Court OKs Mandatory Military Anthrax Vaccinations

The U.S. Defense Department can conduct mandatory anthrax vaccinations of troops, a federal judge ruled Friday (see GSN, Sept 5).

In the latest decision of a six-year dispute over the vaccine’s safety, Judge Rosemary Collyer dismissed questions raised by several Pentagon employees about scientific data used in the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval process for the drug, the Associated Press reported.

“The court will not substitute its own judgment when the FDA made no clear error of judgment,” Collyer said.

“We owe it to our service members to give them every possible protection,” said Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.  “Force protection is the No. 1 priority in the Defense Department and the anthrax inoculation program is an important force-protection measure” (Matt Apuzzo, Associated Press/Google News, Feb. 29).

The Pentagon mandates the vaccine for almost all U.S. civilian and military personnel deployed for 15 days or longer to Iraq, Afghanistan or South Korea or assigned to domestic biological defense research facilities, the Washington Post reported.

Mark Zaid, the attorney for the six Defense Department plaintiffs, promised to appeal the ruling.  He said the treatment’s approval for use in humans depended on old tests using animals.

“This case has repercussions far beyond the anthrax program,” Zaid said.  “Anyone who is concerned about vaccine safety should be wary of this judicial decision.” (Christopher Lee, Washington Post, March 1).

A federal judge issued an injunction on the vaccine’s use in December 2003, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy said.  The Pentagon began administering it on a voluntary basis in April 2005, and an FDA investigation concluded at the end of that year that the vaccine was effective and safe.

About 1.8 million U.S. military personnel have received the vaccination since the shots program began in March 1998, according to a Pentagon fact sheet.  About half the personnel considered at risk agreed to be vaccinated when it was optional, the department said in 2006 (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy release, Feb. 29).

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