Anthrax vaccine refuser avoids jail time

Air Force doctor is restricted to base, must forfeit $21,000

By Deborah Funk

Air Force Times

May 28, 2001 (June 4, 2001 edition)

An Air Force doctor who refused to take the mandatory anthrax vaccine will be restricted to his base for 60 days and must forfeit $1,500 of pay for 14 months, a total of $21,000.

Capt. John Buck, 32, an emergency room physician at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., said he disobeyed the order to take the shot last fall because of concerns over the safety and efficacy of the vaccine and the legality of the program.

“I think if I would have been able to present the documents to support my case, I easily could have gotten a lighter sentence,” Buck said. “I think $21,000 is pretty stiff.”

It could have been much worse, however, and Buck was prepared — he had a toothbrush and his uniform stashed in a duffel bag at the courthouse in the event he was sent to jail.

Never saw documents

A panel of 11 officers convicted Buck of willful disobedience of a lawful order, an offense that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

As was the case at his trial, in the May 22 sentencing phase the jury again was not allowed to see documents that the defense believed supported Buck’s case and explained his refusal to be vaccinated.

Officials at Keesler called the sentence fair.

“He had nothing but stellar performance reports,” said Belinda Bazinet, a Keesler spokeswoman. “He’s a good doctor, and the panel gave him the sentence they thought was appropriate. All along, we thought nonjudicial punishment was the appropriate means to deal with disobeying the order.”

The prosecutor, Capt. Jeffrey Harr, told the panel he was not seeking jail time for Buck, the first military doctor to refuse the vaccine that the Pentagon says will protect against aerosolized anthrax on the battlefield.

During two days of pretrial motions, Buck’s attorneys submitted about 50 documents that questioned the safety and efficacy of the vaccine and the legality of its use.

But after the judge, Air Force Lt. Col. Mark Allred, ruled the panel would not be allowed to see the documents, Buck submitted a conditional request to resign from the Air Force with no less than a general discharge rather than stand trial.

Brig. Gen. Roosevelt Mercer Jr., commander of the 81st Training Wing at Keesler, rejected that request.

At his sentencing, Buck told jurors his interest in the vaccine was sparked by a fellow doctor who complained of some problems after taking the shots.

Concerned about the vaccine

Several emergency room patients also complained of problems, Buck said without being specific.

His subsequent reading turned up inspection reports from the Food and Drug Administration that said the manufacturing pro-cess for the vaccine hadn’t been validated.

Buck said he also read of questions raised in Congress about the safety and efficacy of the vaccine and whether its use to protect against aerosolized anthrax was legal under its FDA license without informed consent.

“I’m not saying the anthrax vaccine can’t or should not be used,” Buck said in a statement to the panel. “But if it is, it must comply with federal law” requiring informed consent for off-label or investigational uses of the vaccine.

“Only the president can determine in the name of national security [that] the right of informed consent will be waived by signing an executive order,” he said. “The law is designed to protect the rights of our servicemen.”

“Many other physicians” were concerned over the vaccine “but were afraid to speak out for fear of retaliation,” he said.

While Buck also was concerned about the vaccine’s safety and efficacy, his objections stem more from questions about the legality of the inoculation program, “which I believe compromised my profession,” he said.

Buck told jurors that he gambled at court-martial “for the rights of our servicemen at my own peril.”

Whether Buck will again be required to take the shots depends on his deployment status. Currently, only troops deploying to Southwest Asia must take them.

It is unlikely Buck will be put on deployment status for that region, Bazinet said, but added that decision ultimately depends on the needs of the Air Force.