One topic that is sure to come up is the experience that vets had with the anthrax vaccine. That experience has renewed importance in light of the recent anthrax scare and general worries about bioterrorism.

Around 150,000 men and women received anthrax vaccinations during the Gulf War. There was evidence that Saddam Hussein had "weaponized" anthrax and other biological and chemical agents.

Associated Side Effects

Unfortunately, many investigators believe that some of the health problems that have been associated with Gulf War Illness — fatigue, pain and nausea among them — may be associated with the anthrax vaccine and other treatments.

The laboratory that manufactures the vaccine for the Pentagon has been alleged to have had quality control problems. Vets have complained that their health risks were not taken seriously enough.

Then in 1998, the Pentagon decided that the entire armed forces should be vaccinated for anthrax, an ambitious program aimed at 2.4 million people.

But many complained that they were sickened by the vaccine. Sensitized by the experience of Gulf War vets, hundreds of soldiers refused to take it and were disciplined, many others who accepted vaccination were deeply worried about it.

Unlike civilians, members of the armed forces are obligated to accept medical interventions that their superiors judge to be needed to keep them ready to accomplish their duties.

The Pentagon therefore bears a significant burden to ensure that risks presented by treatments are reasonable in light of expected benefits.

The mass vaccination for anthrax was suspended at about half a million troops. The protests, worries about the vaccine's quality, and continuing questions about which units are at most risk and should be vaccinated first, were among the issues.

Now, some female soldiers are complaining that they were ordered to accept the vaccine even if they had a suspicion that they might be pregnant. The vaccine could pose a threat to their fetuses.

Future Vaccinations

The testimony Congress hears Thursday could have a significant effect not only on the future of the Pentagon's vaccination program, but also on further studies of the effect of the vaccine, the circumstances under which soldiers should be ordered to accept a vaccination, and the nation's comfort level with the idea of mass vaccination in the face of a bioterror threat.

If our soldiers who are trained and expected to be put in harm's way have doubts about the vaccine, that will do little to encourage other Americans that it's ready for prime time.

Perhaps most important, people in uniform deserve to be confident that their government cares about their future health once out of uniform.

Jonathan D. Moreno is Director of the Center for Biomedical Ethics at the University of Virginia

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