Anthrax Vaccine Under Fire

-- Pentagon Says Treatment Is 'Vital'

Associated Press

16 February 2000

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Congressional panel has found the U.S. military's plan to vaccinate all 2.4 million troops against anthrax is based on "dangerously narrow scientific" evidence and should be suspended.

A draft of the panel's report, obtained by the Associated Press, says the vaccine, intended to protect soldiers and sailors from biological warfare, should be considered experimental because its effectiveness is uncertain.

The panel also claims the safety of troops taking the anthrax shots is not being monitored adequately.

The sharply critical, 80-page report by the House Government Reform Committee's national security subcommittee is being released Thursday. It was written by the subcommittee's Republican majority after six hearings on the vaccination program.

The draft says the immunization program "is an unmanageably broad military undertaking built on a dangerously narrow scientific and medical foundation."

Defense spokesman Jim Turner said Wednesday that the department is reviewing the congressional study. Defense officials have said repeatedly the vaccine is safe and effective.

"We feel the program is a vital force protection program against a known threat," Turner said.

The vaccine has come under increasing scrutiny from congressional lawmakers as soldiers, including pilots in the National Guard and reserves, have expressed concerns about taking the six-shot regimen.

Complaints included fevers, muscle pain and dizziness. Some reserve pilots testified they would resign to protect their health and flying careers while other soldiers in the active military have faced courts martial.

In 1998, Defense Secretary William Cohen ordered all active duty and reserve troops to get shots of the anthrax vaccine. Some 340,000 service members have been immunized so far.

Essential civilian Defense Department employees are also scheduled to get the vaccine.

About 200 to 300 servicemembers have refused to take it because of concerns about its safety and efficacy, Pentagon officials say.

Anthrax is a naturally occurring bacteria found in domesticated animals; it can be produced as dry spores that, when inhaled, cause death within a few days.

Anthrax has never been used in combat, but the Pentagon fears Iraq, North Korea and other countries or terrorist groups might try.

A Defense Department web site claims the vaccine contains no whole bacterium and was developed in the 1950s and 1960s and approved by the FDA in 1970. Since then, the statement says, it has been given to wool mill workers, veterinarians, laboratory workers, and livestock handlers in the U.S.

However, the House panel's report says there is little research concerning the inhalation of anthrax spores by humans and no long-term research on the vaccine.

The report also says the program should be suspended because some troops have told lawmakers they do not trust medical information provided by the Defense Department and that is hurting troop retention and morale.

The Defense Department has labeled critics as paranoid rather than answering their questions, the report said.