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| Judge Halts Forced Military Anthrax Shots | |
| 2003-12-23 | |
| The Pentagon must stop forcing servicemen and women to take the anthrax vaccination against their will, unless President Bush signs a special order, a judge ruled Monday. Millions of shots have been given and hundreds of service members have been punished for refusing them since the mandatory vaccinations started in 1998. The judge ruled that the anthrax vaccinations fell under a 1998 law prohibiting the use of certain experimental drugs unless people being given the drug consent or the president waives the consent requirement. Congress passed the law following fears that the use of such drugs may have led to unexplained illnesses among veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War that have come to be known as Gulf War Syndrome. "The women and men of our armed forces put their lives on the line every day to preserve and safeguard the freedoms that all Americans cherish and enjoy," said Judge Emmet G. Sullivan of the United States District Court in Washington. "Absent an informed consent or presidential waiver, the United States cannot demand that members of the armed forces also serve as guinea pigs for experimental drugs," Sullivan said. Sullivan rejected the government concern that military discipline would be harmed if courts intervene between soldiers and their military superiors. That right there could get him reversed. Believing Iraq and other nations had produced anthrax weapons, former Secretary of Defense William Cohen in 1997 ordered the armed forces immunized. Shots started in 1998 for soldiers in areas believed to present the highest risk of infection - the Persian Gulf, then Korea. There was a reason for that — everybody and his brother thought that Saddam had anthrax. Judge didn’t seem to consider that. I expect a Presidential waiver sometime in the next couple of weeks.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #4 A bunch of marines going into Liberia gundecked all their shots as well - and had to be evacuated - I think they got typhus. Malaria. We had one clown who pulled the same stunt before reporting to the ship. He ended up getting medevaced after we left Kenya. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2003-12-23 9:04:19 PM |
| #3 Another point: judges aren't doctors. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-12-23 5:43:55 PM |
| #2 A couple of points to consider: 1. Bush got his shot before everybody else did. 2. A bunch of marines going into Liberia gundecked all their shots as well - and had to be evacuated - I think they got typhus. 3. I think that the pills that were taking prior to the Gulf War I was something else. 4. The anthrax vaccine was rushed, because we had a bunch of people die from an anthrax attack that still has not been solved. 5. Lot's of Nigerians are worried about taking the polio vaccine and children are getting sick there. Dr. White may have more pertinent observations. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-12-23 5:41:23 PM |
| #1 Tto be completely honest, the reason I thing I and the guys in my squad didn't end up with Gulf War Syndrome was that our medic gun-decked our "nerve gas" shots. None of the guys in my squad got it, while other guys in the company did. That stuff isnt well tested enough. Experimental stuff should be for the rabbits, not for troops. Test and Certify it before you fill soldiers bodies up with it under orders. This is more legacy of Clinton being a cheap bastard and allowing experimental drugs to be used instead of spending the money to get them fully tested. Its a shame Bush has continued it. And this is one instance where the Judge does need to get between the troops and their upper command structure, for the protection fo the troops. Come on Bush anmd Congress. Pay the money to get this stuff fully researched and tested before you order people to be injected with it. |
| Posted by: Anonymous 2003-12-23 4:08:28 AM |