sent himself. He has suffered from
similar symptoms to hundreds soldiers including fatigue, digestive and
psychological problems, depression, wasting muscles, and nausea.
Izett said the illnesses and 10 year legal fight had taken his "dignity and
livelihood." He now hoped the judgment would act as a "watershed" in having
the condition officially recognized. "I hope this judgment will have a
knock-on effect and that the MoD (Ministry of Defence) will now finally tell
the truth," he said. "I'm not only pleased for myself, I'm delighted for the
Gulf War veterans community as a whole... I just hope that this opens the
floodgates for more cases to come forward."
The tribunal gave its verdict last December, but its publication was delayed
until after the latest war in Iraq. "The concoction of drugs caused
osteoporosis," Reuters quoted the ruling as saying. The British government,
which has consistently denied that medical proof exists for Gulf Veterans
Syndrome, said it disagreed with the verdict but would not contest it.
Defence Minister Lewis Moonie said Monday: "There is no evidence whatsover
of any systematic harm."
But he added there was no legal basis on which the ministry could appeal the
tribunal's judgment.
"The tribunal is not competent to make that kind of decision," he told the
BBC. "The tribunal's purpose is to determine whether a war pension should
be awarded or not, and it is awarded on the basis of whether we can
show beyond all reasonable doubt that a condition was not due to a person's
service.
"The reason they found was that we were unable to show that the injections
did not cause this problem." He said further experiments were taking place
to show the reason for the illnesses. It has been blamed on a series of
factors including stress, smoke from oil-burning wells, and depleted
uranium. Veterans' groups have welcomed the verdict, saying claims should be
made for vaccination damage. Charles Plumridge, senior coordinator for the
UK National Gulf War Veterans Association, said: "We are now calling on the
(ministry) to officially confirm that we are ill because of the inoculation
we were given."
Campaigners say that it is the first official confirmation of the existence
of the syndrome, which veterans blame for a range of ailments including
<The article just ends

http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/page.cfm?objectid=13044404&method=full&si
teid=106694&headline=THE%20SUICIDE%20SQUADDIES
THE SUICIDE SQUADDIES
Jun 8 2003
By Mike Hamilton
TWO young soldiers have killed themselves after falling ill with suspected
Gulf War Syndrome following the latest conflict in Iraq. Both men committed
suicide after showing recognised symptoms of the illness - blamed on
controversial jabs our troops were given before the war. One - Royal
Engineer Eddie Hosdell, 21 - leapt to his death from the Humber Bridge in
Hull and a 26-year-old soldier hanged himself at a base in Germany.
The German-based soldier was given five jabs in one day - in direct
contradiction of Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon's pre-war pledge that troops
would not have multiple vaccinations at the same time. The suicides are the
first linked to Gulf War Syndrome after the latest conflict. Campaigners say
almost 200 soldiers who saw service in the 1991 Gulf War have killed
themselves after developing the illness, which has always been officially
denied by the Government.
Charlie Plumridge, spokesman for the National Gulf Veterans and Families
Association (NGVFA), said: "It's a shocking and sad state of affairs that
these young soldiers are taking their own lives. For 12 years we have been
warning the MOD that this sort of thing has happened and would continue to
happen. "Tragically these two deaths show we were right. This could only be
the tip of the iceberg.
"I call upon the Government to do more to look after brave young men and
women who have been willing to lay down their lives for this country." Both
soldiers are believed to have been given multiple vaccinations before war
broke out to protect them from chemical or biological attack. The Sunday
Mirror has seen medical records showing the 26-year-old soldier - not named
at the request of his family - received five inoculations, including the
controversial anthrax jab, on the same day. Experts attribute the illness to
the cocktail of jabs and tablets given to troops, and the use of depleted
uranium in allied weapons. Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon told MPs in January:
"A key lesson learned
about inoculations is that it is not sensible to inflict on our forces a
large number simultaneously."
Eddie, whose funeral took place in Hull this week, returned from the war at
the end of April with 39 Engineer Regiment, based at Waterbeach Barracks in
Cambridgeshire. Within days he started to behave erratically. The soldier,
never in trouble before, was arrested by police on suspicion of firing a
ball-bearing out of a car window near his home in Hornsea, North Humberside.
He was released on bail and sent text messages to friends saying he was
going to take his own life.
His body was found on the Humber river on May 18.
Last night Eddie's parents, Jacqueline and Tuke, were too upset to comment.
An inquest in to Eddie's death was opened and adjourned on May 23, with the
full hearing in six months. The parents of the soldier found dead in Germany
have also demanded a full inquest. The member of the Queen's Royal Hussars
hanged himself at his Army
base in Sennelager, Germany, days after falling ill. He had been unfit to
travel, with a rash, sleeping problems and mood swings. This week his
parents, from the Birmingham area, contacted the NGVFA's helpline.
An Army source said: "He was planning to get married so his suicide is
especially tragic." Gulf War Syndrome expert Professor Malcolm Hooper, a
member of the MOD's independent Vaccine Panel, said: "The soldiers are hung
out to dry, where instead they should be offered help when they come back
from a horrific war distressed and unwell." An MOD spokesman said yesterday:
"We recognise people are ill but we do not recognise a single syndrome.
"We will not comment on individual cases."
THE NGVFA 24-hour helpline number is 01482 833812

http://dynamic.washtimes.com/print_story.cfm?StoryID=20030520-102253-6646r
The Washington Times
www.washingtontimes.com
Mandatory anthrax vaccine for troops challenged in court
By Patrick Badgley
Published May 21, 2003
Attorneys for six military officers and Defense Department personnel argued
in a U.S. District Court yesterday that the Department of Defense must stop
inoculating soldiers as a remedy for inhalation anthrax because the vaccine
is in "investigational" stages and is being used without approval. Appearing
before Judge Emmet G. Sullivan in John Doe, et. al. v. Rumsfeld, et. al.,
plaintiffs were seeking a preliminary injunction that would prevent the
government from vaccinating military personnel unless the recipients heard
an explanation of potential side-effects and gave consent,
or the president issued a waiver. They said that under a federal statute
such regulations are necessary for drugs under investigation.
"In some cases, they're not even told it's going to be an anthrax
vaccination," said John Michels Jr., the plaintiffs' attorney. Mr. Michels
brought up the case of a woman who said she told the person administering
the shot that she was pregnant and was fearful of the effects of the
vaccination, yet was told that didn't exempt her. When soldiers who reject
the shot are court-martialed and punished, that is "irreparable damage," one
requirement needed for a judge to issue an injunction, the defense has said.
But attorneys for the defendants - the Defense Department, and the Food
and Drug Administration - said the treatment has been accepted for years for
all forms of anthrax, including the inhalation variety. Although plaintiffs'
attorneys maintained that it is still to be determined whether the vaccine
is an acceptable treatment for inhalation anthrax, the defense attorneyssaid
it is settled.
"There are risks with all vaccines, your honor," said Ronald Wiltsie, a
Department of Justice trial lawyer, who is representing the defendants. "The
risks here are no greater than a tetanus shot or MMR," measles, mumps and
rubella shots. Mr. Wiltsie also disputed the plaintiffs' claim of
irreparable damage, saying punishing personnel by court-martialing them does
not warrant such a description.
In the first day of oral arguments, yesterday, the lawyer also detailed a
different and more informative process that soldiers go through if they are
reluctant to receive the vaccination. He said they are informed about the
type of inoculation they will receive and are counseled by a medical
professional if they refuse. They are then give an order, and if they still
refuse, are subject to discipline. The plaintiffs "seek to undermine a key
component of military readiness and defense against battlefield use of
biological weapons," attorneys for the defense wrote in a brief to the
court. The Pentagon has said the anthrax vaccine is safe but acknowledged
that severe harmful reactions develop in about one in 100,000 vaccinations.
When inhaled, dry anthrax spores can be deadly to humans. At least 600,000
employees in the Defense Department have received the vaccination, and
officials say they plan to immunize each of the 2.4 million members of the
military.
Also at issue is whether the case, which involves military parties, belonged
in a federal court instead of a military one. Defense attorneys denied that
the federal court should be the decision-maker in the case. "This goes to
the core of the military's ability to structure its forces and control
them," Mr. Wiltsie said. But Mr. Michels said military courts have a pattern
of following rules set by the heads of the armed forces branches. "I don't
believe there is a military judge anywhere ... that would step up and say,
'I'm going to stand against the secretary of defense, the secretary of the
Air Force," he said.
There have been several cases of U.S. soldiers refusing to take the anthrax
vaccine, whether for religious reasons or for fear of breast-feeding infants
or the long-term effects it could have on children they might bear. Two Air
Force officers filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon in 2002, challenging the
mandatory anthrax vaccines for soldiers. One complainant received 60 days of
base restriction and was fined $21,000 for refusing the anthrax vaccine, and
the other was forced to end his 14-year military career.

