Ivins, anthrax attack suspect, was on Celexa, drug cocktail

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From: VERACARE <<mailto:veracare%40ahrp.org>veracare@...>

Subject: NYT Opinionator: Judging Anthrax Case / Suspect Was On

Celexa_LA Times_Baltimore Sun

" Infomail1ahrp (DOT) org " <<mailto:Infomail1%40ahrp.org>Infomail1@...>

Date: Thursday, August 7, 2008, 2:40 PM

ALLIANCE FOR HUMAN RESEARCH PROTECTION

Promoting Openness, Full Disclosure, and Accountability

<http://www.ahrp.org>http://www.ahrp.org and

<http://ahrp.blogspot.com>http://ahrp.blogspot.com

FYI

" One thing's clear: the anthrax controversy didn't die with Dr.

Ivins. "

That's the verdict of the NYT Opinionator (below), which provides a

guide to the wide world of newspaper, magazine and Web opinion.

The Opinionator has credited AHRP board member, Dr. Meryl Nass, as the

" Maine physician whose site Anthrax Vaccine has been the Web's

microscope on the anthrax investigation. "

Dr. Nass notes that the perpetrator(s) of the anthrax mailings " were

tremendously careful to leave no clues vis a vis the envelopes. For

example, block lettering was used, which is the hardest to identify

with handwriting analysis. Second, stamped envelopes were chosen to

avoid using saliva. Third, there were no fingerprints on anything. "

She then poses the very pertinent question: " Why would the person(s)

who took such care select an anthrax strain that would focus

suspicion on himself? "

Other reports in the Los Angeles Times and Baltimore Sun (below)

focus on Dr. Ivins' mental state as portrayed in documents released

by the Department of Justice :

" Newly released government documents

<<http://www.usdoj.gov/amerithrax/>http://www.usdoj.gov/amerithrax/>

show that in the months before the mailings that led to the deaths of

five people and made 17 ill, Ivins -- who had worked at the Army's top

biodefense laboratory for 28 years -- told a friend that he

had " incredible paranoid, delusional thoughts at times " and feared

that he might not be able to control his behavior. " (Paragraph two)

" Ivins' problems before and around the time of the mailings --

including strange physical symptoms and treatment with Celexa, an

antidepressant -- were detailed in e-mails and other documents

released to reporters after they were unsealed by a federal judge. "

(Paragraph 8)

Not mentioned in any press reports covering the case is the fact that

warnings on the Celexa label disclose that evidence links the drug to

the following Psychiatric adverse effects:

" Frequent: impaired concentration, amnesia, apathy, depression,

increased appetite, aggravated depression, suicide attempt,

confusion.

" Infrequent: increased libido, aggressive reaction, paroniria, drug

dependence, depersonalization, hallucination, euphoria, psychotic

depression, delusion, paranoid reaction, emotional lability, panic

reaction,

psychosis.

Rare: catatonic reaction, melancholia. "

See Celexa FDA-approved label:

<http://www.fda.gov/cder/foi/label/2007/020822s034lbl.pdf>http://www.fda.gov/cde\

r/foi/label/2007/020822s034lbl.pdf

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of

Infectious Diseases, or USAMRIID, pointed out that Dr. Ivins played

a key role in anthrax vaccine research and development until last

year. He was extremely upset by Sept. 11 attack and sought help for

depression. He was prescribed a combustible cocktaill of drugs

including the antidepressant, Celexa, an antipsychotic and an anti-

anxiety drug--

Did the drugs precipitate the states of mind he described in emails--

such as paranoia, delusional thoughts, depression, and suicide?

Whatever his mental state before he was prescribed these drugs--the

drugs did not improve his symptoms.

Did the intense pressure from the FBI combined with these drugs'

documented severe adverse effects push him over the top and lead him

to take his life?

" One thing's clear: the anthrax controversy didn't die with Dr.

Ivins. "

Contact: Vera Hassner Sharav

<mailto:veracare%40ahrp.org>veracare@...

212-595-8974

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/07/judging-the-anthrax-

case/

THE NEW YORK TIMES

The Opinionator*

August 7, 2008, 9:02 am

Judging the Anthrax Case

By Tobin Harshaw

Tags: anthrax attacks, F.B.I.

So the F.B.I. has finally released its case against alleged anthrax-

mailer

Bruce Ivins, the Army scientist who killed himself last week. (The

Smoking

Gun has done a good job collating the highlights of the feds' case.)

