House Committee To Renew Anthrax Inquiry With Hearing Next Month

by Elaine M. Grossman

Inside The Pentagon

September 21, 2000

The House Committee on Government Reform will revisit issues surrounding the Pentagon's Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program in a hearing scheduled for Oct. 3, according to House staffers.

Under the leadership of Chairman Dan Burton (R-IL) and bolstered by Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), chairman of the subcommittee on national security, the Government Reform Committee has been relatively unique in Congress for its repeated efforts to expose quality control problems exhibited by the anthrax vaccine manufacturer, BioPort of Lansing, MI, and adverse reactions

possibly attributable to the shots.

The Pentagon has made anthrax shots mandatory for all military personnel, beginning with those deploying to regions seen as at highest risk for exposure to a biological weapon containing anthrax bacteria. However, facing shortages of the vaccine, the Defense Department in July enacted temporary limits on those receiving the vaccine's six-shot series, which is supposed to be given over an 18-month period, followed by annual boosters (Inside the Pentagon, July 20, p1).

The hearing early next month will feature multiple panels of witnesses. The committee is seeking to get a "status report" from witnesses representing the Defense Department and the Food and Drug Administration on the anthrax vaccine program and BioPort's facilities, which are awaiting licensing for new vaccine production following a major renovation. House sources said the committee will also explore the vaccine program's effects on military readiness, morale and personnel retention.

The committee will also hear from vaccine recipients in the military who have experienced health problems, House aides said. As of 1987, the anthrax vaccine label stated that two-tenths of a percent of individuals taking the vaccine were expected to experience systemic reactions. But now DOD says that figure may reach five to 35 percent, House aides say.

Systemic reactions to the anthrax vaccine can potentially range from temporary effects such as fever to more debilitating and long-lasting reactions, such as Guillain-Barre syndrome, an inflammatory nerve disorder that can trigger paralysis.

The Defense Department has acknowledged some claims of adverse reactions but disputes others, attributing illness or injury to other causes.

-- Elaine M. Grossman