Questions Mount Over Anthax Shots
WASHINGTON, June 20, 2003
Kamila Iwanowska is the latest soldier to get kicked out of the U.S.
military for refusing the anthrax vaccine, CBS News Correspondent Sharyl
Attkisson reports. "It's not about defiance and it's not about being a bad
soldier, because it's not," says Iwanowska, a former Army reservist, who
received a bad conduct discharge. She says it's about her belief that the
anthrax vaccine could be dangerous. Since it became mandatory five years
ago, hundreds of troops have been disciplined or booted out for rejecting
it, and dozens of others have been court-martialed.
"If I knew then what I know now, I would have refused to take the vaccine,"
said Jason Nietupski, a former U.S. Army captain who got seriously ill after
his shot in 2000. "I developed blood clots in my legs," Nietupski says.
"They found pulmonary nodules in my lungs."But even when the Army finally
documented that the vaccine was to blame, Nietupski says no one reported his
case to the FDA, which tracks adverse events.
"There's a lot of people like me out there because doctors in the military
are fearful of reporting adverse events to the Food and Drug Administration
because of potentially being reprimanded for doing so," he says. In fact, a
General Accounting Office investigation last fall found that the rate of
side effects from anthrax vaccine was hundreds, sometimes thousands of times
higher than what the military claimed. The Defense Department says it now
encourages more accurate reporting of adverse events. But the latest numbers
the military provided CBS News still fall short:
Among 600,000 people who got anthrax shots in the past year, possible side
effects are reported by the military in only a fraction of one percent: .142
percent or 852 reports per 600,000 people. The GAO investigation released
last fall found a much higher rate in a survey of vaccines: 85 percent, with
side effects ranging from lumps and rashes to hospitalizations.
Dr. Bill Winkenwerder, the assistant secretary of defense for health
affairs, oversees military vaccines and says he urges all problems to be
reported. He says it's "just not true" that the military hasn't provided the
whole story as to how many people are getting sick from anthrax vaccines.
"We've been very forthcoming," Winkenwerder says. "There'd be no reason to
be anything else other than that. Our personnel are our most important
assets."
Jason Nieptuski just wonders how many others might end up like him. "I took
the vaccine because I was patriotic, because I love my country and because I
wanted to serve in the military. Even though the Army ruled that the medical
complications were from anthrax vaccine, I can no longer serve because of
the blood clots," Nieptuski says.
Late last year, government investigators advised the Defense Department to
actively track each soldier who gets the anthrax vaccine to get a truer
picture of the harm it may do, but the military rejected that advice. Now,
some troops find themselves more worried about the shots than the biological
threat they're supposed to ward off.
© MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.jdnews.com/Details.cfm?StoryID=14010
Article ran : 07/09/2003
Marine booted for refusing vaccine
By ERIC STEINKOPFF
Jacksonville (NC, USA) Daily News
DAILY NEWS STAFF A Marine Desert Storm veteran who refused on religious
grounds to receive an anthrax vaccination in December was dismissed from the
Corps on Tuesday and ordered to serve seven months in prison.
During a general court-martial at New River Air Station, CH-46 Sea Knight
pilot 1st Lt. Erick Enz pleaded guilty to disobeying the order of a senior
commissioned officer.
Enz, a father of five and described by his superiors as a "natural leader,"
faced a maximum punishment of five years confinement, forfeiture of all pay
and allowances and dismissal from service.
Although military judge Lt. Col. Martin Sitler sentenced him to seven months
confinement, Enz could serve as little as 30 days in the brig based on a
pretrial agreement.
Enz, a member of New River's Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 162, Marine
Aircraft Group 29, originally pleaded not guilty during a June arraignment
and asked for a court-martial with a jury of at least five members.
Enz reversed that decision Tuesday and chose to plead guilty.
Reported adverse reactions to the anthrax vaccine have been the subject of
debate since the vaccine's widespread use during operations Desert Shield
and Desert Storm in the early 1990s.
The matter came to the forefront again this year when thousands of troops
were ordered to be vaccinated prior to the war with Iraq.
A devout Christian and Bible study group leader, Enz did not feel right
about the vaccination, witnesses testified Tuesday. He sought guidance in
prayer that led him to seek more information about the vaccine and
ultimately refuse the shot, fellow Marines, friends and relatives said
during testimony.
In an earlier defense motion pertaining to the case, Military Judge Col.
Steven Day ruled that Enz's objection on religious grounds could not be
admitted into court as lawful evidence on his behalf.
Department of Defense officials contend that the vaccination is safe, as do
military doctors at Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital. But a September 2002 U.S.
General Accounting Office report to Congress says that the rate of severity
of adverse reactions to the vaccine are considerably greater than
advertised.
In a random survey of 1,253 guard and reserve pilots and aircrew, the GAO
found 84 percent suffered minor reactions and at least 24 percent major
multiple "systemic" reactions, the latter more than 100 times higher than
the estimate by the manufacturer.
Retired Army Ranger Sgt. 1st Class Steve Robinson, who runs the National
Gulf War Resource Center, a nonprofit veterans' advocacy organization, was a
member of the Veterans' Administration Research Advisory Committee that
studied problems related to the vaccination.
"We continue to kick people out of the military and give them jail sentences
for not taking a vaccine that science still hasn't proven," Robinson said.
"You only have to read a little bit about the vaccine and you will question
whether it is safe."
A Desert Storm veteran, Enz, whose age was not immediately available, was
described by superiors and his peers as a natural leader before and after
refusing the vaccination. Nearly every witness for the defense and for the
prosecution said that he was well liked, respected and even admired among
those in his unit.
He was on a fast track to promotion, trained ahead of many of his peers, and
the papers that would move him from a reserve commission to augment him as a
regular officer in the Marine Corps remained unsigned at his unit
administrative office. "The people who refuse this are not the dummies or
the troublemakers," said former Air Force F-16 pilot retired Lt. Col. John
Richardson of Raleigh, a critic of the vaccine. "I get two to three
unsolicited calls or e-mails a week - sometimes as many as five a day - from
kids who are sick. Someone has to stand up and do the right thing."
For more information on Gulf War Illness visit www.ngwrc.org and for more
information on reactions from the anthrax vaccination visit
www.anthraxvaccine.org.
Contact Eric Steinkopff at esteinkopff@jdnews.com or at 353-1171, Ext. 236.

