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Stop Anthrax Vaccinations,
Urges Connecticut Attorney General
Mar
23, 2001
Dave Eberhart
Stars and Stripes Veterans Affairs Editor
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal March 21 urged
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Acting Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) Deputy Commissioner Dr. Bernard Schwetz to end the military's
controversial anthrax vaccination program.
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 It is the
civilian government, not the military, which has ultimate responsibility
for the safety of U.S. troops.
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- Blumenthal
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"It is the civilian government, not the military, which has ultimate
responsibility for the safety of U.S. troops," Blumenthal said.
In letters to Rumsfeld and Schwetz, Blumenthal argued that the compulsory
vaccination program is compelling military personnel, including members of
the Connecticut Air National Guard, to "put either their health or
their careers at risk."
Absensce of Assurance
Blumenthal referred to the absence "of any specific assurance that the
federal government would care for and compensate members of the
[Connecticut] National Guard who suffered adverse effects from the anthrax
vaccine."
Blumenthal has been critical of the DoD program for about a year following
the resignation of Guard pilots who refused to be vaccinated. They include
Maj. Russell Dingle and Maj. Thomas Rempfer, who resigned 1999.
Blumenthal also cited frustration with the FDA, saying the agency declined
to answer certain questions about the vaccine's safety because of
"regulations concerning the confidentiality of information for an
unapproved biological process."
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The United States
Government so far has refused to recognize or appreciate the danger and
the personal dilemma it is imposing on its military personnel.
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- Blumenthal
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"The United States Government so far has refused to recognize or
appreciate the danger and the personal dilemma it is imposing on its
military personnel, despite repeated concerns expressed about administering
an unlicensed drug never proved safe or effective for humans,"
Blumenthal told Rumsfeld and Schwetz.
"Unfortunately, and directly contrary to law, the [vaccine] is being
administered to military personnel under threat of imprisonment, loss of
pay and discharge. In effect, the military is forcing its personnel to
serve as human guinea pigs for an unlicensed drug that has not been proven
to be safe or effective."
The only license for the production of anthrax vaccine, granted in 1970 to
MBPI/Bioport Corp., was intended for protection against skin-contact
anthrax, not the inhalation of anthrax spores, Blumenthal said.
Inconsistent Use
The vaccine's use by the military is inconsistent with its licensing,
making it, under FDA regulations, an investigational new drug (IND) that
cannot not be used on humans without their consent, he argued. The
vaccination of troops with a product not licensed for its current use
violates the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, he added.
Blumenthal cited congressional testimony indicating that the FDA and the
military has known for years that the vaccine's use was questionable.
"Suddenly in 1997, DoD and the FDA, with no change in the facts or the
law, reversed themselves and with the stroke of a pen wiped out the
protections afforded our members of the Armed Services by clearing the way
for DoD's mandatory mass inoculations," Blumenthal said.
He called on the Pentagon and the FDA to "cease and desist from their
illegal conduct and to abandon plans for anthrax vaccine inoculation of the
armed forces" and to at least make the inoculations voluntary.
"Additionally, the FDA should block the manufacture and sale of [the
vaccine] by BioPort and renounce the 1997 action which illegally cleared
the way for the DoD's mass inoculations."
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