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Mon 22 Dec, 2003 07:13 pm
WASHINGTON -- Saying American soldiers should not be used as "guinea pigs for experimental drugs," a federal judge Monday ordered the Pentagon to stop mandatory anthrax vaccinations started in 1998.
U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan said he was persuaded by plaintiffs in a class action suit that the vaccine is experimental and being "used for an unapproved purpose" _ that is, for exposure to airborne anthrax as well as exposure through the skin.
Hundreds of service members have been punished or discharged for refusing them. (200 discharged)
"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.
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., said he will ask the Defense Department to immediately begin a review of all disciplinary actions taken against service members who refused the vaccines, including the more than 200 who were court-martialed.
Just last week, the Governor here in Ohio declined to intervene on behalf of a Guard officer who had refused the vaccine . . .
so did the Governor take the vaccine?
Not good. I hope that this busts wide open!
So....will article 15s be rescinded, rank returned, pay returned, and records corrected? NOT BLOODY LIKELY!
The Gov is a pill, Dys, but i doubt he was vaccinated . . .
Shots? Boilermaker, please.
Article 15 and discharge don't seem to work well with reduction in rank. Non judicial punishment. Am I missing something?
What, Time Magazine's Man of the Year getting shafted by Don Rumsfeld? Unthinkable!
Thinkable.
Nice avatar, by the way.
roger wrote:Article 15 and discharge don't seem to work well with reduction in rank. Non judicial punishment. Am I missing something?
Company Grade Arty 15: Max punishment= 30 days extra duty, forfeiture of 1/2 pay for one month.
Field Grade Article 15: max= 45 days extra duty, confinement to quarters, forfeiture of 90 days pay, reduction in rank by no more than two steps, administrative (General)d/c after punishment period for "failure to adapt."
Oh my. I wonder if Oz troops were vaccinated with anthrax, too?
Oz generally, however, takes a bolder view of allowing drugs to be released to the population than the US does, so no doubt if asked, they rolled up their wee armies, or rolled down their fetching camouflage pants, and took it like guinea pigs...
"Failure to adapt" . . .
That pretty well describes my military career . . .
"Sir, yes sir, I would prefer not to, Sir"
and so it went....
I just finished reading a book by my former research lab boss, Leonard Goldberg. It is well along, something like number seven, in a medical thriller series he has written.
The writing form is not my favorite, as those who know me here might guess - I am not very thriller best seller oriented.
However, I know him, his strong academic credentials, and his past history of very honest lab work. At the end of the book, Fever Cell, he delineates what is known to date on some potential epidemics. Vaccination is discussed within the book, some of his summaries are news to me now, these years later, as I haven't worked in a lab for twenty years.
Honestly, I could hardly read the book at first because of what I took to be near (what? racist?) zeroing in on one population. I suspected it wasn't so off based, was more group oriented; at least in my memory he wasn't a sloppy thinker. I kept reading.
Conclusion, interesting for me as a reconnect to the lab world, but also worth a look for those interested in vaccination/terrorism hypotheses.
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