AF officer repeatedly refuses anthrax shot, but does not
get day in court
By Scott Schonauer, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Saturday, August 2, 2003
Scott Schonauer / S&S
Lt. Col. Jay Lacklen shows the knots on his fingers. He suspects that the
anthrax shots he has taken have caused the deformity.
NAVAL STATION ROTA, Spain — Even with his 33-year military career on the
line, Lt. Col. Jay Lacklen wants the Air Force to court-martial him.
By refusing to take another anthrax shot earlier this year, he thought he
would get his wish. Facing a military judge, Lacklen said, would allow him
to argue that the Pentagon’s controversial vaccine contains a harmful
booster called squalene, which he claims is causing a string of mysterious
maladies in his squadron.
But instead of ordering him to court, his commander sent him on assignment
to southern Spain.
While junior officers and enlisted service members are getting thrown in jail
for not taking the shot, Lacklen said his Dover, Del.-based squadron sent
him on meaningless temporary duty to Naval Station Rota and Morón Air Base.
He believes the Air Force will not punish him because commanders are afraid
they will lose in the courtroom.
“They’re scared,” said Lacklen, a reservist since 1981, “because I have the
science” to win in court.
But in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes on Friday, Lacklen said his commander
had given him until Friday to take the shot.
Large caches of biological and chemical weapons have yet to be found in Iraq
and none was unleashed against U.S.-led troops during the war, but the
military is continuing its goal to inoculate all of its 1.4 million
servicemembers.
The Pentagon insists the vaccine is safe.
Right now, service members take a series of six shots over the course of 18
months, along with an annual booster shot.
Almost half of the active-duty force has received the entire series of
shots, but some have refused and paid dearly.
Since the military resumed inoculating servicemembers earlier this year,
several have been booted out of the service or sent to jail.
In June, Navy aircraft mechanic Troy Goodwin, based at Lemoore, Calif., told
the Los Angeles Times that he was sent to the brig after rejecting the shot.
In May, Army Reserve Pvt. Kamila Iwanowsk, 26, a petroleum specialist from
Fort Drum, N.Y., refused the shot and received a bad-conduct discharge. She
didn’t want to take it because, she said in a court-martial, it might harm
any children she may bear.
On July 8, the military dismissed a Camp Lejeune, N.C.-based Marine
helicopter pilot and sent him to jail for 25 days for not taking it. Lt.
Erick Enz refused the vaccine on religious grounds.
More than 400 military personnel have been disciplined since the shot was
made mandatory in 1998, according to the Pentagon. But Lacklen said he has
avoided prosecution because his unit, the 326th Airlift Squadron, does not
want the bad publicity.
On April 15, Lacklen refused in writing to take the shot. But instead of
ordering him to take the vaccine, Lacklen said his commander, Lt. Col.
Edward Poling, two days later grounded him and sent him to Spain.
When he returned, he was immediately sent to Scott Air Force Base in
Illinois to work as a scheduler.
Lacklen, a Vietnam War veteran with more than 12,000 flight hours, said he
was not needed in Spain or Illinois and suggests he was sent on temporary
duty to “avoid the situation.”
After Lacklen refused his shot, a more junior officer, Capt. Paul Staquet,
also refused in writing, using the same wording Lacklen had used, but signed
his own name to it. When he gave the letter to the squadron, he said he was
threatened with a court-martial and a discharge. The thought of possibly
getting kicked out of the military with a bad-conduct discharge was enough
to cause Staquet to reluctantly take the shots.
“Nobody wants to walk around with a conviction on your record,” said
Staquet, who has not suffered any side effects from the shots, but supports
Lacklen.
In a complaint filed with the Defense Department’s inspector general on June
5, Lacklen accused his commander of a double standard.
Poling did not return phone and e-mail messages seeking an explanation or
comment for this story, but Col. Bruce Davis, 512th Airlift Wing commander,
said, “I’m sure you know that, as a commander, I can’t comment on any
incident that may end up in a courts-martial.”
“All military members should expect equal protection, and equal sanction,
from the military legal system,” Lacklen wrote in the complaint. “This is
not the case in this instance.”
This is not the first time Dover has been embroiled in controversy over the
vaccine.
In 1999, dozens of C-5 pilots from the base reported side effects after
taking the shot. One senior officer resigned and 40 percent of the pilots in
the Reserve wing left rather than take a shot.
Concerns by the pilots prompted Col. Felix M. Grieder, commander of the
436th Airlift Wing at Dover, to suspend the inoculation program, making it
the first base to do so.
Since the base resumed the shots earlier this year, military personnel are
reporting similar health problems they fear are caused by the shots.
Some of the aviators agreed to talk to Stars and Stripes on the condition
their name is not used. They said they fear that if they talk, the Air Force
will punish them for speaking out about the vaccine.
One pilot reported migraine headaches to the point of vomiting, temporary
blindness and an itching rash that won’t go away. Others have reported
severe joint pain. One aviator in his 30s had arthritis so bad he had to
take a prescription pain reliever.
Crewmembers have also had problems. A loadmaster reported having blackouts
and chronic dizzy spells. Another person suffered from vertigo.
One of the pilots said he isn’t sure if the vaccine caused his rash and
other health problems but military doctors have done little to find out the
cause. He said even if a military doctor thought there might be a link
between the vaccine and the ailment, they would not admit it out of fear of
retribution.
“We have seen with our own eyes those who are sick and watched them not get
any help,” he said. “It’s shameful.”Another pilot had a bad reaction with the first shot, but was told to
continue taking the rest of the shots.
“It does concern me,” the pilot said. “I don’t want to take another shot
until they can prove this is just coincidental.”
Lacklen has also had strange health problems after the first couple of
shots. He has complained of joint pain and his fingers have developed
odd-looking knots.
He doesn’t blame the vaccine for the health problems but alleges that a
substance called squalene is the culprit.
Squalene is manufactured in the liver of humans and some animals. It is a
building block to make hormones and other substances in our body. It is also
found in some foods.
In vaccines, it is used as a booster to work faster and longer. However, it
was not approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration to be used in
the anthrax vaccine.
When Tulane University in 1999 found the presence of the additive in 1991
Persian Gulf War veterans, squalene’s safety became a hot topic. Some
servicemembers speculated then that the anthrax vaccine might contain
squalene as a booster and that is the reason for the side effects.
For years, the Pentagon denied there was any squalene in the shots. Then,
the FDA tested all 50 lot numbers of the current vaccine in 1999 and found
squalene traces in five of them. Dover Air Force Base received all five of
these lot numbers.
The Pentagon says the amount of squalene found is so minute that it is
“likely the result of squalene in the oil of a fingerprint not cleaned from
the lab glassware.” The Defense Department has an entire page of questions
and answers about squalene on its anthrax Web site, www.anthrax.osd.mil,
disputing the significance of squalene in the shot.
Lacklen and some of the pilots at Dover are not buying the explanation. They
want the Defense Department to hire an independent lab to test vaccine lots
for squalene.
While the Pentagon asserts that the adjuvant in the anthrax vaccine is
aluminum hydroxide, Lacklen and the sick pilots said the reason they are
skeptical is because other bases, which may not have gotten the same
squalene lot Dover received, had not had similar health problems.
Those who talked to Stars and Stripes said they are willing to resume the
shots as long as they know for sure the lots don’t contain any trace of
squalene.
“It’s not the vaccine, it’s what they added to it,” Lacklen said.
Not all of the pilots agree with Lacklen. One pilot said that there are
those in the squadron who think Lacklen is way off base. They did not
receive any side effects from the shots.
But other pilots who talked to Stripes consider Lacklen, who is married and
has four daughters, almost a hero for risking his career and speaking out.
Lacklen said the Air Force should do more to find out why some members of
the wing are experiencing so many health problems and whether the vaccine is
the reason.
“If we had wrecked an airplane, they would have had a team of people come
down and figure out what went wrong,” Lacklen said. “A lot of people have
gotten sick, but nobody has come.” 
|
The following letter was sent on her behalf:
Letter send to: afzs-pao@drum.army.mil; pao@drum.army.mil;
AFZS-gch@drum.army.mil
Subject: Spec. Rhonda Hazley
To whom it may concern:
I am writing to express my outrage at the fact that Specialist Rhonda Hazley is
being court-martialed because of her refusal to take the Anthrax Vaccine.
Her reasons for refusal include:
1. Religious objections
2. She is currently breastfeeding her baby.
As a veteran I experienced issues with all the vaccines I was administered
during my eight years of service. As a result I am in a pre-cancerous state
(I've got 10 years or less before the big "C" sets in). I was fortunate not to
receive the Anthrax vaccine which would have worsened my condition. I wish I
could stop there. As a result of breastfeeding two boys, I have passed on many
toxic byproducts from these vaccines to both sons. I have test results from lab
and hair samples to prove it. My oldest son suffers from Attention Deficit
Disorder, Leaky gut Syndrome, Chronic ear infections, and a host of other
issues. All linked to what my doctor described as "Vaccinosis" on both of our
parts (the baby and mine). I was informed by my doctor that the mercury
preservative Thermerisol found in many vaccines is found in high concentrations
within breast milk. I was in fact poisoning my children without knowing it.
This is just one of the many harmful substances that can be passed on from
mother to child.
Specialist Hazley should be granted an honorable discharge based on the facts
that:
- Religious exemptions are granted in all 50 states. No particular affiliation
with any religious organization is required.
- The anthrax had known adverse reactions known to occur in adults. There is no
known testing for safety when administering to children. The mother can pass on
the vaccine and its toxic byproducts through breast milk.
- Current Anthrax threats can be addressed through the use of antibiotics. No
vaccine (with hazardous components) necessary.
- In October 2001, the United States General Accounting Office ("GAO")
reported that the anthrax vaccine's manufacturing process had been changed
without the FDA being notified. The GAO declared the AVA experimental and stated
that little was known about the long-term side effects on health. The report
also revealed adverse reaction rates as high as 80%.
- According to the General Accounting Office ("GAO"), there have been no
completed studies of the long-term side effects of AVA using active surveillance
and the rate of acute adverse reactions to the AVA has ranged from 30-70
percent. The DoD has admitted that 5-35 percent of vaccines report muscle
aches, joint aches, headaches, rash, chills, fever, nausea, loss of appetite,
malaise, or related symptoms shortly after vaccination.
- In the April 18, 2002 edition of Mealey's Emerging Drugs and Devices,
Drs. David and Mark Geier, M.D., Ph.D. published an article that concluded there
was a statistically significant relationship between joint-related and
gastrointestinal adverse reactions following anthrax vaccination. A significant
relationship existed between anthrax vaccination and arthralgia, arthritis,
arthrosis, joint disease, myelitis, vasculitis, Guillain-Barre' syndrome,
myalgia, flu syndrome, diarrhea, liver function test abnormalities,
gastrointestinal disease,
weight loss and nausea adverse reactions.
- Bioport has been for being out of compliance with good manufacturing
practices. During the manufacturing process of the AVA, Bioport mishandled and
contaminated the AVA, and lots of the AVA were left out in the open for more
than 24 hours.
-In January 2002, BioPort released a new product insert for the AVA that
cites numerous systemic reactions and diseases associated with the AVA and much
higher reactions rates, along with a strengthened pregnancy warning. At no time
did the Bioport provide the DOD or the plaintiffs any
warnings regarding the potential risks of the vaccine.
- A pending Navy study on the AVA indicates that there is a higher rate of
birth defects in women vaccinated in the first trimester of pregnancy.
- According to the Defense Medical Surveillance System Database, as noted
in the Institute of Medicine's March 2002 report on AVA, fatigue and sleep
disturbances have been associated with the AVA along with Crohn's disease and
other unspecified gastrointestinal disorders. Also, there is a higher incidence
of multiple sclerosis and asthma.
All this information and more can be found in Current Pending Anthrax Litigation
& other sites to include:
http://www.sskrplaw.com/vaccine/anthraxcomplaint.pdf
ANTHRAX VACCINE: GAO's Survey of Guard and Reserve Pilots and Aircrew
http://www.sskrplaw.com/vaccine/anthraxvaccine.pdf
GAO Report - ANTHRAX VACCINE: Changes to the Manufacturing Process
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02181t.pdf
http://www.anthraxvaccine.org/
Survey Results of the 9th Airlift Squadron
http://www.anthraxvaccine.org/report.PDF
The anthrax vaccine is experimental and should not be forced on service
members. Special exceptions and precautions should be given to pregnant mothers
and those who are breastfeeding.
I can be reached for the purpose of assisting in this case at:
Tanya Wood
CMR 423 Box 295
APO AE 09107
011 49 7157 532449
tawood@gapac.com
tanya_wood00@hotmail.com

