Concerns Over Mandatory Anthrax Vaccinations
Beginning this year, 200,000 members of the U.S. military will be required to get the anthrax vaccine or lose their jobs.
The Pentagon is reviving its mandatory anthrax vaccinations despite allegations that the shots have contributed to as many as 23 deaths and sickened hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of soldiers.
How many of them will have a similar experience as James Francis?:
[M}erchant seaman James Francis and his mates got an ultimatum: Take anthrax and smallpox vaccinations or lose your jobs.
Francis’ Seattle attorney, Russell Williams, described the shipboard scene the next day off the isle of Crete as: “Wham, bam. ‘Get in line. Take your shots.’”
Within days of taking the two shots, Francis’ feet began to tingle and burn. When he later took the second in a series of six anthrax shots, his health slid downhill. Since then, the 45-year-old messmate from Las Vegas has fought a rare nervous system disease known as Guillain-Barre Syndrome, along with chronic pain, pneumonia and a life-threatening blood clot.
Members of the military often have the additional problem of receiving multiple vaccinations on the same day (some of which contain the mercury-containing preservative thimerosal). Is it any wonder that soldiers develop neuro-immunological and auto-immune diseases at such high rates?
To-date, the FDA has recorded more than 4,700 reports related to anthrax shots over the last 16 years, but acknowledges that the reports will “inevitably be underreported.” One doctor quoted in the article above notes that she alone has treated approximately 2,000 cases.
There is a little recourse for military personnel if a negative vaccination reaction occurs. Vaccine makers cannot be sued, and military personnel are prohibited from suing the federal government.
The controversial anthrax vaccine is called BioThrax, and its use and potential negative effects have been debated for years:
In 2004, lawyers for sick soldiers won a court injunction blocking the mandatory shots until the Food and Drug Administration reviewed the license of Maryland-based vaccine manufacturer Emergent BioSolutions. In December 2005, the FDA declared the vaccine safe and restored the license.
Despite testimony from military doctors regarding negative anthrax vaccination effects, the Pentagon decided in October 2006 to reinstate mandatory smallpox and anthrax shots. This despite the fact that:
Numerous public health experts believe BioThrax causes a range of problems, particularly among women and people prone to autoimmune diseases. They list Guillain-Barre, which can kill or paralyze; other neurological disorders; diabetes; arthritis; chronic fatigue syndrome; chronic muscle and joint pain; respiratory ailments; vision problems; memory loss, and depression …
… [A]s recently as May, the Government Accountability Office said that the vaccine’s long-term safety “has not been studied.”
In December 2006, the lawyers who succeeded in getting the earlier injunction filed another suit seeking a new injunction.
It’s truly a shame that the members of our military are being used as guinea pigs in this vaccination experiment. Can you blame soldiers like Retired Army Capt. B. David Hodge for saying:
“I love my country,” Hodge said. “It’s my government I don’t trust.”
Surely, he’s not alone in that thought.
April 13th, 2007 at 2:33 pm
As a former military officer who has family and close friends still serving in the military, I have never criticized the CONCEPT of the anthrax vaccine. A shot (or series of shots) that will protect our troops from harm is a laudable idea. Sadly, that’s all it is. I am an attorney who exclusively represents military members, and I have represented numerous individuals who have either been injured by the vaccinations or refused to take them. When comparing the number of military members saved by the vaccine (0) with the number injured, disabled, and/or killed by it (scores and climbing), why does the program survive? The answer is the political and corporate interests involved. I too have authored several blog posts on the anthrax vaccine topic, to include the latest post that alerts readers to a talkshow on which a former USAF JAG 100% disabled by the anthrax vaccine will be featured. The link is:
http://militaryadvocate.blogspot.com/2007/04/former-usaf-jag-disabled-by-anthrax.html