Subject: [Anthrax-no] The 4 Positive AF Times articles of last week

Date: Sun, 11 Jul 1999 08:43:26 -0400

From: Meryl Nass <mnass@anthraxvaccine.org>

Reply-To: Anthrax-no@onelist.com

To: "Anthrax-no@onelist.com" <Anthrax-no@onelist.com>

From: Meryl Nass <mnass@anthraxvaccine.org>

Air Force Times, Published: 07-12-99, Category: WASHINGTON, Page: 13

Anthrax Supplier Woes Cast Doubt On Vaccine Schedule

By Deborah Funk

The Pentagon's only supplier of the anthrax vaccine is in financial

trouble, raising doubts about the timetable for vaccinations, according

to testimony before a congressional subcommittee.

Most people already receiving the vaccination under the first phase of

the Pentagon's immunization plan should not be affected because there is

enough supply on hand to complete the series of shots.

What happens when the current stockpile of vaccine is depleted if new

supplies are not added is not clear. Deliveries are expected in

February, assuming the company survives its financial problems.

Without new supplies, the Pentagon will not go forward with the second

phase of immunizations. This will involve shots for members of units not

currently deployed but expected to respond quickly in a crisis.

A solution to the supplier's problems seems certain because vaccine

producer BioPort Corp. of Lansing, Mich., and the Defense Department are

dependent on one another. BioPort is the only licensed vaccine producer

in the country. The Pentagon says it needs the vaccine to immunize all

of its troops against a biological warfare threat posed by rogue nations

like Iraq and terrorist groups.

BioPort wants to raise the cost of the vaccine about three times above

the current price, and produce less for the Defense Department.

Under the current contract, it "would be difficult to make assurances"

to deliver the promised vaccine, Fuad El-Hibri, the company president,

said in testimony before a subcommittee of the House Government Reform

Committee. The company wants $10 to $12 a dose, more than the $3

promised by the current contract. The higher price is what the

government pays for other vaccines, company officials said.

Defense officials are reviewing the proposal. Dave Oliver, a top

defense acquisition official, said both the Defense Department and

BioPort want to have a viable facility and a "sufficient supply of the

vaccine."

The mandatory anthrax vaccination program is being carried out in

three phases. Under the first phase, now under way, service members

deploying to high-threat areas are receiving the shot. There are enough

doses to carry Phase I through August 2000. Phase II, which will require

shots for all first-deployers, will begin when sufficient production is

ensured, defense officials said.

BioPort bought the facility from the state of Michigan last fall.

Early last year the plant was closed for renovations so that the company

could keep its license. It resumed production in May but the vaccine

produced since then has not been cleared by the Food and Drug

Administration.

Vaccine production is about five months behind schedule because of

renovation delays, according to the General Accounting Office, the

investigative arm of Congress.

"Because of the delays, the company has not received the revenues it

expected and now faces a serious cash-flow problem," said Louis J.

Rodrigues, GAO's director of defense acquisitions issues. He blamed the

company's cash-flow problem on an "overly optimistic business plan."

Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., subcommittee chairman, said he is

concerned about sustaining the anthrax vaccine program because it is

"resting on so weak a foundation." He is concerned that quality control

could slip if the financial problems continue. "A mandatory, forcewide

immunization program to address the pre-eminent biological warfare

threat ought to be based on more than an optimistic business plan and

speculative private vaccine sales," he said.

BioPort officials blamed the problems on difficulties in buying a

previously state-owned facility. It was difficult to determine operating

costs and other expenses, officials said.

----------------------------------

Air Force Times, Published: 07-12-99, Category: BACK TALK, Page: 46

Anthrax Breeding Anxiety Throughout Military Ranks

By Robert F. Dorr

"I'm done. I did my last flight yesterday."

With those words, Air Force Reserve Capt. Hans Reigle told me June 26

about the end of his years as an instructor pilot of the huge C-5 Galaxy

transport. A part-time reservist who is also an airline pilot, Reigle is

leaving the military cockpit because of his reluctance to receive shots

inoculating him against anthrax.

The Pentagon has made the anthrax vaccination mandatory, starting with

those deemed most likely to be where biological weapons are used. As

pilot of a cargo plane at Dover Air Force Base, Del., Reigle belongs to

that up-front contingent.

American strategy is to use military planes to carry things and

civilian aircraft to haul people. A pilot for World Airways -- which

flies troops into global hot spots -- told me that she is not being

asked to take the shots.

If war breaks out tomorrow, the flight line near the front lines will

be packed with military pilots who have taken the shots and civilian

contract pilots who have not. This is one of the contradictions swirling

amid the Pentagon's insistence on giving a series of six anthrax shots

to everyone in uniform.

And those orders come from the very top. Not even the Air Force chief

of staff, Gen. Michael Ryan, could change this policy -- and he supports

it. Two hundred thousand members of the armed forces have begun the

anthrax vaccinations. In fact, many past and present Air Force members

support the effort and lack sympathy for Reigle and other resisters.

"Those guys ought [to] do what they're told," said former Maj. Edward

K. "King" Schultz of San Diego, who flew B-24 Liberator bombers in World

War II.

Schultz told me, "The military isn't supposed to be a debating

society. You're supposed to salute, say 'Yes, sir!' and do it."

In Schultz's neighborhood, an enlisted Marine has been given a prison

term and a bad conduct discharge for refusing the shots. Three others

face courts-martial.

