State looks to control Guard, vaccinations

Bills introduced in Connecticut House of Representatives

By Deborah Funk

Army Times Publishing Co.

January 22, 2001 (Jan 29 edition)

Some state lawmakers in Connecticut want tighter control of their National Guard members in the wake of the Pentagon’s controversial mandatory anthrax vaccination program.

Two bills recently introduced in the Connecticut General Assembly’s House of Representatives launch the attack from different angles.

The first bill would bar the military from requiring members of the Connecticut "militia or Guard" to take a drug or vaccine used experimentally unless they are told of the benefits and risks and give their consent.

The legislation would require that before a drug or vaccine could be used without someone’s consent, it must be licensed by the Food and Drug Administration, used as instructed by the federal agency and proved safe and effective in tests on humans.

The measure attempts to prevent the Defense Department from forcing Guard members to take the anthrax vaccine if they either don’t volunteer for active duty or aren’t called up by the president. Guard members on active duty, however, could be ordered to take the shot.

Anthrax is a naturally occurring and potentially fatal biological disease found mainly in other parts of the world in some cattle and other livestock.

The FDA licensed the anthrax vaccine in 1970 after studies on textile workers showed a similar vaccine protected them against coetaneous anthrax, which is contracted through the skin.

In the studies that led to the vaccine’s licensure, there weren’t enough cases of inhalation anthrax to determine whether the vaccine worked against that form of the disease. The FDA’s labeling doesn’t restrict its use for any particular type of anthrax, however.

The Pentagon is using the vaccine to help protect troops against the biological warfare threat of inhalation anthrax.

Opponents of that program claim the vaccine that was actually licensed was not the same vaccine tested, and that the tested vaccine proved effective only against coetaneous anthrax.

Either way, they say, the current vaccine is not licensed for protecting troops against the type of anthrax they would expect to encounter on the battlefield. They argue that letters from high-ranking FDA officials saying the Pentagon’s use of the vaccine "is not inconsistent" with the labeling don’t amount to law.

Connecticut Rep. Toni Boucher, the Republican state lawmaker who introduced the bill, did not return several phone calls seeking comment.

If members of the Guard are called to active duty, federal law allows the president to order them to take drugs or vaccines that are not licensed or are approved only for "experimental" use.

A second bill sponsored by state Rep. Christel Truglia, a Democrat, would restrict who could command the Connecticut National Guard or Air National Guard.

When the Guard is not under federal service, commanders would have to be commissioned officers of the Guard. The state’s governor, however, could appoint an active-duty service member to a command position if state lawmakers are given an explanation about four months in advance for why no Guard member is qualified for the post.

The bills were introduced at the request of two former Connectict Air National Guard pilots who left their jobs rather than take the anthrax vaccine.

The pilots, who could not be reached for comment, say they were forced out by a federal officer who lacked the authority to give them orders when they were not on active duty.