While Ivins will never face trial, the F.B.I. will, at least on the

blogosphere. " What came out today was another pastiche of innuendo and

circumstantial evidence, with an awful lot of holes, " writes Meryl

Nass, a

Maine physician whose site Anthrax Vaccine has been the Web's

microscope on

the anthrax investigation. " Time for the F.B.I. to present all of

what it

has to the court of public opinion, don't you think? A major benefit

for

the

F.B.I. of sharing its case would be restoration of confidence in the

U.S.

system of justice, the Justice Department and its F.B.I. "

Nass raises her own pertinent questions about the F.B.I.'s main

claims one

by one; here are some highlights:

1. Ivins had just been immunized against anthrax. He was required to

have

yearly immunizations, and some anthrax scientists have chosen to be

vaccinated every six months for safety, since the vaccine's efficacy

is

weak

- and Ivins had proven its weakness in several animal models. In his

career

he had probably received about 33 separate anthrax vaccinations.

2. Earlier, we heard the envelopes came from the specific post office

he

frequented. Today the affidavit states it is " reasonable to conclude "

they

were purchased in land or Virginia.

3. Choosing a strain that would direct suspicion at Ivins. The

perpetrator(s) were tremendously careful to leave no clues vis a vis

the

envelopes. For example, block lettering was used, which is the

hardest to

identify with handwriting analysis. Second, stamped envelopes were

chosen to

avoid using saliva. Third, there were no fingerprints on anything.

Why would the person(s) who took such care select an anthrax strain

that

would focus suspicion on himself? In 2001, strain analysis was

possible. It

had been discussed many times as a forensic tool for biowarfare,

including

in a paper I wrote in 1992, which Ivins had read, and in which I

thanked him

for his contributions.

4. Ivins was the " sole custodian " of the strain. But the strain was

grown in

1997, and many people had access to it over that four year period.

Having

received a sample, or obtained it surreptitiously, they would be

" custodians " of it too.

One thing's clear: the anthrax controversy didn't die with Dr. Ivins

*The Opinionator provides a guide to the wide world of newspaper,

magazine

and Web opinion. The authors, Tobin Harshaw and Suellentrop,

are staff

editors for The New York Times Op-Ed page.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

<http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ivins7->http://www.latimes\

..com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ivins7-

2008aug07,0,7009

071.story

Los Angeles Times

Anthrax suspect Bruce Ivins' emotional state is detailed

The government releases documents indicating that the

scientist's

mental illness flared around the time of the deadly 2001 anthrax

mailings.

By Tom Hamburger,

August 6, 2008

WASHINGTON -- Bruce E. Ivins, the bioweapons scientist who

apparently killed himself as the government was preparing to indict

him in

the 2001 anthrax attacks, had a long history of mental illness that

flared

just before mail contaminated with the fatal spores was received in

New

York, Florida, Connecticut and Washington, D.C.

Newly released government documents

<<http://www.usdoj.gov/amerithrax/>http://www.usdoj.gov/amerithrax/>

show that in the months before the

mailings that led to the deaths of five people and made 17 ill,

Ivins -- who

had worked at the Army's top biodefense laboratory for 28 years --

told a

friend that he had " incredible paranoid, delusional thoughts at

times " and

feared that he might not be able to control his behavior.

Details of Ivins' disturbed emotional state, including his

possession of firearms and a makeup kit and his obsession with a

sorority,

were presented Wednesday as the Justice Department explained -- first

to

those directly affected by the anthrax attacks, then to the public at

large

-- the government's case against him.

The revelations have sparked questions at the Pentagon and on

Capitol Hill about how someone known to have such disturbed thoughts

was

still allowed access to the government's infectious-disease

laboratories at

Ft. Detrick, Md., where anthrax and other deadly plagues were studied

in

classified projects. Ivins' apparent suicide from an overdose of

acetaminophen occurred just as prosecutors were readying murder

charges

against him.

In the last several days, the public learned of Ivins' recent

threats toward a therapist and others he thought had wronged him. But

those

outbursts occurred after he was informed that he was a suspect in the

case

and had been barred from the top-secret labs.

The information released Wednesday showed a much longer

history of

emotional turbulence within a man whose outward veneer of

respectability was

enhanced by the government awards he had received for his research.

The

documents provided detailed evidence showing that Ivins' mental

illness

flared about the time of the 2001 anthrax mailings.

According to U.S. Atty. A. , " Dr. Ivins had a

history

of mental health problems and was facing a difficult time

professionally in

the summer and fall of 2001 " -- in part because an anthrax vaccine he

was

working on was failing.