Article ran : 07/09/2003
Marine booted for refusing vaccine
By ERIC STEINKOPFF
Jacksonville (NC, USA) Daily News
DAILY NEWS STAFF A Marine Desert Storm veteran who refused on religious grounds
to receive an anthrax vaccination in December was dismissed from the Corps on
Tuesday and ordered to serve seven months in prison.
During a general court-martial at New River Air Station, CH-46 Sea Knight pilot
1st Lt. Erick Enz pleaded guilty to disobeying the order of a senior
commissioned officer.
Enz, a father of five and described by his superiors as a "natural leader,"
faced a maximum punishment of five years confinement, forfeiture of all pay and
allowances and dismissal from service.
Although military judge Lt. Col. Martin Sitler sentenced him to seven months
confinement, Enz could serve as little as 30 days in the brig based on a
pretrial agreement.
Enz, a member of New River's Marine Medium Helicopter Squadron 162, Marine
Aircraft Group 29, originally pleaded not guilty during a June arraignment and
asked for a court-martial with a jury of at least five members.
Enz reversed that decision Tuesday and chose to plead guilty.
Reported adverse reactions to the anthrax vaccine have been the subject of
debate since the vaccine's widespread use during operations Desert Shield and
Desert Storm in the early 1990s.
The matter came to the forefront again this year when thousands of troops were
ordered to be vaccinated prior to the war with Iraq.
A devout Christian and Bible study group leader, Enz did not feel right about
the vaccination, witnesses testified Tuesday. He sought guidance in prayer that
led him to seek more information about the vaccine and ultimately refuse the
shot, fellow Marines, friends and relatives said during testimony.
In an earlier defense motion pertaining to the case, Military Judge Col. Steven
Day ruled that Enz's objection on religious grounds could not be admitted into
court as lawful evidence on his behalf.
Department of Defense officials contend that the vaccination is safe, as do
military doctors at Camp Lejeune Naval Hospital. But a September 2002 U.S.
General Accounting Office report to Congress says that the rate of severity of
adverse reactions to the vaccine are considerably greater than advertised.
In a random survey of 1,253 guard and reserve pilots and aircrew, the GAO found
84 percent suffered minor reactions and at least 24 percent major multiple
"systemic" reactions, the latter more than 100 times higher than the estimate by
the manufacturer.
Retired Army Ranger Sgt. 1st Class Steve Robinson, who runs the National Gulf
War Resource Center, a nonprofit veterans' advocacy organization, was a member
of the Veterans' Administration Research Advisory Committee that studied
problems related to the vaccination.
"We continue to kick people out of the military and give them jail sentences for
not taking a vaccine that science still hasn't proven," Robinson said. "You only
have to read a little bit about the vaccine and you will question whether it is
safe."
A Desert Storm veteran, Enz, whose age was not immediately available, was
described by superiors and his peers as a natural leader before and after
refusing the vaccination. Nearly every witness for the defense and for the
prosecution said that he was well liked, respected and even admired among those
in his unit.
He was on a fast track to promotion, trained ahead of many of his peers, and the
papers that would move him from a reserve commission to augment him as a regular
officer in the Marine Corps remained unsigned at his unit administrative office.
"The people who refuse this are not the dummies or the troublemakers," said
former Air Force F-16 pilot retired Lt. Col. John Richardson of Raleigh, a
critic of the vaccine. "I get two to three unsolicited calls or e-mails a week -
sometimes as many as five a day - from kids who are sick. Someone has to stand
up and do the right thing."
For more information on Gulf War Illness visit www.ngwrc.org and for more
information on reactions from the anthrax vaccination visit
www.anthraxvaccine.org.
Contact Eric Steinkopff at esteinkopff@jdnews.com or at 353-1171, Ext. 236.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20030807-043512-3755r.htm
Father of dead soldier claims Army coverup
By Mark Benjamin
Investigations Editor
WASHINGTON, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The father of a soldier who died of pneumonia this
spring said Thursday the Army has excluded her death from its investigation of
deadly pneumonia because it wants to cover up vaccine side
effects. "The government is covering this up and it is a dog-gone shame," said
Moses Lacy, whose daughter, Army Spc. Rachael Lacy, died April 4 at the Mayo
Clinic in Rochester, Minn., after getting pneumonia.
Lacy said his daughter "was a healthy young woman" but got ill within days of
getting anthrax and smallpox vaccinations on March 2 in preparation for
deployment to the Persian Gulf. She was too ill to ever be deployed.
The Army said 100 soldiers have gotten pneumonia in Iraq and southwestern Asia,
two of those have died and another 13 have had to be put on respirators.
"The common denominator is smallpox and anthrax vaccinations," Moses Lacy said
in a telephone interview from his home in Lynwood, Ill. "These young people have
given their lives to the military and they are getting a raw deal. The
Department of Defense is closing their eyes."
The Army did not mention vaccines on Tuesday when it held a press conference on
the pneumonia investigation. Officials said the pneumonia does not appear to be
contagious, and are close to ruling out biological or chemical
warfare, SARS and Legionnaire's disease. Col. Robert DeFraites of the Army
Surgeon General's office said at the press conference that the Pentagon launched
the investigation because of the severity of the pneumonia. "Are we seeing more
cases in general than we might expect? Despite the harsh environment, the answer
is no ... But again, we are still concerned about these severe ones."
DeFraites told UPI on Wednesday that the Pentagon would look into whether
vaccines, among other factors, might have triggered the pneumonia cases. "Among
all of the possible causes or contributing factors, we are looking at the
immunizations that the soldiers received as well," DeFraites said. "It is
premature to say that there is any relationship at all."
The Army said it is excluding Lacy's death from its investigation because Lacy
never made it to Iraq or southwestern Asia where it says the cases are
clustered. "She was never deployed to Iraq," Army Surgeon General spokeswoman
Virginia Stephanakis told UPI Thursday. She said the military is participating
in an investigation of Lacy's death separate from the pneumonia investigation.
"It is a whole different issue."
Moses Lacy disagreed.
"She should be on that list (of deaths to investigate) because my daughter's
first symptoms were pneumonia," Lacy said. "It happened immediately" after the
vaccines, Moses said. "You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out.
If I were a medical official it would be the first thing I would look into."
Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center,
told UPI, "We should include in this study any illnesses or deaths that appear
to be pneumonia-related that occurred in theater or out of theater."
Dr. Eric Pfeifer, the Minnesota coroner who performed Lacy's autopsy, told the
Army Times that the smallpox and anthrax vaccines "may have" contributed to
Lacy's death. "It's just very suspicious in my mind...that she's healthy,
gets the vaccinations and then dies a couple weeks later." He listed
"post-vaccine" problems on the death certificate.
Other members of the armed forces not in the Pentagon investigation say the
anthrax vaccine has made them very sick with pneumonia-like symptoms. Michael
Girard, a Senior Airman at Patrick Air Force Base in Cocoa Beach, Fla., got his
second anthrax shot on March 4. He developed flu-like symptoms - runny nose and
a "heavy chest" - starting March 6 and by March 12 developed a rash on his left
arm where he had gotten the shot.
"Then basically it started attacking my body, section by section," Girard said.
He said he has since suffered bouts of vomiting up blood, pain in his feet that
made them turn blue, chest pain, constipation, pain in his legs,
headaches, stomach aches and extremely high blood pressure. In one weekend he
went to the emergency room four times. He says he suffers from insomnia and
fatigue.
At one point, he developed a horrible cough. "They did do a chest X-ray because
they thought it might be pneumonia. A nurse told me that it was, but a doctor
came in and said that it was not." Girard said Air Force doctors first suspected
the anthrax vaccine caused his problems, but since have backed away from that
diagnosis. "Everything that has been associated with this ever since I got sick
has been like a
coverup," Girard said. He said he "was perfectly 100 percent healthy" before
getting the vaccine. "I was in the gym for an hour to two hours per day. I was
running. I was energetic."
He said he was not scheduled to deploy anywhere.
In its pneumonia investigation, the Army is looking into the July 12 death of
Army Spc. Joshua M. Neusche, 20, of Montreal, Mo. The Pentagon has described his
death as "other causes." The Army is also looking at the June
17 death of Army Sgt. Michael L. Tosto, 24, of Apex, N.C. His death is listed as
"illness."
Stephanakis said she was unfamiliar with the June 26 death in Kuwait of another
soldier, Army Spc. Cory A. Hubbell, 20, of Urbana, Ill. His death is listed by
the Pentagon under "breathing difficulties." Hubbell's mother,
Connie Bickers, of Urbana, Ill., told the Champaign News-Gazette that the Army
had not told her how her apparently healthy son died. "I wish I had answers, but
I don't know if I'm ever going to get them," Bickers told the
paper.
On Thursday, the Pentagon announced the death of Sgt. David L. Loyd, 44, of
Jackson, Tenn. The announcement said Lloyd died on Aug. 5 when he "was on a
mission when he experienced severe chest pains. The soldier was sent to the
Kuwait hospital where he was pronounced dead."
A co-author of a government-sponsored study of possible side effects from the
anthrax vaccine told UPI that the Army should look at whether that vaccine is
behind the cluster of pneumonia cases. That study last year found
the vaccine was the "possible or probable" cause of pneumonia in two soldiers.
"As physicians, I would think they would be looking at all possible causes. I
would think vaccines would be part of that," said Dr. John L. Sever of George
Washington University Medical School, who was one of six authors of
the study. Last year's anthrax vaccine study, printed in the May 2002 issue of
Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, found that the vaccine was the "possible
or probable" cause of pneumonia among two soldiers, according to Sever. The U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services convened the group, called the Anthrax
Vaccine Expert Committee, which studied 602 reports of possible reactions to the
vaccine among nearly 400,000 troops who received it, Sever said.
In addition to identifying pneumonia and flu-like symptoms among troops who
received the vaccine, the group also looked at four other cases of potentially
serious reactions, including severe back pain and two soldiers
who had sudden difficulty breathing in a possible allergic reaction to the
vaccine. Sever described the two cases of pneumonia as "wheezing and difficulty
breathing going into a pneumonia-like picture."
To conduct the study, the Anthrax Vaccine Expert Committee examined reports from
the U.S. military to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; they are
anecdotal reports and do not necessarily show a cause-and-effect relationship.
Moses Lacy said he believes the real story is about vaccine side effects.
"Unless somebody breaks this story wide open, we are going to have a lot more
deaths. I am afraid we are going to lose a lot because of this
vaccine."

http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/221/nation/Discharge_sought_for_soldier_re
fusing_vaccineP.shtml
FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- An Army panel recommended yesterday a general discharge for a
soldier who was court-martialed for refusing to take the anthrax vaccine while
breast-feeding her baby. The three-member Army Administrative Separation Board
at Fort Drum reached its decision regarding Private Rhonda Hazley's fate after
considering testimony and written evidence during a seven-hour hearing.
Hazley, a unit postal clerk, was convicted at a summary court-martial in March
of disobeying orders. She served 14 days in jail and was demoted three grades in
rank to private. Hazley, a 36-year-old single mother of four from East Dublin,
Ga., refused the shot because she was breast-feeding and was concerned about the
health
risks to the child.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-anthrax21jul21,1,256383.story
July 21, 2003
CALIFORNIA
No Vaccine, No Glory, Navy Says
A sailor's decision to refuse the anthrax inoculation leads to a demotion and
a 60-day sentence.
Los Angeles Times
By Mark Arax, Times Staff Writer
LEMOORE, Calif. — His ship came home six weeks ago from the Persian Gulf, but
Troy Goodwin could only watch as 200 of his fellow sailors were given a hero's
welcome at this naval air base in the heart of California cotton country. He had
waited eight months to see his family, but no sooner had he landed than he was
carted off to a cinder-block barracks that serves as a brig. For the next 40
days, the airplane mechanic with the once-spotless record served his sentence,
filling sandbags and pulling weeds under the 105-degree sun.
He hadn't abused drugs or stolen property or gone AWOL. Instead, the Navy was
punishing him for refusing to submit to an anthrax vaccination that he believed
could damage his health and prevent him and his wife from conceiving a healthy
baby.
Last week, the 32-year-old Goodwin completed his time, took off the blue badge
of shame that had been affixed to his uniform, and returned to his family and
squadron a different soldier. After six years of proud service, he had been
demoted and his pay had been docked. He now finds himself nagged by a thought
that would have seemed
inconceivable just a year ago: Maybe he made a mistake in believing that the
military could be a career.
"The whole experience has left me feeling very degraded," Goodwin said. "I guess
you could say I was a model soldier. Everything the military asked me to do, I
did. But I wasn't going to subject my body to a vaccine that's not proven to
work and could have serious side effects. "Yes, I took an oath to obey orders,
but I don't feel this order was a lawful one," he said. "I didn't sign up to
blindly trust the military with my health."
His superiors say Goodwin gave them little choice but to punish him.
"As far as the Navy is concerned, this is a pretty simple, straightforward
matter," said Dennis McGrath, public affairs officer at the Lemoore base. "If
you're going into a combat zone where anthrax may be used, you need to take the
appropriate inoculations to preserve not only your health but the health of your
fellow soldiers.
"He disobeyed a lawful order, but because he's a good worker, they decided not
to court-martial him," McGrath said. "Under the circumstances, he got the least
amount of punishment a sailor could get."
Nearly 1 million military personnel have received the anthrax vaccine since the
1991 Persian Gulf War, including more than 300,000 during the last year,
according to military figures. Despite questions about the vaccine's efficacy
and possible health risks ranging from sterility to cardiac arrest to immune
disorders, fewer than 600 soldiers have refused it. Depending on their prior
records, they have been court-martialed or given a nonjudicial punishment
similar to Goodwin's.
Critics say the Pentagon has exploited America's fear of terrorists and the
threat posed by Saddam Hussein to push a vaccine that has sickened hundreds of
soldiers and led to a handful of deaths. Citing health risks, one lawsuit filed
in federal court in Washington seeks to force the government to acknowledge
the vaccine's experimental status.
"The military well knows how many deaths and illnesses this experimental vaccine
has caused, and yet they continue to insist otherwise," said John Richardson, a
former F-16 pilot and policy analyst for the Joint Chiefs of Staff who stands at
the forefront of the opposition. "They can't find weapons of mass destruction,
and yet they are throwing people in jail who refuse to take a vaccine that they
claim protects against weapons of mass destruction," he said.
The Pentagon says critics overlook the fact that the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration approved the vaccine.
"The idea that we're pushing something dangerous and experimental onto our
soldiers is nonsense, absolute nonsense," said James Turner, a Pentagon
spokesman. "The FDA has certified the safety and efficacy of this vaccine. There
have been no deaths, and the side effects are not unlike other similar
vaccines." But the FDA-approved product literature acknowledges the deaths of
five military personnel who became sick after taking the vaccine. And in a memo
in 1998, the secretary of the Army conceded that the vaccine was "unusually
hazardous."
Only three months ago, Rachael Lacy, a 22-year-old Army reservist at Ft. McCoy
in Wisconsin, died of an infection after receiving inoculations against anthrax
and smallpox. Before refusing the shots in December, Goodwin said, he spent six
months studying the vaccine's pros and cons. He and his wife, Andrea, who had
two
children from a previous marriage, decided to have a baby. Among the vaccine's
long list of possible adverse effects are birth defects.
"No one can say for sure whether this vaccine even protects against anthrax,"
said Goodwin, a native of Alabama whose FA-18 Hornet squadron had been assigned
to the aircraft carrier Constellation. "But what they do know is that it can
make some people very sick. I felt like it was senseless, especially since we
were going to try to have a baby." If Goodwin began to waver under pressure from
the ship's command, his wife held firm back home.
"At one point, it became a battle of wills between me and them, for my husband's
conscience," she said. "They made his life miserable and treated him like a
common criminal." Goodwin wrote a letter to his superiors explaining his reasons
for refusing the vaccine. He stressed that his stance wasn't a ploy to avoid
serving in the war; he believed in his heart that the vaccine's health
risks outweighed its benefits.
The Navy began meting out its punishment almost immediately. In February,
Goodwin was denied liberty during a port call. He was no longer allowed to work
on the Hornets' mechanical systems, a job that had earned him commendations. He
was relegated to sanding and painting the frames. Instead of counting those
actions as part of Goodwin's 60-day sentence, the Navy waited until May to start
the clock on his official punishment. The delay meant that Goodwin wouldn't be
allowed to return to his family when he arrived home June 2.
The Constellation docked in San Diego, and the squadron was flown back to
Lemoore. As soon as the transport plane pulled into the hangar that day, a
senior chief petty officer met Goodwin. His wife had barely given him a hug and
a kiss when he was led away to serve his time. The brig, an open-roomed barracks
with side-by-side bunks, was only a 10-minute walk from their house on the base,
but it might as well have been a thousand miles.
Goodwin shared quarters with 15 other sailors who had earned the Navy's wrath
for violations that had nothing to do with vaccines. It was like boot camp all
over again. His cigarettes were counted — no more than five a day. And he
couldn't touch or talk to his wife at church. Family visits were restricted to
two hours each evening. His days were filled with menial labor. He couldn't go
anywhere without the blue badge hanging from his left pocket.
"You feel branded," he said. "I felt like all the hard work I had done for my
squadron was for nothing. They had completely turned their back on me." The Navy
demoted him one rank and cut his paycheck in half for two months. Andrea
struggled at home to make ends meet. She thought it was beneath her husband and
the other men to spend their mornings pulling weeds in the blistering heat. She
marched right up to his superior officer and told him just how she felt. The
next day, the weed detail ended.
"When this whole thing started, my husband wasn't jumping up and trying to start
a mutiny or anything," she said. "It was just a personal decision, and they
could have let it ride. But no. They decided to make an example out of him."
Last week, much to her surprise, Troy was let go two days early and walked
through the front door with a big smile on his face. Five days back and he's
still trying to find his home legs. He now wonders about signing up for a new
tour of duty when this one ends in April 2005. "They got me working below my
skill level, doing things I did two or three years ago," he said. "Unless
something changes, I'm going to think long and hard about reenlisting."

