Anthrax vaccines ... again

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Well the anthrax vaccine is back in the news again in some interesting ways. On the one hand we have the FDA expedites approval for anthrax vaccine (Clabaugh, Wa. Business Journal, 8/19/03). On the other hand, we finally have CBS (8/21/03) talking about Military Mute On Vaccine Danger?.

The DoD, operating much as it has with Gulf War Syndrome is skewing its vaccination data. The military gives the troops a whole slew of vaccinations. The two that are raising the most concern are those for anthrax and small pox. According to Maryl Nass (an MD working with a number of veterans with negative side effects from the vaccination program) the DoD is not reporting either side effects or deaths due to the vaccination program. They are significantly screening the data that they have. This is a BIG issue since the largest group vaccinated is the military. Since the Bush administration is pushing both anthrax and small pox vaccines for the public, it is natural to look to the largest vaccinated population for indicators of possible problems. If the military skews or doesn't report the data, then the vaccines look less risky than they actually are.

A General Accounting Office investigation last fall found that the rate of side effects from anthrax vaccine was hundreds, sometimes thousands, of times higher than what the military claimed. (Questions Mount Over Anthrax Shot, Attkisson, CBS News, 8/20/03)

Now Bush is redirecting research funds for a new anthrax vaccine (Bush: Get Anthrax Vaccine Garrett, Newsday, 7/28/03). The implications for research on drugs for other diseases (both immune and infectious) are significant as the money to research an anthrax vaccine is coming from research funds already approved by Congress.

"More than 500 scientists working on AIDS and other infectious diseases learned recently that their federal grants are being reduced so that the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases can meet a White House mandate to come up with a new anthrax vaccine.

The move is unprecedented in the 116-year history of the National Institutes of Health, according to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, as the collection of 27 research institutes has never been ordered to carry out a major applied science program - in this case, making a vaccine. And, Fauci said, the NIH has never been told to come up with funds to pay for a White House-mandated effort in lieu of additional funding." (Garrett)

As with most things Washington and Bush, the course of activity laid out here serves multiple purposes. First, the Pentagon avoids responsibility (and expense) for the health of service people. Second, pharmaceutical companies get big bucks flowing their way. Bush, and others, get to line their pockets at tax payer expense. For example, the current holder of the patent on the anthrax vaccine is BioPort. BioPort is a holding of The Carlyle Group ((Horowitz). The Carlyle Group is a private investment group that is way inside the beltway with both big names and Daddy Bush as active shareholders, management, and promoters (The Big Guys Work For the Carlyle Group Warner, Fortune, 3/18/02).

There are those who would argue that no one, and certainly not our elected leaders and their appointed staffs, would put the health and lives of the population at risk for their own (and their friends and supporters) gain. Oh yeah? What do you think the concern of big money and big business impact on our government is about? It is about receiving "friendly" legislation and policies, lucrative government contracts, and protection of their interests both nationally and internationally. Who underwrites this? Tax payers. Who bears the (in the US) consequences? We do, our communities do. We pay at every level of our existence from the quality of our environment, to our social services and education systems, to our health, to dying in international conflicts for the those "interests."

Posted by rowan at August 22, 2003 08:41 AM | TrackBack | Printable Version | [eMail this article!] |