Ivins' problems before and around the time of the mailings --

including strange physical symptoms and treatment with Celexa, an

antidepressant -- were detailed in e-mails and other documents

released to

reporters after they were unsealed by a federal judge.

On June 27, 2000, Ivins wrote in an e-mail to a friend: " Even

with

the Celexa and the counseling, the depression episodes still come and

go.

That's unpleasant enough. What is REALLY scary is the paranoia. "

A week later, on July 4, he wrote to his friend that his

psychiatrist and his counselor now thought that his symptoms " may not

be

those of depression or bipolar disorder, they may be that of

a 'paranoid

personality disorder.' "

That Aug. 12, he wrote about what he called one of his " worst

days

in months. "

" I wish I could control the thoughts in my mind. It's hard

enough

sometimes controlling my behavior. When I'm being eaten alive inside,

I

always try to put on a good front here at work and at home, so I don't

spread the pestilence. . . . " he wrote. " I get incredible paranoid,

delusional thoughts at times, and there's nothing I can do until they

go

away, either by themselves or with drugs. "

In one e-mail he acknowledged, " Sometimes I think that it's

all just

too much. "

The first deadly mailings -- anthrax-laced letters sent to

news

media in New York and Florida -- were postmarked Sept. 18, 2001, a

week

after Islamic terrorists hijacked four passenger jets and crashed

them into

the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field. A

second

batch of letters was sent that Oct. 9. After sophisticated tests were

developed to identify the genetic material of anthrax spores,

investigators

used it in 2005 to trace the particular blend of spores recovered

from the

letters back to Ivins, then set about building a case against him.

The letters -- which mentioned Allah and called for the

destruction

of Israel and the United States -- forced the closing of a Senate

office

building, a newspaper headquarters and a large postal facility, and

they

made the entire nation, already on edge from the Sept. 11 attacks,

fearful

that foreign terrorists were now targeting the U.S. with a deadly

microbe.

On Oct. 16, 2001, one of Ivins' co-workers communicated to a

former

colleague that " Bruce has been an absolute manic basket case the last

few

days. "

From 2000 through 2006, Ivins was prescribed " various

psychotropic

medications including antidepressants, antipsychotics and anti-

anxiety for

his mental issues, " the documents showed.

Long before, however, Ivins had acted oddly; for example, the

documents released Wednesday said that he had used two post office

boxes

over 24 years to " pursue obsessions " -- including an intense interest

in the

Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. One confidential witness said Ivins had

admitted

breaking into a Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house to steal a secret

handbook,

apparently while he was pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship at the

University

of North Carolina.

The documents also included a message board post by Ivins on a

conspiracy theory website, www.abovetopsecret.com

<<http://www.abovetopsecret.com/>http://www.abovetopsecret.com/> .

Asking for replies at the e-mail

address

<mailto:goldenphoenix111%40hotmail.com>goldenphoenix111@... ,

he wrote that the sorority had labeled

him as

an enemy decades ago. " I can only abide their 'Fatwah' on

me, " he said.

The posting was significant, according to a government

document,

because " in his own words Dr. Ivins defines the depth of his

obsession " and

knowledge of the sorority. The document noted that letters containing

anthrax were deposited in a mailbox in Princeton, N.J., just 60 feet

from a

building the sorority used.

The documents also revealed the results of searches of Ivins'

property, including the contents of a black briefcase -- Glock 34,

Glock 27

and Beretta pistols, makeup and " false hair, " and a copy of Albert

Camus'

book " The Plague. "

Federal law restricts scientists' access to potentially deadly

materials if they have been judged mentally disturbed. Last week,

after

Ivins was identified as the target of the anthrax investigation, Sen.

(R-Maine), a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee,

told the

Associated Press that it was time to reexamine the rules.

said that federal standards should not discourage

scientists

from working in government labs, but that someone as disturbed as

Ivins

should not " have access to some of the most lethal substances

imaginable. "

Also last week, the Army issued new regulations barring

access to

lethal biological or chemical agents to anyone aggressive or

threatening

toward others. A Pentagon spokesman, Geoff Morrell, said that the

Defense

Department took " precautions below the radar when there is someone

who is

under investigation and they still retain a security clearance. But

yanking

the clearance would . . . in all likelihood jeopardize the

investigation. "

<mailto:tom.hamburger%40latimes.com>tom.hamburger@...

