General Defends Use of Anthrax Vaccine

[Guest guest]

http://www.abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20031223_1282.html

General Defends Anthrax Shots for Troops

Joint Chiefs Chairman Defends Giving Troops Anthrax Vaccinations;

Practice Ruled Out by Courts

The Associated Press

WASHINGTON Dec. 23 — The Pentagon's top military officer on Tuesday

defended the practice of giving servicemen and women anthrax

vaccinations, saying the shots were important " to protect our

troops. "

Air Force Gen. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,

told a news briefing that he disagreed with a federal judge's ruling

that the Pentagon could not require military personnel to take the

vaccinations unless they consent.

U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said he was convinced by

plaintiffs in a class action suit that the vaccine is being " used for

an unapproved purpose " that is, for exposure to airborne anthrax as

well as exposure through the skin.

" We're using a vaccine that has been around for 40 years, " Myers told

reporters. " It is not experimental. It has been approved by the FDA

(Food and Drug Administration). I think it's very important that we

have this capability to protect our troops. "

More than 900,000 servicemen and women have received the shots, among

the millions of doses of various vaccines administered annually to

protect troops against disease and bioterror threats. Hundreds of

service members have been punished or discharged for refusing them,

according to the Pentagon.

Defense Secretary Rumsfeld was asked by reporters if the

Pentagon would reconsider the punishments given those who refused the

shots.

" The lawyers are examining it (the ruling), and at the appropriate

time they will be making a recommendation as to the way forward, "

Rumsfeld said. " I don't want to comment on any of the specifics. "

He did, however, take issue with the judge's comment that " Absent an

informed consent or presidential waiver, the United States cannot

demand that members of the armed forces also serve as guinea pigs for

experimental drugs. "

" The comment, if in fact the judge said it, is inaccurate, " Rumsfeld

said tersely.

Rep. Shays, R-Conn., said he will ask the Defense

Department to begin an immediate review of disciplinary actions taken

against service members who refused the vaccines.

Shays, who conducted hearings on the issue in his House Government

Reform national security subcommittee, said the program " should have

been voluntary from the start. "

Some 500 active-duty service members have refused the vaccine, close

to 200 have been court-martialed and more than 500 pilots and flight

crew members have quit, resigned or transferred from the Air National

Guard or Reserves rather than take the vaccine, said Mark S. Zaid, a

lawyer for the plantiffs.

The government has maintained that the licensed vaccine is safe, is

not experimental and can protect against anthrax inhaled or absorbed

through the skin.

In granting the preliminary injunction, Sullivan ordered the

government to respond by Jan. 30.

Anthrax is a naturally occurring bacterium that typically affects

sheep and cattle. When inhaled, dry anthrax spores can be deadly to

humans.

The government approved the vaccine three decades ago, and it is used

to protect veterinarians and scientists who work with anthrax.

Plaintiffs in the case before Sullivan, unidentified active duty,

National Guard and civilian defense employees, say the license

covered only exposure through the skin. Other uses might not be safe,

they contend.

Sullivan's ruling said the label on the vaccine does not specify

which method of anthrax exposure it protects against.

He cited a 1998 law that prohibits the use of new drugs or those

unapproved for their intended use unless people being given the drug

have consented to its use or the president has waived the consent

requirement. Congress passed the law amid suspicions that the use of

such drugs may have led to unexplained illnesses among veterans of

the 1991 Persian Gulf War that came to be known as Gulf War Syndrome.

Believing Iraq and other nations had produced anthrax weapons, former

Secretary of Defense Cohen ordered the armed forces immunized

in 1997.

The government does not recommend vaccinating the general public but

says the vaccine overall is very safe, with rare severe side effects.

Some military personnel have worried the vaccine could be connected

to complaints of chronic fatigue, memory loss and other problems.

The program was started to vaccinate all 2.4 million members of the

active and reserve military, but was radically reduced because of

production shortfalls.

On the Net:

Military anthrax program:

--------------------------------------------------------

Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Classical Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

$$ Donations to help in the work - accepted by Paypal account

vaccineinfo@... voicemail US 530-740-0561

(go to http://www.paypal.com) or by mail

Vaccines - http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/vaccine.htm

Homeopathy On-Line course - http://www.nccn.net/~wwithin/homeo.htm

ANY INFO OBTAINED HERE NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS MEDICAL

OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE

DECISION TO VACCINATE IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE.

******

" Just look at us. Everything is backwards; everything is upside down.

Doctors destroy health, lawyers destroy justice, universities destroy

knowledge, governments destroy freedom, the major media destroy information

and religions destroy spirituality " .... Ellner