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LETTER |
Meryl Nass is with Parkview Hospital and Midcoast Hospital, Brunswick, Me, and Maine Medical Center, Portland, Me.
Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Meryl Nass, MD, 124 Wardtown Rd, Freeport, ME 04032 (e-mail: mnass{at}nqi.net).
In September 2000 an earlier Institute of Medicine (IOM) committee discussed the paucity of published data on the anthrax vaccine and drew no conclusions about its long-term safety.1 But the IOM committee referenced by Weightman, funded by the Defense Department, gave enthusiastic support to the anthrax vaccine,2 solely on the basis of controversial, mostly unpublished military research.
This second IOM report completely ignored the significant body of evidence relating anthrax vaccine to chronic diseases.3 Three additional 2002 papers have linked anthrax vaccine to optic neuritis,4 joint problems,5 and Gulf War syndrome.6 Research suggesting increased birth defects postvaccination was ignored as well.7
Far from turning over every stone, the IOM committee performed a review remarkable only for its bias.8 For example, the IOM compared "immediate onset" reaction rates from a patient-initiated survey at Dover Air Force Base9 with the results of an Army study, and found them comparable in number and type, validating the Dover study. The IOM report, however, omitted the chronic illness rate following vaccination in the Dover study: over 29%.
Similarly, the report’s Appendix G lists diagnoses for which the incidence increased significantly following vaccination. Identical illnesses were reported to the US Food and Drug Administration’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, and many were noted in the vaccine’s package insert.10 But the IOM responded paradoxically. After noting that elevated rates of multiple sclerosis, diabetes, Crohn’s disease, myocardial infarction, thyroid cancer, and other diagnoses might be "signals of a possible causal relationship" and "deserve continued surveillance," the report specifically recommended against special surveillance for long-term effects of anthrax vaccine.
My pretrial testimony at the court-martial of CPT John Buck, MD, was supported by 65 exhibits, primarily government documents, that proved the vaccine had never demonstrated human safety or effectiveness, nor was licensed for its current use. The military judge refused to let the jury hear this evidence.
In contrast, a spring 2000 hearing before Canada’s highest military judge led to the ruling that mandating this vaccination constituted a violation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.11 Consequently, Canada no longer requires anthrax vaccinations for its troops, whereas the US military has resumed vaccinations, enforced with courts-martial at which the evidence will never be heard.
Furthermore, despite the Defense Department’s continued denials, in May the Department of Veterans’ Affairs made adverse reactions from anthrax vaccine a compensable cause of disability.
To correct Weightman’s final misstatement: anthrax vaccine lots have been distributed in the absence of Food and Drug Administration approval. One vaccinated Canada’s defense minister.12
References
1. Fulco CE, Liverman CT, Sox HC, eds. Gulf War and Health: Volume 1. Depleted Uranium, Pyridostigmine Bromide, Sarin, and Vaccines. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 2000.
2. Joellenbeck LM, Zwanziger LL, Durch JS, Strom BL, eds. The Anthrax Vaccine: Is It Safe? Does It Work? Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 2002.
3. Nass M. Anthrax vaccine not safe and effective. Emerg Med News. 2002;24:44.
4. Kerrison JB, Lounsbury D, Thirkill CE, Lane RG, Schatz MP, Engler RM. Optic neuritis after anthrax vaccination. Ophthalmology. 2002;109:99–104.[Medline]
5. Geier DA, Geier MR. Anthrax vaccination and joint related adverse reactions in light of biological warfare scenarios. Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2002;20:217–220.[Medline]
6. Schumm WR, Reppert EJ, Jurich AP, et al. Selfreported changes in subjective health and anthrax vaccination as reported by over 900 Persian Gulf War era veterans. Psychol Rep. 2002;90:639–653.[Medline]
7. Ryan M. Assessment of birth defects among infants of women who received anthrax vaccine: Information for the Institute of Medicine, Washington DC. 2002.
8. Nass, M. On eroding the values of science: the Institute of Medicine’s report on the anthrax vaccine. Available at: http://www.redflagsweekly.com/nass/2002_march11.html. Accessed September 9, 2002.
9. Tanner J. Survey results of the 9th Airlift Squadron. Presented at: Third Anthrax Vaccine Safety and Efficacy Committee Meeting; April 17–18, 2001; Washington, DC.
10. Anthrax vaccine adsorbed (Biothrax) [package insert]. Lansing, Mich: Bioport Corporation; 2002. Available at: http://www.fda.gov/cber/label/biopava0131022LB.pdf. Accessed September 9, 2002.
11. Standing court martial for the trial of Ex-Sergeant Michael Richard Kipling, Canadian Forces, 17th Wing, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, between 15 February and 5 May 2000 [transcript]. Available at http://www.majorbates.com/law/canadatranscript.htm. Accessed October 15, 2002.
12. Rees A. Their Dangerous Dose. Vancouver Province. June 25, 2000.
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