Air Force Times Aug 18,2003 pg 5
Airman Dies Weeks After Return to US
An airman who returned home after serving five months in the Middle East died of
a RUPTURED SPLEEN, the Air Force said Aug5 Airman 1st class Justin Brummett ,21,
of Newport,Ky died Aug 1 at his home at
Minot Air Force Base,ND An autopsy by the ND medical examiner's office found a
Ruptured spleen was
the immediate cause of death, Minot base officials said. Lt Karin Wright, a
Minot base spokeswoman, said the medical examiner's office is waiting for more
tests to determine what caused Brummett's spleen to
rupture. Brummett, a fuel's apprentice with the 5th Logistics Readiness Squadran
, had been stationed at Minot since he returned to the US in May. His
father, David Brummett, told the Cincinnati EnQuirer on Aug 2 his son
died of a viral infection. He said his son had been ill for a couple of weeks
and said others in his unit also were sick.

http://www.news-leader.com/_archive/0716-Mysteryill-108625.html
Mystery illness kills Missouri soldier
July 16, 2003
Mystery illness kills Missouri soldier Josh Neusche died Saturday; his family
waits for answers.
By Eric Eckert
News-Leader Staff
Jacob Neusche
Montreal, Mo. -- Seventeen-year-old Jacob Neusche spent Tuesday morning packing
up his big brother's belongings -- books, a high school letterman's jacket and a
Class A uniform. "That's what Josh will be buried in," the teenager said,
referring to the uniform. Missouri National Guard Spc. Josh Neusche, 20, died
Saturday at the Homburg Hospital in Germany from a mysterious illness. A member
of the 203rd Engineer Battalion, he is the only Missouri National Guardsman on
the Department of Defense's casualty list. Family and friends are awaiting the
soldier's body, scheduled to arrive Thursday in the United States.
They are also waiting for autopsy results, and his parents, Mark and Cindy
Neusche, are calling for an investigation. "He's always been healthy," Mark
Neusche said. "Hell, he's a cross-country runner. There's no reason for a boy of
his health to deteriorate so quickly." Cindy Neusche said her son collapsed July
2 while in Baghdad and was transported to Germany. Doctors there told the family
they believed Josh suffered from
pneumonia due to fluid that had collected on his lungs. But then his liver,
kidneys and muscles started to break down, his mother said. "They were doing
some things there, trying to get his kidneys flushed out," she said
through tears. "They told us his potassium levels came up so far and he needed
to go on dialysis."
The Neusches traveled to Germany Friday to be with their son. When they arrived,
they found him in a drug-induced coma. The grief-stricken couple weren't
able to talk with their boy, but they believe he knew they were there. "In our
hearts, we felt he heard us," said Cindy Neusche. "You could tell by the
machines he was on. His heart rate got faster when we talked to him." Josh
Neusche died the next day. Doctors and family members are still befuddled
by the strange illness. There's got to be an explanation, Mark Neusche said. He
prays the
hospital's autopsy will reveal the cause. "I know the doctor over in
Germany said he got into some type of toxin," Mark Neusche said. "Several
soldiers were in similar conditions while we were there." So far
there has been no hint of an official inquiry. "That's not under investigation,"
said U.S. Army Spokesman, Lt. Col. Jeff Keane, from Virginia.
"To my knowledge, we've not been asked to do that (investigate)," added Whitney
Frost, a spokeswoman for U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton. Meanwhile, friends and family
have been reminiscing about their loved one. I lost the person I
looked up to the most," Jacob Neusche said of his brother. "I guess now the role
I'll have to step into is caring for my mother and dad. My brother always
did that." Friends remembered how Josh loved to play his trombone, his
reign as Camdenton High School's 2002 prom king and his penchant for
mathematics.
"He was a tutor for little kids," said friend Danny Pacholski. "The guy was a
genius at math. ... It's really heartbreaking that this happened. We were always
supposed to grow up with each other." Josh's high school sweetheart, Krissy
Lewis, said he lived his 20 years to the fullest. The couple broke up after high
school, but stayed close friends. "He was the most outgoing person I'd ever
met," Lewis said, adding that friends have been consoling each other since they
learned of the death. "One moment, I'm OK and then it hits me that I've lost the
first love of my life." Josh joined the National Guard in high school. When he
was activated in March, the young man was enrolled at Southwest Missouri State
University as a freshman. He was taking general-education courses and had
been dating fellow student Layne Clark for eight months. Clark, 19, said she and
Josh talked many times about getting married.
"We met at college through a friend of ours," Clark said Tuesday. "We loved to
go dancing. We saw a lot of movies and we enjoyed just being together --doing
nothing." Clark said the young soldier believed in his mission.
"He was so proud to serve his country. He thought this was the right thing to do
and he wanted to do it. He was the most courageous man I'd ever known." On
Sunday -- the day after learning of Josh's death Clark received a
two-page letter from her boyfriend; it was postmarked June 30. "He just told me
that everything was going all right and he'd be home soon."

FROM THE LA TIMES
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-le-lentz25.2jul25,1,3847
320.story
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Military Response to Vaccination Refusal
July 25, 2003
Re "No Vaccine, No Glory, Navy Says," July 21: As a practicing physician for 43
years, I find the action of the Navy on Troy Goodwin reprehensible and
ludicrous. Forcing a seaman to take a vaccine that is known to be
potentially dangerous and life-threatening is unconscionable. A recent death
from the vaccination should be enough evidence to at least give the serviceman
an option as to whether he takes it or not. To demote him, cut
his pay and then put him in jail is ridiculous. What are our military priorities
coming to?
Leon M. Trunk MD
Los Angeles

