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The following questions and related information might be helpful to you as you write. Our troops have suffered from the anthrax vaccine since 1973; reports of problems became more apparent in 1989; and by 1991, the military had a full-scale crisis on its hands. Please see the background information on the home page for a full chronology.

President Eisenhower said an alert and knowledgeable citizenry is needed to balance the threats to liberty posed by the military-industrial complex. Since the 9/11 attacks and the anthrax letter attacks, this warning is more critical than ever. As citizens, it is our responsibility to ensure that our government does not casually bend the rules and continue its long history of medical experimentation on our troops. During this time of war, it is not a far stretch to realize that there is talk of forcing mandatory bioterrorism vaccines on the American public. Letters to Congress need to exhibit this awareness, with the stated expectations that Congress will do its oversight job well.

Suggested main points and informed questions to include in the letter:

  • We have been following the issue, both online and in the media. If applicable, state that you know victims or have relatives affected.

  • Postal workers in New York and Washington D.C. refused to take the vaccine when it was offered to them. In all, only 2% of those civilians who were offered the vaccine in December, 2001, took it. Polls taken by CNN Talk Back Live, USA Weekend, AOL, Army Times Publishing Company and others show more than 80% of Americans and 77% of service members themselves opposed the anthrax vaccine program. What is your position on the Pentagon's mandatory vaccine policy and why?

  • If you agree with the vast majority of Americans, what are you willing to do to stop the use of this vaccine until its safety and efficacy are guaranteed, and until other options of warding off biological threats have been examined and tested?

  • What is your position on the fact that the civilians who were offered the anthrax vaccine received full informed consent documents, and yet our troops have been forced to take the exact same vaccine for over 13 years, at threat of court-martial, fines, time in the brig, and less- than-honorable discharge? The vaccine is still on file with the FDA as an Investigational New Drug. Are you of the opinion that our troops gave up this constitutional right of informed consent when they joined the military? If that is the case, do you think the military has the right to conduct medical experiments upon our troops? What about on the general public?

  • We are concerned that fellow Americans in uniform are told the truth by their commanders and are provided with effective biological warfare defense measures. The Journal of the American Medical Association, Government Reform Committee Report of 2000, Senate Staff Report 103-97, and two of the top biowarfare experts (Bill Patrick and Ken Alibek) doubt this vaccine will work. How can Congress continue to allow this program to be funded? How does the Pentagon know this vaccine is effective against the anthrax biological threat?

  • The Pentagon is using a personal opinion in a March 1997 memo to say the FDA, as an institution, approves the vaccine for inhaled anthrax protection. This violates requirements for a change in use of a vaccine outlined in 21 C.F.R. ¤¤ 10.85(k) and ¤¤ 10.90. Hence, DOD is using the vaccine experimentally.

  • In addition, the manufacturer of this vaccine has an application on file with the FDA specifically referring to the vaccine as an Investigational New Drug.Ê What are you willing to do to get the military to change its long-term culture of taking these unnecessary and dangerous medical risks? Would you allow your own son or daughter to take an experimental drug, vaccine, or medical protocol they did not give their consent for, but that was forced upon them as part of their military service?

  • Estimates of systemic reactions range from 5% to 48%, one Army study estimates that women have adverse reactions at a rate of 70%. There have been six deaths related to this vaccine. If this were a civilian vaccine, it would have been pulled off the market years ago. Yet not only has this vaccine NOT been recalled, but in an amazingly brief time, BioPort has been cleared to ship and produce it again.

    What guarantees do we have the the proper amount of time will be spent on vaccine development and trials? Or do our men and women in uniform simply deserve a lesser health standard?

  • Where are the independent, third-party inspections overseeing the safety of this product, and insuring military compliance with the law?Ê The GAO report submitted on the 4/29/99 hearing before Congressman Shays indicated "independent" after-the-fact supplemental testing by Mitre-Tek was flawed, and the FDA has literally abdicated its responsibility to oversee the use of this product.Ê What is being done to make the FDA/DOD relationship more arms length, professional and effective, so that service members are not victims of special interest or politically-motivated policies?

