Judge: U.S. Can't Force Vaccines

[Guest guest]

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/12/22/national/main589812.shtml

Judge: U.S. Can't Force Vaccines

WASHINGTON, Dec. 22, 2003

The Pentagon must stop forcing servicemen and women to take the anthrax

vaccination against their will, unless President Bush signs a special order,

a judge ruled Monday.

Millions of shots have been given and hundreds of service members have been

punished for refusing them since the mandatory vaccinations started in 1998.

The judge ruled that the anthrax vaccinations fell under a 1998 law

prohibiting the use of certain experimental drugs unless people being given

the drug consent or the president waives the consent requirement.

Congress passed the law following fears that the use of such drugs may have

led to unexplained illnesses among veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War

that have come to be known as Gulf War Syndrome.

" The women and men of our armed forces put their lives on the line every day

to preserve and safeguard the freedoms that all Americans cherish and

enjoy, " said Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the United States District Court in

Washington.

Sullivan issued a preliminary injunction, saying, " The United States cannot

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

experimental drugs. "

The injunction is the result of a class action law suit brought by military

personnel and civilians working for the Pentagon, reported CBS News

Correspondent Arenstein.

In his ruling, Sullivan pointed to the apparent risk in receiving the

anthrax vaccination, noting that the rate of adverse reaction was recently

revised upward from 0.2 percent to between 5 percent and 35 percent. Six

deaths are attributed to the vaccine, Sullivan said.

The Pentagon had no immediate comment. A Pentagon Web site promoting the

vaccine claims that data going back 20 years demonstrates the vaccine is

safe, and that there is no evidence the vaccine is connected with illness

suffered by Gulf War veterans.

Sullivan rejected the government concern that military discipline would be

harmed if courts intervene between soldiers and their military superiors.

Believing Iraq and other nations had produced anthrax weapons, former

Secretary of Defense Cohen in 1997 ordered the armed forces

immunized.

Shots started in 1998 for soldiers in areas believed to present the highest

risk of infection - the Persian Gulf, then Korea.

Anthrax is caused by bacteria spores spread either by animals or weapons.

The most serious form affects the lungs, with fatality rates near 50

percent. Death is somewhat less likely in cases where anthrax infects the

digestive tract, and is rare when the skin is infected.

©MMIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. . This material may not

be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press

contributed to this report.

Our Anthrax information web site: http://www.dallasnw.quik.com/cyberella/

/files/VAERS.pdf

DESTROY QUARANTINED VACCINE:

http://www.PetitionOnline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?robi2662 & amp;amp;amp;amp;1

PETITION TO OVERTURN/REPEAL FERES DOCTRINE

http://www.petitiononline.com/fd1950/petition.html

To visit Dr. Meryl Nass's web site, go to: http://www.anthraxvaccine.org

Also visit: Anthrax Vaccine Benefit vs Risk: http://www.avip2001.net AND

http://www.MajorBates.com/

Anthrax Vaccine Network http://www.ngwrc.org/anthrax/default.asp

Military Vaccine Education Center link, http://www.milvacs.org

Sgt. Larson's story:

http://www.ngwrc.org/anthrax/heroes/sandralarson.htm

http://www.avip2001.net/CongressionalTestimony.htm

Tom Heemstra's new book -

http://www.anthraxadeadlyshotinthedark.com/index.html

Contact list owner: Gretchen at: anna_nim@...