After seven hours of conversation with Reigle and talking with five

other pilots in three locations, I am convinced these flyers are not

troublemakers. As part-timers in the reserve, most hold another job --

airline pilot -- where the maintenance of perfect health is essential to

livelihood. Many fear that the jury is still out on medical

repercussions from the vaccine.

"Our leaders are in denial," said Maj. Jeffrey Jeffords, a C-141B

Starlifter pilot for the Tennessee Air National Guard in Memphis.

Jeffords also has a civilian flying job. "They are out of touch with the

rank and file."

Jeffords said the top brass "hope[s] this issue will quietly die by

people quitting." However, he doesn't plan to quit. Instead, he will

refuse the shots and bear the consequences. "I'm good at what I do, and

I'm not looking for a cop-out."

Like others with whom I spoke in Knoxville, Tenn., and Fort Wayne,

Ind., Jeffords is neither a firebrand nor a fanatic. He was on active

duty for nine years, flying the C-130 Hercules. He wants to continue in

the reserve component -- but is determined not to have those shots.

As for Reigle, if he does not return to the flight deck of his C-5,

the service will lose a professional with almost 18 years of service,

five in the enlisted ranks.

"You can just look at my decorations to see that I'm a person who

follows orders," he said. "I would get the shot immediately, if I had to

go to war.

But it doesn't make sense to get it simply as a contingency. I don't

want to put my civilian career at risk. And there are too many questions

in my mind."

On the grapevine and on the Internet, dramatic rumors are flying about

people who began the anthrax vaccinations and suffered ill health.

But it is not necessary to have a medical reason to halt the anthrax

vaccinations. The program is a problem because people think it's a

problem. Perception is everything.

In an earlier column, I argued that anthrax is not a realistic

military weapon -- although it can be employed with devastating results

against a dense civilian population, such as a crowd in a stadium.

Returning one final time to Reigle, his last two flights included

tricky crosswind landings in the cantankerous C-5. He says he performed

those landings like a virtuoso.

"I'm going out on top," he said, "just like Michael Jordan."

Robert F, Dorr, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. His e-mail

address is Robertdorr@aol.com.

-----------------------------------------

Air Force Times, Published: 07-12-99, Category: EDITORIAL, Page: 44

EDITORIAL: Stop Mandatory Anthrax Inoculations

It's doubtful Defense Secretary William Cohen ever anticipated all the

problems that might arise from his decision to inoculate all service

members against anthrax poisoning.

The move was well-intentioned. And according to most -- but not all --

researchers it's also well-reasoned. But lingering concerns about the

safety of the anthrax vaccine, coupled now with questions about the

financial well-being of the vaccine's sole manufacturer, continue to

threaten the program.

BioPort Corp., the Lansing, Mich., company that makes the vaccine, is

five months behind in production and out of money. Its solution: Take

advantage of its monopoly and triple or quadruple the price of the

vaccine. Isn't that what capitalism is all about?

More research is needed to understand the long-term risks of using the

anthrax vaccine. And now, long after initiating the vaccination program,

the Pentagon is finally planning such a long-term study of the vaccine's

health effects.

That's good. But until those risks are understood, the Pentagon should

proceed with caution -- not reckless abandon. Ordering everyone to take

the vaccine with no knowledge of long-term effects is going too far.

But service members are bright, inquisitive people, and they deserve

to be treated as such.

Our advice, based on months of reporting, is to take the shots; the

risks of the vaccine are outweighed by the risk of contracting anthrax.

But in the absence of empiricle evidence proving the vaccine's

long-term safety, the troops should be given the chance to decline.

Give them the information they need to make wise, informed decisions

for themselves. Let those who decline live with what they consider a

reasonable risk.

And stop mandatory inoculations.

----------------------------------------------

Air Force Times, Published: 07-12-99, Category: WASHINGTON, Page:

Military Officials Order Study To Determine Vaccine's Safety And

Long-term Effects

By Deborah Funk

Responding to concerns about the safety of anthrax immunizations, the

Department of Defense now plans a study on the vaccines' long-term

health effects.

Although the vaccine has been licensed since 1970, no long-term

studies have been done on the long-term effects.

Fear of the unknown is causing concern among service members,

particularly among the 300,000 who have received the shot. Many are

alarmed by a notice included in the vaccine which says no studies have

been performed to determine whether the vaccine could affect

reproduction or cause cancer.

Those two questions are among the issues to be addressed by the

long-term study, said Army Maj. Guy Strawder, director of the Anthrax

Vaccine Immunization Program Agency. The lack of long-term studies "is

the number one concern right now of service members," he said.

But, he said, the anthrax vaccine is being held to "a higher standard"

than other vaccines which also lack long-term studies.

A six-person team will design the study -- three from the Department

of Defense and three from the private sector.

Some service members question whether it will protect them against the

amount of anthrax spores that would be released by a weapon. They also

have concerns about the manufacturer, BioPort of Lansing, Mich.

Critics of the Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program, such as Deanna

Austin, were not mollified by the Pentagon's announcement. Austin's son,

Marine Lance Cpl. Jason Austin, refused to take the shot for fear of

adverse effects. He was court-martialed, jailed and dishonorably

discharged.

The study, which she said should have been done before the total-force

inoculations began, will take years to complete, she noted.

"By that time everybody's going to have the shot. And once it's in

your body, they can't take it out."

** Please note new email address **

mnass@anthraxvaccine.org

====================

Meryl Nass, M.D.

124 Wardtown Road

Freeport, Maine 04032

phone (207) 865-0875

fax (207) 865-6975

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