whaleto

December 8, 2003

VACCINE SAFETY ADVOCATES SUPPORT
SENATOR'S VACCINE SAFETY RESOLUTION


Washington, D.C. - Americans for Vaccine Safety and Accountability, headed
by the Na-tional Vaccine Information Center (NVIC), are joining with other
parent, veteran and health care organizations in support of a proposed
Senate resolution asking Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld to review the
safety of the military's mandatory anthrax and smallpox vaccination
programs. The resolution is being sponsored by Sen. Jeff Binga-man (D-NM) in
response to mounting reports of serious health problems, including
un-expected deaths, after soldiers are vaccinated.

"Tragically, national one-size-fits-all vaccine policies are hurting
young soldiers in the military just as they are hurting young children in
civilian life," said NVIC president Bar-bara Loe Fisher. "Many are dying or
being left chronically ill after receiving multiple vac-cines on one day.
Nobody is being screened for genetic or biological risk factors be-cause
public health agencies and industry have refused to do the scientific
studies to identify those vulnerable. Some vaccines, like anthrax and
smallpox, are known to be crude and highly reactive. Soldiers are being
needlessly sacrificed for a flawed policy and it is inhumane when so much
more could be done to prevent this waste of human life."

On Nov. 19, the Pentagon admitted that Rachael Lacy, a 22 year old Army
recruit died last April after being injected with five vaccines, including
anthrax and smallpox. Military doctors are now saying she may have had a
predisposition to a fatal autoim-mune condition (lupus) that was triggered
by the vaccinations.

Meryl Nass, M.D., a civilian doctor who questions the safety of the
anthrax vaccine and has treated many vaccine-damaged soldiers, reviewed
Lacy's autopsy report and death certificate and urged the military in
September to classify her death as vaccine-related. "The autopsy made it
clear and now the military has confirmed that there is no other explanation
for her death except the vaccines she received. There was no evi-dence of
lupus on autopsy, although she may have had a genetic predisposition to
auto-immunity that would put her at high risk for reacting to vaccines. Ten
to 20 percent of the population has genetic predisposition to autoimmunity
so everyone should have the right to informed consent to vaccination.," said
Nass, who is also a member of NVIC's Medical Advisory Board.

Lacy's death follows persistent reports of other deaths, mysterious
pneumonia-like illnesses, heart problems, blood clots, memory loss,
disabling fatigue, muscle weakness and pain, weight loss and other serious
health problems suffered by young, healthy mili-tary recruits after being
vaccinated with anthrax, smallpox and many other vaccines.

The Bingaman resolution introduced in the Senate on November 25, cites
a General Accounting Office (GAO) report that found that an "estimated 84
percent of the person-nel who had had anthrax vaccine shots between
September 1998 and September 2000 reported having side effects or reactions.
This rate is more than double the level cited in the vaccine product
insert." The resolution also points out that the Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) stated in June 2003 that 1 in 500 civilians vaccinated for smallpox
had a serious vaccine event.

Bingaman maintains that a biological attack against U.S. troops is far
less likely now so the risks of the military's compulsory anthrax and
smallpox vaccination programs are greater than its benefits. He points out
that British and Australian troops have not been required to take anthrax
vaccine and that other allied nations have declined to use the vaccine on
their troops.

Currently, six military servicemembers are seeking a preliminary
injunction in a U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. that would prevent
the forced vaccination of U.S. mili-tary personnel with the anthrax vaccine
and allow soldiers to give their voluntary, in-formed consent. Attorneys
for the plaintiffs argue that the anthrax vaccine was never licensed by the
FDA to protect against inhalation anthrax, which is how anthrax would be
used as a biological weapon. Federal statute requires that either informed
consent be given whenever a drug or vaccine is used for an unlicensed
purpose, or that the Presi-dent assumes responsibility by waiving
servicemembers' right of informed consent.

A U.S. soldier's refusal to be vaccinated can result in a court
martial, imprisonment, fines and dishonorable discharge from the military.
One decorated Air Force physician was court martialed for refusing the
anthrax vaccine and fined $21,000. A breast-feeding soldier was court
martialed for refusing the anthrax vaccine because she did not want to take
the risk of harming her child. A 2002 GAO report found that 69 percent of
experienced pilots and aircrew members in the National Guard and the Reserve
re-ported that the anthrax shot was the major influence in their decision to
change their mili-tary status in 2000, including leaving the military
entirely.

The Bingaman resolution calls on the Secretary of Defense and Board for
Correction of Military Records "to reconsider adverse actions already taken
or intended to be taken against servicemembers for refusing to accept the
anthrax or smallpox vaccine." The resolution also calls on the Secretary of
Veterans Affairs to "assess those adverse events being reported" and
research causal relationships as well as estimate the future cost to treat
the resulting health problems.

"The use of prophylactic biodefense drugs and vaccines must be solely
threat-based and weighed against the health risks to the servicemember.
Congress should direct DOD to fully disclose all unpublished medical
studies, non-peer reviewed studies and experimental test data on their
biodefense drugs and vaccines. These data should be made available to the
DVA, the Institute of Medicine and independent researchers for a thorough
review of DOD's findings," said Steve Robinson, Executive Director, National
Gulf War Resource Center.

Reports of sudden death and chronic illness following receipt of
multiple vaccines in the military first began to surface in the early
1990's, when soldiers deploying for the Gulf War were given up to 17
vaccines, including anthrax, as well as investigational drugs. The
constellation of symptoms those soldiers experienced, which came to be known
as "Gulf War Illness," are very similar to the symptoms being experienced by
military re-cruits today who get vaccinated with multiple vaccines,
including anthrax and smallpox.

Americans for Vaccine Safety and Accountability (AVSA), a coalition
which includes the National Vaccine Information Center, Parents Requesting
Open Vaccine Education, Unlocking Autism, New Hampshire Citizens for Health
Freedom, Virginia Families for Vaccine Information and Choice, Vaccine
Awareness of North Florida, Massachusetts Citizens for Vaccination Choice,
Missouri Citizen's Coalition for Vaccination Choice, Illi-nois Vaccine
Awareness Coalition, World Chiropractic Alliance, International
Chiroprac-tic Pediatric Association, Osteomed II, New Hampshire Vaccine
Safety Initiative and Mothering Magazine is supporting the Bingaman
resolution along with other organiza-tions advocating safer vaccines and
informed consent protections in national vaccine policies, including the
National Gulf War Resource Center, Military Vaccine Education Center, New
Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination, Michigan Opposing
Mandatory Shots, Connecticut Vaccine Information Alliance, Kansas Alliance
for In-formed Choice in Vaccination, Wyoming Vaccine Information Network,
Minnesota Vac-cine Awareness, Parents Advocating Vaccine Education and The
Autism Autoimmunity Project.

NVIC was founded in 1982 and is the largest and oldest parent-led
non-profit organi-zation advocating the institution of vaccine safety and
informed consent protections in national vaccination programs. AVSA is an
activist coalition of organizations represent-ing more than 200,000
Americans.

For more information and to read the entire resolution being sponsored
by Sen. Bingaman, go to http://www.nvic.org/AVSA/Bingaman.htm


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