UPI.com
August 21, 2003
Widow Fears Pentagon 'Lying' On Pneumonia
By Mark Benjamin, United Press International
WASHINGTON -- Joining a growing chorus of families, the widow of a soldier in
Iraq who died of a mysterious pneumonia-like illness said Thursday she fears the
military may be lying about her husband's death. She said she worries that he
may have died from the anthrax vaccine shots the Army gave him.
"More and more I think it was the shots," said Stephanie Tosto, whose husband,
Army Sgt. Michael L. Tosto, died June 17. Tosto said the military has given her
little information about her husband's death. "I think they [the Army] might be
lying about this stuff," Tosto, 22, said in a telephone interview from
Baumholder, Germany. "I really feel like it. Nobody can tell me anything. If it
is the shots, then of course they are lying." "We just want to know what
happened and we have a right to know. But the Army is acting like they are
trying to hide something, and that just makes it harder."
Michael Tosto, 24, died at Camp Wolf in Kuwait after falling ill in Iraq three
days earlier. The military listed his death as "a non- combat related cause."
Stephanie Tosto said the Army has told her that her husband had a pneumonia-like
illness, but little more. "They have told me that he had fluid in his lungs and
it got into his
tissue and I believe fluid around his heart," Tosto said.
Last week, the families of two soldiers who died after a pneumonia- like
illness, Army Spc. Zeferino E. Colunga and Army Spc. Joshua M. Neusche, wrote
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld seeking an independent investigation into
their deaths. "We as a family are concerned that we are not being told the
truth," say the similar Aug. 12 letters to Rumsfeld, facilitated by the National
Gulf War Resource Center, a veterans' advocacy group.
The Pentagon is investigating more than 100 cases of mysterious pneumonia among
troops in Iraq and in Southwest Asia. Eighteen soldiers have required
respirators, according to the Pentagon. At least two have died, Tosto and
Neusche. The Army has said Colunga's death is not related to the cluster of
pneumonia-like illnesses.
The week before, the father of a fourth soldier, Army Spc. Rachael Lacy, told
United Press International that the military was "covering up" Lacy's April 4
death from vaccines. The civilian coroner who performed her autopsy and a doctor
who treated her have both said the smallpox or anthrax vaccines she received
March 2 might have caused her death, which followed a pneumonia-like illness.
"The common denominator [in the pneumonia-like illnesses] is smallpox and
anthrax vaccinations," said Moses Lacy. "The government is covering this up and
it is a dog-gone shame." The Army has not classified Lacy's death as possibly
related to vaccines.
In a fifth case, a staffer for Rep. Chris Shays said the Connecticut Republican
is closely following the Pentagon investigation -- and the possibility that
vaccines might play a role -- after the death of Army Staff Sergeant Richard S.
Eaton Jr., 37, of Guilford, Conn., on August 12. Eaton's death was characterized
by the Pentagon as a
pulmonary embolism while sleeping. Shays has led hearings on the Pentagon's
anthrax vaccination program.
Pentagon health officials did not return a phone call Thursday seeking comment.
The head of the Pentagon's vaccine program told UPI this week that vaccine side
effects are an unlikely cause for the sicknesses and deaths.
"In 200 years of vaccinations, no vaccine has ever been shown to cause pneumonia
and there are multiple reasons to believe that the vaccines have no role," said
Col. John D. Grabenstein, deputy director for clinical operations at the
Military Vaccine Agency.
Stephanie Tosto said another soldier on guard duty with Michael in Iraq on June
14 said he at first seemed fine, but over a period of hours he turned white, his
lips went blue, he began vomiting and then vomiting blood. She said Tosto's
medical records show him at a medical aid station June 15th complaining of
"tightness in the chest."
On June 16 she had a telephone conversation with a doctor treating her husband
who said Michael had bad pneumonia and trouble breathing. "The doctor sounded
very concerned because he was having such trouble breathing," Tosto said. She
had a brief telephone conversation with her husband June 16. "He said, 'Hey
baby, I'm sick. I have pneumonia.' He told me that he loved me. He sounded very
weak and tired."
"The next day, Wednesday, they came to the house and said he died from
complications from pneumonia," Tosto said. "When my husband died, the casualty
officer asked me, 'Is it possible that Michael had heart problems?' Michael did
not have heart problems. One other time they asked me if he had asthma. He was
never sick."
Stephanie Tosto said that her husband's medical records show him receiving the
first three of six scheduled anthrax shots before leaving Germany, the last on
Feb. 26. She says another soldier from Tosto's 1st Armored Division said
soldiers in the division did receive an anthrax shot in Iraq. Tosto arrived
there on the first or
second day in May. Stephanie Tosto said the last pages of her husband's medical
record showed redness and swelling in the arms but that the military would not
allow her to see her husband's body until after an autopsy was performed in
Germany. He was then in a dress uniform with white gloves.
She says Michael Tosto got a smallpox shot back in March. "He had to go back for
the follow-up and he said he was feeling lousy" after getting that vaccine.
Stephanie Tosto said she struggles with explaining Michael Tosto's death to her
21-month-old son.
"He keeps pointing at his daddy's picture and saying, 'Daddy.' All I can tell
him is 'Daddy went bye-bye.' So now he points at his picture and says, 'Daddy
bye-bye.' I don't know what to tell him because I don't know. I wonder if I will
ever know." The Pentagon says the anthrax vaccine is safe.
In an August 2002 case study of a 39-year old "previously healthy man on active
duty" in the Cardiopulmonary and Critical Care Journal CHEST, three military
doctors described the case of a 39-year-old who was diagnosed with pneumonia
that "may be due to the anthrax vaccine." And a review by a government advisory
committee in 2002 found one case of pneumonia "considered probably related to
[anthrax] vaccination."

Read this article and watch for the highlighted words....
washingtonpost.com
Number of Wounded in Action on Rise
Iraq Toll Reflects Medical Advances, Resistance Troops Face
By Vernon Loeb
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, September 2, 2003; Page A01
. Since the war began, more than 6,000 service members
have been flown back to the United States. The number includes the 1,124 wounded
in action, 301 who received non-hostile injuries in vehicle accidents and other
mishaps, and thousands who became physically or mentally ill.
(Thousands mentally and physically ill? Vaccine induced?)

Vaccine-Related Illnesses are Becoming an Epidemic among US
Troops in Iraq
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030915-014545-8114r
"Mysterious pneumonia-like illnesses and breathing problems appear to be
striking U.S. troops in greater numbers than the military has identified in n
investigation -- including more deaths, according to soldiers and their
families," says a new Moonie UPI report. "They suffered a pneumonia-like illness
after being given vaccines, particularly the anthrax shot. One Air Force staff
sergeant who was deployed to Turkey for Operation Iraqi Freedom told UPI he was
hospitalized in Incerlik in March with a pneumonia-like illness, 10 days after
his fourth anthrax shot. He got his next anthrax shot in August, and 10 days
later was hospitalized in California with what
he said was the same pneumonia-like illness." Yet the Pentagon continues to
SWEAR the shots have NOTHING to do with the illness.

Military Vaccine Woes Mount
HARRISBURG, Pa., Oct. 10, 2003
Dennis Drew was prepared to fight the enemy in Iraq, but never got the chance.
After his military vaccinations, his immune system completely unraveled. "Severe
pneumonia and myocarditis, I think almost killed me," said Drew, a U.S. Army
chemical weapons specialist. Now living in constant pain, daily life is almost
unbearable. His illnesses are nearly identical to those suffered by Rachel Lacy
before she died last spring. The coroner said her military shots were likely to
blame.
It's estimated thousands of soldiers claim serious illnesses from military
vaccines. But to them, the most maddening thing is they don't exist -- at least
in the eyes of top military brass -- who insist there is, quote, "no evidence,
none whatsoever" that inoculations cause any long-term problems, reports CBS
News Correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.
That includes blood clots.
The military denied any possible link to vaccines when NBC War Correspondent
David Bloom died at age 39 of an apparent blood clot after his military shots.
Yet a CBS News investigation has uncovered more than a dozen cases of the
vaccines being linked to blood clot problems. It's suspected in Drew's illness,
confirmed by the military's own records in former Army Captain Jason Nietupski
who developed blood clots in his legs, and documented in former navy nurse Julia
Dyckman. Dyckman's immune system fell apart after her shots for the first Gulf
War. Now she has debilitating problems from brain lesions to dissolving neck
bones. "It's harder to live with these illnesses than if I was shot in combat,"
said the retired U.S. Navy captain.
She watched the latest deployment with a mix of interest and dread. "I was
worried. And I also had another reason to be worried because I also have three
sons in the military right now," she said. Sons who may be ordered to get the
shots themselves -- those who refuse are court-martialed or kicked out of the
service. Their lives forever changed, the victims old and new desperately want
to find out why the vaccines are making some soldiers so sick, but say they
can't fight the enemy if the Pentagon denies the enemy exists.
©MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.

