Military Says Chemical Was In Anthrax Shot After All
By Michael Kilian
Chicago Tribune
October 4, 2000
WASHINGTON -- After years of denials, the Pentagon admitted Tuesday that the chemical agent squalene has been found in some of the anthrax vaccine it has been administering to military personnel.
The revelation came as Congress began another round of hearings into the controversial vaccine and ordered a General Accounting Office investigation into military use of squalene.
Squalene increases the body's ability to absorb vaccines, and its use has raised fears among opponents of the military's anthrax vaccination program that it may be contributing to ill effects suffered by some of those receiving the inoculations.
Defense Department spokesman Kenneth Bacon, who made the disclosure at a regular Pentagon news briefing, insisted the amounts found were "minuscule" and that the substance "occurred naturally" in the vaccine and had not been added to increase the potency of the injections. He said "trace amounts" of squalene were found during recent tests of the vaccine by the Food and Drug Administration, which was using improved methods of detection.
"We've been told for three years there is no squalene in the anthrax vaccine, then suddenly we are told, `Oh yes, it's there, but it's no big deal--it's everywhere,'" said Rep. Jack Metcalfe (R-Wash.), an opponent of the Pentagon's anthrax vaccination program.
Until Tuesday's admission, Bacon and the Pentagon had been adamant that there was no squalene in the vaccine given armed forces personnel, citing the FDA for authority.
Despite Bacon's assurances that the amounts of squalene posed no health hazard, the House Government Reform Committee on Tuesday initiated a General Accounting Office investigation into the matter, asking the GAO to determine how the squalene got into the vaccine, how dangerous it might be and what research is being done on the effects of squalene.
The action followed testimony from Metcalfe, who charged that squalene also may have been present in inoculations given troops serving in the 1991 Persian Gulf war.
Those troops were injected with a powerful mix of vaccines to protect them against the possible use of biological weapons by Iraq. Many have subsequently suffered unexplained maladies referred to collectively as gulf war syndrome, and the vaccinations have been suspected as a possible factor.
The military has suspended the anthrax vaccination program for all personnel except those assigned to areas of high biological weapon threat.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following quotes related to squalene in the anthrax vaccine were NOT part of the Chicago Tribune story above:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Sep2000/t09282000_t0928asd.html
Asst Secretary of Defense Ken Bacon speaking at a DoD press briefing, 28 Sep 2000:
Reporter: On the same subject, what can you say about reports that squalene has been found in some of the vaccine lots?
Bacon: There have been recurrent reports of squalene. We have never found any confirmation of those reports. These reports go back to the use of anthrax vaccine during the Gulf War period. Squalene has not been used in vaccines for a long period of time, and we're not aware that there was any squalene in any of the vaccine.
(NOTE: FDA tests finding squalene in the anthrax vaccine were conducted on 23-34 June 1999. The FDA notified Rep Metcalf on 20 Mar 2000. The FDA and DoD have regular meetings and conference calls to discuss the anthrax vaccine.)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Oct2000/t10032000_t1003asd.html
Asst Secretary of Defense Ken Bacon speaking at a DoD press briefing, 3 Oct 2000:
Reporter: Anthrax; a hearing on the Hill today. Congressman Jack Metcalf was complaining during the course of the hearing that while he and other members of Congress have been hearing for several years now that no squalene was used in the anthrax vaccine, he said that the FDA is now saying that there are, in fact, trace amounts of squalene in the anthrax vaccine. And I'm wondering whether you would be able to clear that up at all, or shed some light on that.
Bacon: I believe that's a topic for the FDA to clear up. My understanding is that we have contacted the FDA, asked them this question. And we've been assured by them that they have not found squalene in vaccine released -- or, certified by the FDA. But obviously, the FDA will have to comment on what its findings are. But my understanding is they've assured us that there is not squalene in the vaccine.