How did this happen, you ask...

[Guest guest]

How did this come about? A group of military officers (some retired now) have

worked long and hard on legal approaches to stopping the AVIP. They (and I and

some others) all realized after the hearings of 1999 and 2000, the kangaroo

court martials, and the Shays report " Unproven Force Protection " that nothing

short of a civilian court order was going to end this terrible program. I also

came to believe that no acknowledgement of the illnesses would take place until

the program was dead.

A Canadian court martial hearing that I was involved in, in 1999, led to

cessation of the anthrax program in Canada. The military made sure that did not

happen here, by preventing any evidence about safety, efficacy or legality from

being heard by a single jury in a single court martial. Unlike civilian judges,

who have their job for life, military judges get a different job after two

years, so they remain subject to a careerist mentality. So every one that I've

been privileged to see was simply an obedient, well-trained mouse. Why else did

dozens of them rule identically?

We also knew, because these very dedicated officers had spent years obtaining

documents and researching the program and its origins, that the vaccine was

never properly licensed. AF Reserve Lt. Col. Russ Dingle (ret.) in particular

became a subject matter expert on FDA regulations and drug licensing. (Russ was

just diagnosed with a serious illness last week.) Russ knows everything about

this vaccine.

Our group has worked alone and with others on a series of legal challenges to

various aspects of the AVIP. Still pending is a lawsuit in Denver over the

refusal of a female enlistee to take the vaccine due to its effects on her

future pregnancy. Several pending lawsuits have to do with illnesses or deaths

in recipients. Several Inspector General complaints are pending.

Lawsuits that have not succeeded included one by Officers Buck and Sonnie

Bates; by the time their case was heard they were both out of the military and

so did not have standing. A qui tam case brought by Russ and AF Reserve Major

Tom Rempfer with the help of Attorney Ken Levine over major problems with proper

manufacture of the vaccine was also dismissed due to standing.

J Michels, our lead attorney, is a JAG in the AF Reserves, and was

previously a fighter pilot. Mark Zaid, our other attorney, became involved

defending refusers back in early 1998. They spent huge amounts of time on this

case and received not a penny.

In this particular legal action, our case was very strong, but given so many

past legal hurdles, we were not that optimistic. I now have new faith in the

legal system and the power of an honest and fearless judge.

Meryl

Meryl Nass, MD

H 207 276-5092

W 207 288-5082 ext 220 or pager 441

C 207 522-5229