BL Fisher Note:
And the nightmare caused by military doctors sticking their collective heads in
the sand continues to destroy the young lives of those who only wanted to serve
their country...
http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030915-014545-8114r
By Mark Benjamin
UPI Investigations Editor
Published 9/16/2003 2:45 PM
WASHINGTON, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- Mysterious pneumonia-like illnesses and breathing
problems appear to be striking U.S. troops in greater numbers than the military
has identified in an investigation -- including more deaths,
according to soldiers and their families. Some of the soldiers were deployed to
Iraq and died but are not part of the Pentagon's investigation. Others who got
ill told United Press International they suffered a pneumonia-like illness after
being given vaccines, particularly the anthrax shot.
The Pentagon said it is committed to the health of military personnel and that
some dead or ill soldiers do not meet criteria for the investigation. Pentagon
health officials said a statistical analysis essentially has ruled
out vaccines and that the role of smoking has emerged as a leading factor
instead.
One Air Force staff sergeant who was deployed to Turkey for Operation Iraqi
Freedom told UPI he was hospitalized in Incerlik in March with a pneumonia-like
illness, 10 days after his fourth anthrax shot. He got his
next anthrax shot in August, and 10 days later was hospitalized in California
with what he said was the same pneumonia-like illness.
"They said I had considerable inflammation of the lungs," said Staff Sgt.
Neal B. Erickson Sr., 43, in a telephone interview from Moffett Field south
of San Francisco. "I had severe chest pains, dizziness and shortness of
breath."
He said he does not smoke and that doctors thought he had blood clots or a
heart attack. Tests for viruses or bacteria "came back clean," Erickson
said. "They basically labeled it as a type of pneumonia."
He said the military is not recognizing that the shots made him sick and
that he is afraid of getting the next anthrax shot, scheduled in five
months.
"I'm real touchy here. Come a few more months, I'm in line to get another.
It's not like we have a choice in the matter." Military personnel are
required to take the shots and can be court-martialed if they refuse.
Erickson said there are at least four similar cases in his squadron,
including one hospitalization.
The Pentagon is investigating what it says is a mysterious pneumonia cluster
that has sickened around 100 soldiers deployed across Southwest Asia. "I'll
bet I'm not in (the Pentagon's) numbers," Erickson said.
Pentagon health officials repeatedly have emphasized that the number of sick
soldiers in their investigation show there is no "epidemic" among U.S.
troops. They are concentrating on 19 service members who have gotten so sick
they needed ventilators to breathe; two of those died.
"We do not have an epidemic," Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health
Affairs William Winkenwerder Jr. told reporters last week. "The rates of
pneumonia among personnel deployed to Southwest Asia in the past six months
are consistent with what we would have expected, and we have data that
strongly supports that."
The Pentagon has identified two deaths in its investigation: the July 12
death of Army Spc. Joshua M. Neusche, 20; and the June 17 death of Army Sgt.
Michael L. Tosto, 24. Neusche's family wrote Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld last month seeking an independent investigation of his death.
Tosto's wife, Stephanie, told UPI last month she was frustrated at the lack
of information on her husband's death, but said she thinks vaccines played a
role.
At least two more soldiers deployed to Iraq died with fluid in their lungs,
according to their families; one of those was found dead in his cot. The
Pentagon has not released any information on two more soldiers found dead in
Iraq under similar circumstances. In a fifth case, a 20-year-old died after
what the Pentagon said were "breathing difficulties" and his mother has said
she wants more information.
At least two more soldiers died after experiencing chest pain, including the
Aug. 27 death of 43-year-old Lt. Col Anthony L. Sherman, who competed in
triathlons and marathons. "The only thing they had to tell me was severe
myocardial infarction," said his wife, Lisa Ann, from Pottstown, Pa. "In my
heart of hearts, I believe there was more to it than just a heart attack. He
was in too good of shape."
All of those deaths appear on the Pentagon list of non-combat related
fatalities but were not included in the pneumonia investigation.
The Pentagon said that in its investigation, it has focused on a specific
group of ill soldiers. "Other cases are medically reviewed separately
because it would be scientifically inappropriate to combine the reviews,"
Pentagon medical officials told UPI in a written statement.
The investigation is focused on serious cases of illness that occurred
between March 1 and Aug. 31 among military personnel who were deployed and
who report to the United States Central Command, which includes the Horn of
Africa, South and Central Asia and the Northern Red Sea regions, as well as
the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq. Pentagon investigators are focusing on
soldiers who developed pneumonia in both lungs and were placed on
ventilators to breathe.
Some civilian doctors said those parameters are too narrow and ignore cases
that could help identify the cause.
"I think the military is making a scientific mistake by restricting the
region from which they are collecting these cases," said Dr. Meryl Nass, a
doctor who treats soldiers who say they were harmed by vaccines. "There is
no scientific reason to limit the geographical envelope from which cases are
identified," Nass said. "You want to capture as many cases as possible to
investigate, in order to get a broad outline of all the features of the
disease."
Pentagon officials said their statistical analysis shows that vaccinated
military personnel are no more likely to develop pneumonia than unvaccinated
soldiers. Nor are they more likely to develop it soon after getting
vaccinated.
"We knew beforehand that the rate of pneumonia in anthrax-vaccinated people
and in anthrax-unvaccinated people were essentially the same, so our
starting point was that this was unlikely," Col. John Grabenstein, deputy
director of the Military Vaccine Office, told reporters.
Pentagon health officials said 10 of the 19 cases they are studying had
eosinophilia, or the presence of a large number of a specific kind of white
blood cell that can indicate an allergic response. Doctors have been unable
to detect any virus or bacteria that might have caused the illness in those
cases.
A reaction to a drug might cause eosinophilia, according to the Centers for
Disease Control doctor assisting the military in the investigation, Dr.
Steve Ostroff.
"Obviously, one can have an allergy to a particular type of medication ...
and that is certainly a line of investigation we can't entirely exclude,"
Ostroff told reporters. "There doesn't seem to be any particular type of
unifying treatment that was given to these individuals."
A civilian doctor questioned that logic.
"They keep saying there is no common exposure, but every one of those
soldiers got vaccinated," said Dr. Jeffrey Sartin, an infectious diseases
doctor at the Gundersen Clinic in La Crosse, Wis. "That is one definite
common exposure that should not be dismissed out of hand."
"Statistics by themselves only give you part of the story," said Sartin, a
former Air Force doctor. "They are getting a bird's eye view of the forest
but they are not getting down and looking at the trees."
This spring, Sartin treated Army Spc. Rachel Lacy of Lynwood, Ill., who died
April 4 after a pneumonia-like illness. He and a coroner linked that
soldier's death to either the anthrax or smallpox vaccines she had received
March 2, before falling ill.
Lacy's June 3 death certificate lists vaccines as a possible cause for her
lung damage, heart inflammation "with eosinophils," and "lupus-like
autoimmune disease."
The military, which did not treat her or perform the autopsy, said her death
was likely not due to vaccines.
A number of soldiers who were not deployed said the anthrax vaccine made
them sick.
Army Pvt. Dennis W. Drew, 27, got his first anthrax shot April 24 at Fort
Hood, Texas, in preparation for going to Iraq. He started feeling ill April
27.
"I started getting a real sharp pain in my chest. I had a hard time
breathing and every time I moved, my chest hurt." Drew said. "I checked into
a hospital and I found out I had pneumonia in my left lung and myocarditis,
a swelling of the heart. Basically, my health has been going down hill ever
since."
Drew says he quit smoking four years ago and was in good shape. In addition
to his pneumonia, he said he has since suffered from severe headaches, loss
of peripheral vision and constant colds. "It is like my immune system does
not work anymore," he said. "When I first got to Fort Hood, the doctor there
thought the myocarditis might have been caused by the vaccine."
Drew wrote to Congress about his belief that the vaccine has ruined his life
with his wife and two small children.
"I would invite anyone who doesn't believe in the adverse reaction of the
anthrax vaccine to come spend a day in my home to see first hand what my
family and I go through," Drew wrote to House National Security Subcommittee
Chairman Chris Shays, R-Conn., on Aug. 31. "We are just victims of wanting
to serve our country."
Drew said he knows of three other similar cases at Fort Hood.
Among deaths of soldiers with pneumonia-like symptoms and breathing problems
who served in operation Iraqi Freedom, and are not included in the Pentagon
investigation:
-- Army Spc. Zeferino E. Colunga, 20, of Bellville, Texas. Colunga died on
Aug. 6 after being evacuated from Iraq to Germany. Colunga's family wrote
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld last month seeking an independent
analysis of his death from "this 'so-called' mystery illness." The family
said Colunga "died at a hospital in Germany after a battle with pneumonia
and a subsequent diagnosis of acute leukemia. We deserve to know why a
healthy young man who was supposedly screened and determined fit for
deployment would suddenly die," the letter says. The military specifically
ruled out Colunga's death as part of the pneumonia cluster.
-- Army Spc. Cory A. Hubbell, 20, of Urbana, Ill. Hubbel died June 26 from
what has been reported as "breathing difficulties," and listed by the
Pentagon as a "non-combat related cause." He died after being hospitalized
at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. Hubbel's mother, Connie Bickers, told the
Champaign News-Gazette that the Army is not giving her many answers on the
death.
-- Army Spc. Levi B. Kinchen, 21, of Tickfaw, La. Tickfaw died Aug. 9 in
Baghdad. A fellow soldier tried to wake him and noticed he was not
breathing, according to the Pentagon. He was assigned to 2nd Armored Cavalry
Regiment, Fort Polk, La.
-- Army Staff Sergeant Richard S. Eaton Jr., 37, of Guilford, Conn. Eaton
was found dead on the morning of Aug. 12. The military has told the family
that Eaton died of pulmonary edema, or fluid in his lungs, that might have
been heat-related. Eaton's father Richard told UPI he has no reason to doubt
the Army's explanation, but he said he has not received a final report on
his son.
-- Army Pvt. Matthew D. Bush, 20, of East Alton, Ill. Bush died Aug. 8 in
Camp Caldwell, Iraq. A fellow soldier tried to wake him and noticed he was
not breathing, according to the Pentagon. Pentagon officials have indicated
that his death might have been heat-related.
-- Army Staff Sgt. David L. Loyd, 44, of Jackson, Tenn. Loyd died Aug. 5 in
a Kuwaiti hospital after he experienced severe chest pains while on a
mission. He was assigned to the 1175th Transportation Company, Army National
Guard, Brownsville, Tenn.
-- Lt. Col. Anthony L. Sherman, 43, of Pottstown, Pa. Sherman died on Aug.
27 in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. The Pentagon said Sherman died "as a result of
non-combat related injury (medical)." His wife, Lisa Ann, said the Army told
her Sherman died of "a severe myocardial infarction." She said she was
suspicious because he was a marathon runner. Sherman was assigned to the
304th Civil Affairs Brigade, U.S. Army Reserves, based in Philadelphia, Pa.
-- Army Spc. William A. Jeffries, 39, of Evansville, Ind. Jeffries died
March 31 at a hospital in Spain after becoming sick in Kuwait. A military
official reportedly told Jeffries' family that he suffered a blood clot in
his lung and acute pancreatitis.

