The military's guinea pigs
There was a more innocent time in this country when U.S. soldiers rolled up
their sleeves when they were told and took their medicine --in the form of
all kinds of vaccines for who-knows-what.
Today, some 240 military service personnel are refusing to be inoculated
with the anthrax vaccine -- with good reason.
Approximately 100,000 Persian Gulf War veterans have become sick with a
still-unexplained syndrome many suspect has to do with vaccines they were
given and/or through possible exposure to chemical or biological weapons.
Since the Pentagon has been less than forthcoming in providing answers to
the victims and their families, it's more than
understandable that there would be a little suspicion about another vaccine
of limited effectiveness.
Furthermore, this administration has gone out of its way to do anything and
everything it can to destroy the military its commander in chief once
candidly admitted he "loathed."
But there's a lot more to this picture -- a lot more.
It turns out the company with the sole contract for manufacturing the
anthrax vaccine is in deep financial trouble -- this after being provided
the taxpayer support to renovate its facility and after agreeing to a $29
million contract with the Defense Department. Now
Bioport Corp. says it can't meet its commitment to produce the vaccine for
$3.50 a dose; instead, it will need to be paid more like $10 a dose.
But it gets worse. Despite publicly minimizing the vaccine's risks, the
military is taking a different posture in protecting Bioport from any
liability. Last September, Army Secretary Louis Caldera agreed to accept the
burden of potential claims made against the vaccine manufacturer by
service members, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported this week. In doing
so, he wrote that the vaccine "involves unusually hazardous risks associated
with the potential for adverse reactions in some recipients and the
possibility that the desired immunological effect will not be obtained by
all recipients."
In the memo, Caldera also acknowledged just what those refusing to accept
the vaccine have been saying all along -- that there is little assurance it
will work against the forms of biological warfare likely to be employed by
enemies in the field.
The Defense Department is spinning this little development in Clintonesque
fashion, downplaying the agreement to take Bioport off the hook for any
defects in the vaccine.
"It's legalese," explains Army Col. Dick Bridges, a senior Defense
Department mouthpiece. "It's like the San Diego Union-Tribune buying libel
insurance. You don't expect to libel anyone, but you can't say it's never
going to happen."
Not quite a perfect analogy. Bioport is not buying insurance against
liability claims. It is being provided broad-brush protection against them
at taxpayer expense.
That raises the question of why. Who's behind Bioport? Why is the company
getting this kind of unusual protection and favored treatment from the Pentagon?
It turns out the major force behind the company is Fuad El-Hibri, a German
citizen of Lebanese descent. How does a company whose principal is a foreign
national win a contract to produce such a militarily sensitive product?
Here's the answer: Just bring into your company Admiral William J. Crowe,
the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and give him-- that's
right, give him -- 22.5 percent ownership. Crowe invested not one penny of
his own money, according to his spokesman.
But it's amazing how much attention you can get at the Pentagon with such a
resume on your executive team. There's not a doubt in my mind it was well
worth the 22.5 percent share of the company to snag Crowe.
Doesn't this smack of insider wheeling and dealing? Bioport has had every
advantage imaginable handed to it -- from taxpayer subsidized renovations of
its plant to product liability underwritten 100 percent by the federal
government. And who benefits from it? A former chairman of the Joint Chiefs
of Staff. And even with all those advantages, Bioport still has its hand
out, threatening bankruptcy if it doesn't get three times its current price
for the product.
This is a shady deal. And I don't blame the 240 service personnel who have
refused to be guinea pigs in this scam.
Soldiers are being asked to risk their health for a vaccine of questionable
effectiveness and safety. Why? Is it for political reasons? Is it for
reasons of greed? Is it some morbid desire to experiment with people's
lives? Or is it simply one more of this administration's strategies to
destroy the morale and spirit of the U.S. military?
Joseph Farah is editor of WorldNetDaily.com and executive director of the
Western Journalism Center, an independent group of investigative reporters.
A daily radio broadcast adaptation of Joseph Farah's commentaries can be
heard at http://www.ktkz.com/
1999 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_doggett/19990702_xcjdo_a_soldiers
A soldier's lament (p1 of 11)
WorldNetDaily
Thursday, 5 August 1999 18:11 (GMT)
(UPI Spotlight)
DOD bails out vaccine producer
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (UPI) - The Pentagon has agreed to more than double the
price it pays to the sole producer of an approved anthrax vaccine, officials
announced (Thursday). The Department of Defense will now pay financially
troubled BioPort Corp. of Lansing, Mich., close to $50 million for more than
5 million doses. More than $18 million will be given to BioPort in advance
of production to help cover its bills. The
new contract will not yield a profit for BioPort, but will allow the
company to sell some of the vaccine commercially, officials said.
Copyright 1999 by United Press International
Anthrax Vaccine Costs Pentagon More
By Robert Burns
AP Military Writer
Friday, August 6, 1999; 3:35 a.m. EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon has agreed to a doubling of the price it
pays for a vaccine to inoculate U.S. troops against anthrax, a biological
agent it considers to be a
serious threat to U.S. forces.
The higher price will ensure that the vaccine supplier stays in business
long enough to meet the Pentagon's needs, officials said Thursday.
The only licensed producer of the vaccine, BioPort Corp. of Lansing, Mich.,
told the Defense Department in June that it could not stay in business under
the price terms of its 1998 contract.
The matter is important to the Pentagon because in March 1998 it undertook
to vaccinate all 2.4 million active-duty and reserve forces against anthrax,
a naturally occurring bacteria
found in domesticated animals; it can be produced as dry spores that, when
inhaled, cause death within a few days.
The Pentagon believes 10 countries have the capability to use anthrax as a
biological weapon against U.S. troops.
So far 320,000 members of the military have taken the vaccine, and about 200
have refused out of fear that it could be harmful to their health, according
to Pentagon estimates.
In addition to paying more per dose, the Pentagon has agreed to make a $18.7
million advance payment to BioPort to enable the financially troubled
company to pay off creditors. The Pentagon has been granted a lien on
BioPort assets and has the
right to renegotiate the contracts terms after nine months.
Pentagon officials, speaking on condition they not be named, briefed
reporters on a renegotiated contract that requires the Pentagon to pay
BioPort $10.64 per dose, up from $4.36 per dose under the old deal. BioPort
is now required to provide 5.3 million doses instead of 7.6 million, the
officials said.
The value of the new contract, through the year 2005, is $49.8 million
compared with the previous $25.7 million.
Pentagon officials said BioPort will make no profit on the vaccine sales but
is given authority to sell as much as 300,000 doses on the commercial
market, so long as the Pentagon's needs are met first.
Kelly Rossman-McKinney, a spokeswoman for BioPort, said the company is
pleased with the new deal.
``This will give us the real shot in the arm we need to move forward,'' she
said. BioPort will now have the flexibility to market its anthrax vaccine on
the open market, including to
friendly foreign governments.
The Pentagon is attempting to overcome what it considers to be
misinformation about the safety of the anthrax vaccine, which is licensed by
the Food and Drug Administration and has been used for three decades.
Pentagon officials acknowledged Thursday that temporary side-effects such as
minor swelling and redness in the area of injection are more common among
troops than was
predicted at the outset of the vaccination program. But they said there has
been no evidence so far of a link to any serious diseases.
©Copyright 1999 The Associated Press
