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Smallpox: Doctor Says Immunization Might Have Killed U.S. Soldier The April death of U.S. soldier Rachael Lacy might have been caused by a mandatory military smallpox vaccination she received, according to a doctor who treated her (see GSN, Aug. 19). “I do think her illness should be classified as a vaccine adverse event for smallpox vaccination,” said Jeffrey Sartin, an infectious diseases doctor at the Gundersen Clinic in Wisconsin. Sartin, who was part of a team that treated Lacy, suggested that the Defense Department might be hesitant to attribute the death to the vaccine because of the controversial nature of the immunization programs. “Some of us on the civilian side have worried that the interpretation of these cases would be colored by how it would reflect on the (vaccination) program,” he said. “What we know of her illness suggests a very robust immune system activation, which could have been caused by vaccinations,” Sartin added. The Pentagon has not yet determined why Lacy died April 4, according to a top military health official. “Rachael Lacy is still in the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s] unexplained death program,” said Col. John Grabenstein, the deputy director for clinical operations at the Military Vaccine Agency (Mark Benjamin, United Press International, Aug. 18).
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