Hard Homecoming for U.S. Troops
BL Fisher Note:
Deja vu. Gulf War syndrome all over again. But the military doctors do not
want to admit that the cocktail of vaccinations the once healthy and now
sick young soldiers received could have anything to do with their health
deterioration. Until genetic differences are identified and respected, until
the one-size-fits-all approach to vaccination and the premise that some are
expendable in order to implement policy is replaced with a more humane
acknowledgement of biodiversity, lives will continue to be ruined.
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/display/inn_reports/special098.txt
THE SUN CHRONICLE, MA
Hard homecoming
By RICK FOSTER / SUN CHRONICLE STAFF
When Sgt. Cherie Davis was serving with the Army Reserve 399th Combat
Support Hospital in Kosovo, one of her proudest moments was meeting
President and Mrs. George W. Bush.
`` It was exciting to be able to meet them,'' said the former South
Attleboro resident, who still has a picture of herself with the first lady.
On a July 2001 visit to Camp Bondsteel, where Davis' unit was based, the
president spoke to the troops and expressed gratitude for their work.
`` Especially here, seeing you in a foreign land, brings home the true
meaning of the sacrifices you make for our freedom,'' Bush said.
At the time, Davis had no idea just how large a sacrifice she was making.
An illness she contracted while serving overseas would seriously threaten
her health. Worse, Davis says, Army red tape and delays kept her from
receiving adequate medical treatment and service pay for months.
The 30-year-old Army reservist began to feel seriously ill after arriving in
Kosovo and continues to suffer from chronic fatigue, fainting spells and
other symptoms.
Long after she returned from the war zone, she is still unable to resume her
career as a mental health care worker.
Collapsed twice
Lightheadedness and exhaustion stemming from what was then an undiagnosed
illness caused Davis to collapse twice while in Kosovo, at one point
resulting in her being evacuated to the Army's Walter Reed Medical Center in
Maryland.
But Davis had to wait a year and a half before receiving compensation from
the military, and still has not gotten all the pay she says is owed her for
the time she was incapacitated. She only recently earned official disability
status from the federal government.
At a time when the United States is growing more dependent on its reserve
forces for critical defense missions, Davis' treatment raises questions
about the military's support for its citizen soldiers.
`` Essentially, we patted her on the head and kicked her in the ass,'' said
an Army Reserve official who spoke on condition of anonymity. `` We screw up
a lot of times.''
The official also said reservists and National Guard personnel often appear
to be treated with less priority than their regular Army counterparts.
Such attitudes are not unknown within the military bureaucracy says John
Goheen, communications director for the National Guard Association of the
United States.
`` Unfortunately there are folks both in uniform and civilians attached to
the military who consider people in the Guard and Reserve second-class
citizens,'' said Goheen. `` That's troubling at a time when we're at the
height of the largest mobilization of Guard personnel since the Korean
War.''
Regional Army Reserve officials declined to comment officially on the local
soldier's case, although her unit recently recommended that her Army pay be
brought up to date.
Davis, who married a fellow serviceman in May, was diagnosed by Veterans
Administration doctors as suffering from neurocardiogenic syncope --
fainting spells caused by a sudden drop in blood pressure -- and chronic
fatigue syndrome as well as depression.
She continues to suffer from crippling fatigue, sore throats, muscle pain
and headaches. Davis thinks the symptoms could be related to a battery of
Army vaccinations she received just before and during the Kosovo assignment.
Last year, a VA doctor pronounced Davis unable to perform either a military
or civilian job because of her illness. In May Davis, who plans to open a
consulting business at home, was classified by the government as 80 percent
disabled.
In the meantime, Davis said, she's seen only modest improvement in her
condition.
`` I'm better than I was,'' she said. `` I have good days and bad days.''
Davis joined the National Guard in 1990 out of high school and spent nine
years in the service as an administrative specialist and chaplain's
assistant. Six months after she retired from the Guard, she learned through
friends that the 399th needed a chaplain's assistant and agreed to join the
Army Reserve.
The Bridgewater State College graduate entered the 399th just in time, it
turned out, to be sent to Kosovo as part of the Clinton Administration's
peacekeeping effort in that war-torn country.
In the fall of 2000, she received a series of hurry-up immunizations and
medical clearances in order to prepare for the mission. After arriving in
Kosovo, however, Davis began feeling ill.
`` While in Kosovo, I began working with the sick locals and soldiers as
part of my duties,'' she said. `` I began to feel real exhausted, weak,
light-headed at times and basically not feeling quite right.''
Davis received medical attention and was given light duty, but the symptoms
did not improve. Finally, at the end of April 2001, she lost consciousness
while at Camp Bondsteel.
Davis again received treatment, and this time was ordered back to the States
for tests at Walter Reed Medical Center. After two weeks, the local soldier
was granted permission to return to her outfit in Kosovo.
Not all of Davis' superiors took her symptoms seriously, however.
According to Sherri MacGlaughlin of Brockton, a former Army Reserve nurse
and Davis' roommate in Kosovo, one officer let it be known that he thought
Davis' illness was `` all in her head.''
MacGlaughlin said she disagreed, and observed that Davis, who collapsed
without warning at a military chow hall in Kosovo, seemed to become more and
more exhausted.
`` She had to take a nap every day after a while,'' MacGlaughlin said.
After her treatment at Walter Reed, Davis returned to Kosovo, where she
continued to feel ill and passed out a second time. But since her unit was
about to return to the United States, she was kept in Kosovo until
September.
After she came home, Davis informed Army officials of her chronic medical
problems during `` out-processing'' at Fort Benning, Ga., and requested that
she be sent back to Walter Reed. Army officials, however, offered her the
option of reporting to the Providence Veterans Administration Hospital
instead.
But Davis, who had been released from active duty upon her return to the
United States, said she did not improve, and again sought an appointment at
Walter Reed.
Meanwhile, officials at the Providence VA hospital informed her that there
was a problem.
Since her condition began while she was serving in Kosovo, she was told, the
Army should have kept her on active duty rather than release her.
In order to fix this, she'd have to obtain a document from the Army called a
`` line of duty'' giving a detailed record of her service and her illness.
But since Davis' treatment was ongoing and doctors could not provide an ``
end date,'' officials at the Army Reserve's 94th Regional Support Command --
parent unit of the 399th -- told her they could not process her line of
duty.
`` It was like a Catch-22,'' Davis said. `` In order to get benefits, I had
to have a line of duty. But I couldn't get a line of duty because of some
technicality.''
In addition, records indicate the 94th did not respond immediately to
respond to official requests from Army command at Ft. Drum, N.Y., for
critical paperwork on Davis' case, including an appointment order for an
officer to verify Davis' records.
While Davis says her struggle with the Army over paperwork had two major
effects: The delay kept her from returning to Walter Reed for further
treatment. It also held up the restoration of her Army active duty pay,
which ended after she returned from Kosovo.
Still sick, Davis was forced to exhaust most of her savings for daily
expenses and to pay for appointments with civilian doctors.
Eventually, Davis took her story to the office of U.S. Rep. James McGovern,
D-Worcester, who initiated a congressional inquiry on her behalf.
McGovern's office contacted Army Reserve officials, but found the 94th ``terribly unresponsive,'' according to a memo from staffer Matthew Pacheco.
Pacheco eventually brought the matter to the attention of the Army Liaison
Office on Capitol Hill as well as Lt. Col. Mary Sherman, an Army
troubleshooter in the Pentagon.
According to copies of e-mails provided to The Sun Chronicle, Sherman in
effect told the 94th to get going. A line of duty was not needed for Davis
to return to Walter Reed, she wrote, because the hospital had already given
notice that the soldier needed to be seen again when she returned to the
States.
`` This should have happened over a year ago,'' Sherman wrote in a
tersely-worded e-mail to the 94th last January.
Following Sherman's intervention, Davis was finally sent back to Walter Reed
and also was granted back pay covering the first six months she was
incapacitated.
Sherman, when contacted by a Sun Chronicle reporter, referred all comment to
the Army public affairs department.
During her week-long stay at Walter Reed, Davis underwent a number of tests.
She continues to take several medications, but has been told she can only be
treated -- not cured.
She says she does not blame the Army for her condition, and is proud of
having been a soldier and to have served in the Kosovo action.
`` It was a good mission,'' she said. `` I think we helped people there.''
She's also grateful to members of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars post
and city Veterans Agent Thomas Tullie, who she said helped with her case.
Davis still does not know what caused her illness, although a large number
of soldiers who served either in the 1991 Gulf War or Kosovo have reported
mysterious ailments.
Clinical investigations have centered on possible exposure to depleted
uranium from munitions and military vaccinations given to troops to protect
them against disease.
So far, however, neither military nor civilian doctors have been able to
produce a smoking gun linking the soldiers' symptoms to overseas service.
The former Attleboro sergeant received some satisfaction two months ago when
she received her disability classification -- enough to earn her a monthly
stipend. And recently, the 94th Reserve Support Command sent a
recommendation to the Pentagon seeking to have Davis' military pay extended
through Sept. 30, according to Eric Hurwitz, the unit's public affairs
spokesman.
Last May, Davis was married to Sgt. First Class John Keeter, whom she met
while serving in Kosovo. The couple currently lives in Maryland, where
Keeter is serving as an instructor at Aberdeen Proving Grounds. He is due to
retire later this year.
Davis, although still disabled, technically remains a member of the 94th.
Because of her illness, however, it's doubtful she'll ever perform another
drill.
The former Attleboro sergeant says she bears no grudges toward the Army, but
hopes her story will focus attention on problems within the system.
`` I'd like to prevent this from happening to any other soldier,'' she said.
RICK FOSTER can be reached at 508-236-0372 or via e-mail at
rfoster@thesunchronicle.com.

© 2003 News World Communications Inc.
Since Persian Gulf War II began about 6,000 soldiers have been shipped home for
recovery. Of these, 1,200 were wounded in combat.
Many of the others consider themselves part of an army of "walking dead" –
troops who appear to be so physically and mentally exhausted that the military
has no recourse but to discharge them.
Why they are ill has become a matter of intense debate inside the Pentagon. Some
claim a series of anthrax and smallpox vaccinations made them so gravely ill
that they have trouble breathing or sleeping and have experienced a loss of
memory. Others have been diagnosed with lupus and heart problems.
At least six died shortly after rolling up their sleeves to receive the anthrax
and smallpox shots. But the Pentagon dismissed related claims with such
regularity and intimidation that many GIs tell Insight they no longer report the
illness. They are told to "suck it up" and move on.
"Don't blame the vaccinations" has been a Pentagon mantra since it began
inoculating nearly half a million troops almost two years ago and pumping
millions of dollars into BioPort Corp., the Lansing, Mich.-based sole supplier
of the anthrax vaccine.
But an alarming outbreak of more than 100 suspected pneumonia cases among Gulf
War II veterans serving in Iraq and southwestern Asia has drawn the ire of
Congress.
Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., held eight congressional hearings on the safety of
the vaccination while chairman of the House Government Reform subcommittee on
National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, and issued a
seething report that found serious safety and regulatory problems with the
vaccine. Now Shays is asking again, "Could these vaccinations be hurting our
troops?"
The Pentagon reluctantly admitted that two Army soldiers – Spc. Joshua M.
Neusche, 20, of Montreal, Mo., and Sgt. Michael L. Tosto, 24, of Apex, N.C. -
died from complications arising from pneumonia on July 12 and June 17,
respectively. The Army is investigating their deaths. Between 1998 and 2001, the
U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine reported 17
soldiers died from complications of pneumonia. The Pentagon has confirmed that
this year at least 17 others have been placed on respirators but insists the
vaccinations have nothing to do with the deaths or illness.
The two pneumonia-related deaths reported recently apparently are an
understatement. Family members of Army Spc. Zeferino E. Culunga, 20, of
Bellville, Texas, and Staff Sgt. Richard S. Eaton, 37, of Guilford, Conn., claim
their sons died in August after being diagnosed with pneumonia. A third death
involved Spc. Rachael Lacy of Lynwood, Ill. According to her autopsy, "smallpox
and anthrax vaccinations" contributed to her death on April 4 after she first
had been diagnosed with pneumonia.
When the victims' families reached out to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, he
ordered a team of military investigators to Germany and Iraq to review the
recent pneumonia cases.
"We as a family are concerned that we are not being told the truth," wrote the
family of Spc. Neusche in an Aug. 12 letter to Rumsfeld. Like the other
families, they asked to see medical records in an effort to get a second opinion
on the cause of death. Culunga died of acute leukemia. Lacy was never deployed,
so she is not considered part of the cluster of pneumonia cases.
"It is our right to receive truthful, honest and unfiltered answers just as the
military required truth, honesty and commitment from our son," says the Neusche-family
letter to Rumsfeld.
But the Army is not investigating the deaths of Culunga or Lacy, and is awaiting
autopsy results for Eaton.
Besides those who died from pneumonia-like complications, families of six others
claim the vaccinations contributed to their sons' deaths – including two who
committed suicide because, say the complaints, the vaccinations made them so
seriously ill that it destroyed their will to live.
While the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has acknowledged the nature of these
deaths, the Pentagon has not because military doctors have refused to confirm
that the vaccines contributed to the deaths of any of these victims.
Despite mounting criticism, the Pentagon repeatedly claimed the pneumonia cases
had nothing to do with the anthrax or smallpox vaccinations.
"In 200 years of vaccination, no vaccine has ever been shown to cause pneumonia,
and there are multiple reasons to believe that the vaccines have no role," Col.
John D. Grabenstein, deputy director for clinical operations at the Military
Vaccine Agency, told United Press International.
Could Grabenstein be wrong? During congressional hearings on the vaccination
program in 1999, Pentagon officials acknowledged there had been three reports of
serious illness coincidentally associated with the vaccination involving
hypersensitivity pneumonia. A study last year in Pharmacoepidemiolgy and Drug
Safety said the vaccine was the cause of pneumonia in two soldiers.
But Grabenstein |