Alert to all Active-Duty Service
Members: Failed Anthrax Vaccine
Immunization Program to again become mandatory
Here is an update:
On Monday, October 16, from 2:30
to 3:30 p.m. EST Dr. William Winkenwerder, the Dod's Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health
Affairs, will discuss the department's resumption of the mandatory Anthrax
Vaccine Immunization Program (AVIP). Concerned citizens and members of
the media who would like to ask questions should call: 1 866
866-2244. The pass code is 9120436.
It perplexes The Military Vaccine
Resource Directory and other grassroots groups of concerned citizens and professionals
that The Dod would make such a move in light of the
yet unresolved questions about the safety, efficacy and legality of the current
anthrax vaccine.
It is important that facts
uncovered over the past eight years continue to be held up to the light as
members of the media and Congressional staffers assess the DoD's re-launch of this previously failed program. Private citizens,
members of Congress, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Federal
Courts have all detailed a deceitful and discouraging history regarding the
development and use of the anthrax vaccine.
Key findings and reports are listed below.
·
The anthrax vaccine program was illegal from its inception. Congressional House Report 106-556 -- The Department
of Defense Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program (TEXT
- PDF).
This lone report by the US Congress determined that the program was implemented
in 1998 in conflict with FDA regulations, and therefore was illegal
under
·
The problems with the anthrax vaccine program have not been
fixed, nor have long-standing concerns been addressed. The GAO 2006 assessment of the
anthrax vaccine doesn't yield to compromise. Those findings continued to
question the "long-term and short-term safety of the vaccine, including
gender differences; and the vaccine’s efficacy." While
confirming that the "long-term safety of the licensed vaccine has not been
studied," the GAO also confirms the efficacy of the vaccine for the DoD's intended use against inhaled
anthrax "may not be extrapolated
to humans." So when Dr Winkenwerder
says the vaccine is now finally approved by the FDA for use against inhalation
anthrax this is only true on FDA's letterhead, and is not supported by
scientific fact. In addition, it has
long been known that many of the experts on this issue have been paid by the DoD for their testimony; this was
particularly true of the 2002
·
Recent court decisions do NOT confirm that the program was
legal.
Though the DoD's internal
military judges at the Court of
Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled that the DoD
presumed the order to be legal previously, and therefore refused to reverse
previous court-martials, the US Federal Court system has ruled the program was
illegal, first with a preliminary
injunction, followed by a permanent
injunction on summary judgment.
It is notable that the military court ignored and denied
the submission of any evidence in all previous court-martials for those later
imprisoned for refusing the anthrax vaccine, whereas the federal courts
analyzed the complete administrative record concerning the vaccine's history.
Similarly the military court ruling misinterprets or misrepresents the content
and context of the previous federal court rulings, omitting the fact that the program was
declared to have been illegal.
A great deal of research about the failures of the DoD's program has been
collected over the past eight years. Unfortunately a whole new generation
of young troops and new commanders are now being asked to carry the untenable
burden of the mandatory anthrax vaccine program's implementation. To
quote the Dod itself, education
is, indeed, the key. It is imperative
that you become educated about the anthrax vaccine program and it’s history. You may
be told that everything is fine now – it’s not.
Dr. Winkenwerder tried
to convey such a message in December of 2003 on national TV when he said the federal
judge was "absolutely" wrong in his ruling -- only to have the
anthrax vaccine program shut down by a subsequent injunction in October of
2004. It was Dr. Winkenwerder himself who was wrong,
a fact confirmed by the Federal Appeals Court in February of 2006 when it declined
to vacate or overrule the injunction.
Clearly our country has been down
this road too often. On this web
site, under the link titled “History of Human Experimentation,” you’ll read
more about the medical experimentation conducted upon out troops since WW
II. Does Congress know? Yes.
In a 1994 document known as the Rockerfeller
report, Congress strongly criticized the Pentagon for such experiments – then
did nothing. From radiation testing to Agent Orange to Gulf War Illness,
the Dod has followed a
predictable problem: it first denies
there is a problem, then delays accountability, and disparages (and, in the
case of active-duty troops, punishes) those who question and criticize the DoD studies and policies.
Service members who question or refuse these policies can loose their
careers – and, too often, their health.
Become educated; think for
yourself; and always think twice.
Sincerely,
Kathy Hubbell, Director MVRD
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Text
of DoD announcement invite
as posted on anthrax-no by Dr Nass:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear
Medical Reporter:
This is to invite you to a telephone media roundtable with Dr. William Winkenwerder, Jr., Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health
Affairs, on Monday, October 16, from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. est. At
that time, Dr. Winkenwerder will discuss the
department's resumption of the mandatory Anthrax
Vaccine Immunization Program (AVIP) for military personnel,
emergency-essential DoD civilians and
contractors, based on geographic areas or roles. DoD
anthrax immunizations will be administered
consistent with the FDA-licensed dose schedule and current standards for
medical practice.
Terry D. Jones, APR
Office of Communications
Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs)
5111 Leesburg Pike
Skyline 5, Suite 601
Falls Church, VA 22041
(703) 681-1698
Fax: (703) 681-3656
DoD Health Affairs Web site: http://www.ha.osd.mil