Real Science: The Only Cure for Anthrax

By Russell E. Dingle

Washington Post

Sunday, February 13, 2000; Page B06

Defense Secretary William S. Cohen defends the anthrax vaccine [letters, Feb. 6] as critical for force protection, but the vaccine will remain in dispute until an independent appraisal of it is conducted.

The U.S. Army developed the vaccine and owns the patent for it; the Army has conducted most of the research on the vaccine and has been its largest customer.

No independent analysis of the vaccine's makeup, safety or effectiveness has been done. The study the Department of Defense considers key in confirming safety and effectiveness used a different vaccine under conditions the Food and Drug Administration no longer accepts. Even today, the Defense Department treats its unpublished studies as scientifically valid. The department's studies and its hired medical experts assume that the vaccine cannot have a negative effect, and so they ignore illnesses that may be related to the vaccine.

An honest and thorough appraisal of a vaccine begins with the dissemination and review of all the data--published or not, good or bad. The Defense Department has proven it is incapable of such a task. Unfortunately, with so few independent medical experts familiar with the vaccine, an honest appraisal is unlikely.

RUSSELL E. DINGLE

East Hartford, Conn.