  • What is the military doing about side effects and illnesses caused by the vaccine? Why won't the military authorize and implement a national registry of all who have been vaccinated, and gather follow-up data on the effects ofÊthis vaccine on all service members who have received it, regardless of whether or not they have reported side effects? Is the military afraid of what it might find out?

  • Why is the Pentagon still using a source for the vaccine which has had well-publicized quality control problems? Why isn't the stockpiled vacine declared adulterated?

  • Can you explain why a former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is part owner of the company that produces this vaccine?

  • Why did the Pentagon accept as managers in Bioport the same people in charge under the State of Michigan when the FDA threatened to shut them down twice?

  • The Army was criticized in 1989 forÊconducting unvalidated biowarfare threats and doing "hobby shop" research. How does the Pentagon know this vaccine addresses a valid threat to our troops? Don't the events of 9/11 indicate that terrorist attacks represent a much greater and more immediate threat, expecially when it appears the anthrax letter attacks were an inside job?

  • Since former Senator Riegle's Report in May 1994, and Senator McCain's earlier 1989 charge that Iraq possesses an anthrax threat because the U.S. sold it to them; and because Congress has recently investigated the export of dual-use biowarfare technology to China via Charlie Tree and others, can you explain what Congress is doing to safeguard our service members from facing a proliferation of biological threats?

  • What other biological components or weapons have we sold to countries which form a substantial threat to the United States? How many other types of biological weapons does the Pentagon foresee having to research to develop vaccines for?

  • Since this one vaccine is already causing so many problems, how do we know that a cocktail mixture of various biological vaccines won't have an extreme impact upon our troops, possibly rendering large numbers of them unfit for duty?

  • There are several patents out on using anthrax as a delivery method for HIV and cancer vaccines. If service members' immune systemsÊare trained to respond against anthrax, won't service members be unable to benefit from such a cancer vaccine should they need it later in life?

  • How many biological agent vaccines have been developed so far?

  • How many have been tested for safety and efficacy on animals?

  • How many humans have been tested with these new vaccines and under what conditions?

  • What are the intentions to use these vaccines and in what in quantities?

  • Finally, why are our military leaders risking losing the respect, faith and health of their troops because of the way this vaccine is being handled?

    We are concerned that the leadership of our military is being increasingly questioned, greeted with increased cynicism, and with a lessened commitment toward following orders. All of these things have the ability to bring down the strength, training and preparedness of our entire military source. We want to see a strong, unified military for the United States, one in which troops know, beyond a doubt, that their commanders and superiors have their best interests at heart. The leader who enters the trenches with the troops is the one who earns their unending loyalty and support. Those who exhibit a callous disregard for the safety, welfare and health of their own troops will not be effective leaders for very long.

    What is the military doing to regain the credibility of its leadership in the face of the current erosion of respect caused by this medical experimentation?

    Thank you for your consideration of these issues. Americans want to hear that common sense investments in detection equipment, training, protective clothing and decontamination equipment are fully funded. We want to ensure that in so long as we are asking American troops to risk their lives in various parts of the world, we protect them to the fullest, most scientifically proven, and safest degree humanly possible.

    Medical experimentation upon our military force is unconscionable; the lack of informed consent is illegal and cannot be tolerated; private parties with special interests cannot receive an open pipeline of tax dollars while producing and marketing a product which injects toxins into our American troops; the thorough lack of record-keeping, follow-up data and examination of all alternative protection measures exhibits a callous disregard for our troops.Ê The subsequent desire to experiment with this same vaccine on the American public brings home the very worst the military-industrial complex has to offer. This program borders on barbarism and must not be allowed to continue.Ê We expect and await your full response. ÊÊÊÊ ÊÊ ÊÊ Ê ÊÊ

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