MISSOULA, Mont., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Responding to last week’s request by Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz that HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson declare a state of emergency in order to justified renewed use of the anthrax vaccine, MVAC-PAC President Kathryn Hubbell has called the latest move by the Dept. of Defense “another irresponsible abuse of power.” Federal Judge Emmett Sullivan declared the military’s anthrax vaccine immunization program illegal on Oct. 27th of this year.
The Judge’s ruling is not the only factor to consider. If there is a genuine anthrax threat, the DOD knows that soldiers can still get the anthrax vaccine. The DOD can provide troops with consent forms. That’s all that has ever been required.
In addition, more published reports indicate that vaccines are not the most effective way to treat anthrax. Antibiotics are a far more efficient, life-saving method, according to a Dec. 16 article in Forbes. And this article isn’t the first to come to such a conclusion.
Karl Rove, senior advisor to the President, described the anthrax vaccine as a “political problem” in a 2001 memo to Wolfowitz (see at http://www.milvacs.org/rovememo.pdf ). The Bush administration has clearly known for several years of the numerous problems associated with this vaccine.
Continually attempting to force the anthrax vaccine on the men and women of our armed services constitutes deliberate medical experimentation with an unproven, unsafe drug. Rather than protecting the troops, the DOD seems intent on using its strong-arm, bullying tactics to get its own way, even bending the law to attempt to achieve its objectives. These unconscionable acts of cowardice toward the troops who are already putting their lives on the line to defend the United States must stop. With proven, more effective, and less dangerous ways to protect our troops, DOD must at last take responsibility and face up to its own documented illegal conduct. It must compensate those who are ill, clear the names of those who rightly refused this illegal vaccine, and use better ways to protect our troops. Now.
For more information about the Military Vaccine Action Committee, L.L.C., go to http://www.mvacpac.org/.
Military Vaccine Action Committee, L.L.C.
PH: (406) 531-9355 -- e-mail: contact@mvacpac.orgMilitary Vaccine Action Committee, L.L.C.
CONTACT: Kathryn Hubbell, President of Military Vaccine ActionCommittee, L.L.C., +1-406-531-9355, contact@mvacpac.org
Web site: http://www.mvacpac.org/http://www.milvacs.org/rovememo.pdf