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Thursday, November 20, 2008

Military Anthrax Vaccinations

As you may know, I (attorney Richard Stevens) have written several blog posts in opposition to the mandatory military anthrax vaccinations. Please see:

http://militaryadvocate.blogspot.com/2007/09/montel-williams-show-illnesses-after.html

http://militaryadvocate.blogspot.com/2006/11/military-anthrax-vaccinations-are-they.html

I haven’t written any posts on the military anthrax vaccination program in quite some time. However, I was just alerted to an article on the subject that is definitely worth reading. It’s an article by Deborah Rudacille of the Baltimore Examiner. In her article, Ms. Rudacille reports:

“Between 1998 and 2000, the first two years of the mandatory vaccination program, approximately 20,765 troops were hospitalized, according to vaccination data that the Pentagon long withheld from lawmakers. The illnesses ranged from systemic reactions such as numbness, joint pain and extreme fatigue to autoimmune diseases such as lupus, musculo-skeletal disorders and other chronic conditions.

It is impossible to say with certainty how many have fallen ill after getting the shots because no one is keeping exact count.

The Food and Drug Administration, however, has confirmed 21 deaths following anthrax vaccination…”

So many servicemen and women have apparently been injured by these vaccinations, and I have still to see any data suggesting the vaccine has saved even one person. Yet, the combination of huge defense contracts and the DoD’s refusal to admit they were/are wrong will not allow the vaccination program to die – while the vaccination continues to cause military members to become ill and die.

To read Ms. Rudacille’s article, please go to:

http://www.baltimoreexaminer.com/local/112008anthraxpart2.html

Here are some others:

http://www.baltimoreexaminer.com/local/112008anthrax.html

Why is it that we will have to wait on the judgment of history to acknowledge the initial impulsiveness and lingering (and tragic) stupidity of this program? Money and hard-headedness, that’s why.

By: Attorney Richard V. Stevens
Civilian criminal defense lawyer and military defense lawyer
Military Defense Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens, PC
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Blog postscript: Attorney Frank Spinner and I (attorney Richard Stevens) are former active duty military lawyers (JAG). Our perspectives and advice, therefore, are based upon our experience as military defense lawyers and as civilian criminal defense lawyers practicing exclusively in the area of military law. This blog addresses issues in military law, military justice, military discipline, military defense, court-martial practice, the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and other military and/or legal topics. Nothing posted in this blog should be substituted for legal advice in any particular case. If you seek legal advice for a particular case, please contact The Law Offices of Richard V. Stevens & The Law Office of Frank J. Spinner for a free consultation. Military defense law offices are located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Military defense law practices are worldwide.




1 comment:

Frank Keegan said...

http://www.baltimoreexaminer.com/opinion/112308editorial.html

Self (inflicted) defense can up risk
By The Baltimore Examiner Newspaper
- 11/23/08

Two clear facts shine from the clouded mystery of anthrax attacks on America and our government’s tenuous claim seven years later of closing the case with the suicide of a suspect.
Fact No. 1: Government warnings about anthrax being a weapon of mass destruction were false. Somebody dispersed the most lethal strain our tax dollars can produce — weapons-grade or near enough — via the U.S. Postal Service, exposing tens of millions of people, yet managed to infect 22. Five died. But from anthrax vaccination, at least 21 died and thousands reported a wide range of illnesses.

Fact No. 2: If FBI accusations against their prime suspect in the 2001 attack are true, it means billions of dollars taxpayers invested on the premise of prevention actually increased the risk.

When senior biodefense researcher Bruce Ivins died from an overdose of Tylenol 3 after being identified as sole suspect, our central
government declared the crime solved.

However, co-workers at the U.S. Army Medical Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick in Frederick say the actions attributed to Ivins over the time the government claims are scientifically impossible.

This is going to be another never-healing wound in America’s body of unsolved mysteries.

But mystery should not distract us from the truth. Our government’s response to bioweapons is raising the danger level from them.

Think it through, citizens. The very vaccination program intended to thwart anthrax apparently sickened and killed more people than an actual mass attack.

After the 2001 attack, our government hurled $41 billion at bioterror with no real coordination or study. High-level labs multiplied threefold. A dozen agencies exponentially increased the number of facilities and workers handling pathogens. Now we have more than 15,000 potential Bruce Ivins.

Meanwhile, our leaders provided no adequate increase in oversight, coordination, training, security, surveillance, testing, background checks or psychological screening.

Statistically, something going horribly wrong now approaches sure thing. That is not just a threat to residents of Frederick, Bethesda and other communities. It is, as the spread of anthrax spores proved, a threat to the whole world.

We learned in 2001 the actual danger from anthrax was lower than vaccine.

But these biohazard labs grow a lot more dangerous pathogens than anthrax. The next one to get out could kill millions.

President Bush must immediately halt programs until we can impose coordinated oversight, then assess security and capacity needs.

We must not let self-defense become self-inflicted catastrophe.


Link to GAO reports
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-08-108T High-Containment Biosafety Laboratories
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-333R Issues Associated with Expansion