Times staff writer Spiegel contributed to this report.

Paragraph one reads: " In the months leading up to the 2001 anthrax

scare,

Bruce E. Ivins had sought help from a psychiatrist, started taking

antidepressants and repeatedly told a friend he was frightened by

bouts of

paranoia and depression. "

SSRI Stories is of the opinion that, if Ivins took the Celexa

antidepressant

first, then his paranoia [and possibly his deepening depression]

could have

been caused by or exacerbated by the SSRI Celexa.

<http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nation/bal->http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/n\

ation/bal-

te.ivins07aug07,0,5580964.story

BALTIMORE SUN

Scientist troubled by depression

Anthrax researcher Ivins sought psychiatric help

By Josh

August 7, 2008

In the months leading up to the 2001 anthrax scare, Bruce E. Ivins had

sought help from a psychiatrist, started taking antidepressants and

repeatedly told a friend he was frightened by bouts of paranoia and

depression.

Yet even as his mental condition appeared to be deteriorating, Ivins

maintained a government security clearance that gave him access to

some of

the world's most deadly pathogens. Details about Ivins' mental state

in

2000

and 2001 were unsealed yesterday by the Justice Department as federal

officials sought to establish his guilt in the anthrax killings.

The documents, which include excerpts of Ivins' e-mails to a friend,

immediately raised questions about the scientist's top-level security

clearance. At Fort Detrick, he was granted access to the Army's highly

dangerous biodefense lab, where he performed research on anthrax and

other

dangerous substances.

Ivins kept his clearance until November, months after federal

authorities

acknowledge that they began closing in on him as a suspect in the

anthrax

investigation.

Army officials did not immediately explain how Ivins maintained his

security

clearance.

Mark Zaid, a Washington lawyer who specializes in national security

issues,

said Ivins' behavior, as described in the documents released

yesterday,

should have " raised many red flags. " " One would think that

employees within

a weapons laboratory would pay careful attention to the behavioral

signs of

their co-workers and appropriately report those concerns, " Zaid said.

" No

one wants to report on a colleague and friend, but we're dealing with

life-and-death situations. Scrutiny should be stricter. "

He said the Army should conduct an internal investigation into the

matter.

In the unsealed documents, federal investigators describe Ivins as

dealing

with significant mental health issues and stress in 2000 and 2001. He

sought

help from a psychiatrist and was immediately prescribed medication

starting

in February 2000, the documents show.

The papers contain excerpts from e-mails in which Ivins writes to a

friend

about feeling isolated and depressed.

" What is REALLY scary is the paranoia, " he wrote at one point.

On Sept. 26, 2001, he wrote, " I'm really the only scary one in the

group.

Others are talking about how sad they are or scared they are, but my

reaction to the WTC/Pentagon events is far different. Of course, I

don't

talk about how I really feel with them - it would just make them

worse.

Seeing how differently I reacted than they did to the recent events

makes me

really think about myself a lot. "

It was not clear whether Army officials were made aware of the mental

health

issues.

Zaid said Ivins' top-secret clearance would likely have been reviewed

every

three years. The clearance includes a mental health check, he said,

though

having sought mental health treatment would not disqualify a person

from

getting the clearance.

Mark F. Riley, a retired Army intelligence officer who is now a lawyer

focusing on security-clearance issues, said it is not unusual for the

Army

to review a person's clearance because of odd behavior. Sometimes,

the Army

will suspend a clearance until the employee undergoes a psychological

evaluation, he said.

According to Defense Department regulations, anyone who handles

biological

select agents and toxins shall be " emotionally and mentally stable,

trustworthy and adequately trained. ... "

Caree Vander Linden, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Army Medical Research

Institute of Infectious Diseases, or USAMRIID, while not addressing

Ivins'

mental state, said employees undergo mental health checks at Fort

Detrick.

She pointed out that Ivins played a key role in anthrax vaccine

research and

development until last year.

, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, said

yesterday that Ivins was able to maintain a seemingly normal

professional

and personal life, not arousing suspicion among those around him: " He

has

been this way for a number of years and was still able to carry on his

professional life at USAMRIID. "

<mailto:josh.mitchell%40baltsun.com>josh.mitchell@...

Sun reporters Kiehl and Wood contributed to this

article.

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

Sheri Nakken, former R.N., MA, Hahnemannian Homeopath

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

Vaccines - http://www.wellwithin1.com/vaccine.htm

Vaccine Dangers & Homeopathy Online/email courses - next classes Sept 08