Salt Lake Tribune

[HARDCORE]

Copyright 2003 The Salt Lake Tribune
Salt Lake Tribune (Utah)

December 27, 2003, Saturday

SECTION: Opinion; Pg. A16

LENGTH: 431 words

HEADLINE: Airing anthrax

BODY:
The debate over the safety and efficacy of an anthrax vaccine that is mandatory for American troops should be resolved in a court of law where the evidence can be openly aired and evaluated.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan acted prudently on Monday in blocking the Pentagon from forcing troops to be inoculated against anthrax until a full trial can be held, saying that the Department of Defense may be using them as "guinea pigs for experimental drugs."

Hundreds have refused to take the vaccine since the Pentagon resumed mandatory vaccinations in June 2002. Many of those have been court-martialed and forced out of the military.

Attorneys representing full-time and reserve troops who refused to be vaccinated have argued for years that the Pentagon has not thoroughly tested the vaccine and can't verify whether it works to counteract weaponized anthrax and whether it has long-term negative side effects.

A study completed in 2000 by an Institute of Medicine committee at the National Academy of Sciences concluded there was "inadequate/insufficient evidence" to determine whether the vaccine was linked to "long-term adverse health outcomes." The Pentagon has offered no new evidence to counter the study.

The Pentagon had said the vaccinations were necessary in case anthrax was employed as a weapon during the U.S. invasion of Iraq. Saddam Hussein had used biological weapons before against Iranian forces and against some of his own people.

But concern has lessened since no biological weapons have been found in Iraq. It's difficult now for the Pentagon to back up its argument that making the vaccinations voluntary would interfere with military operations in Iraq, and the judge was right to reject it.

The question of whether anthrax vaccine used during the first Gulf War caused or contributed to the set of ailments referred to as Gulf War Syndrome is unresolved. Up to 20,000 veterans of that conflict continue to suffer memory loss, fatigue, rashes and muscle and joint pains and still are trying to get compensation from the Department of Defense for their medical expenses. So it is easy to see why today's troops balk at taking the vaccine when so many questions remain unanswered.

Pentagon officials have the option of getting a presidential waiver, allowed in wartime, to continue forcing troops to be vaccinated. They should resist the temptation. The judge's ruling that the anthrax vaccine is an experimental drug "being used for an unapproved purpose" should be argued in court.

Our fighting forces deserve to know the truth.