7.27.99 LA Times Editorial: Military's Medical Foot-Dragging

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Tuesday, July 27, 1999

Military's Medical Foot-Dragging

LA Times Editorial

It took two decades for the Pentagon to admit that some U.S. soldiers had been

exposed to toxic herbicides in Vietnam, and six years to disclose that soldiers

in the 1991 Persian Gulf War had been exposed to potentially harmful Iraqi

chemical warfare agents. Surely the Pentagon knows by now that such secrecy only

stokes fears and undermines morale.

Then again, maybe not. In wrenching testimony to the House subcommittee on

national security last week, several military officers described how medical

officers at their bases and military officials in Washington had summarily

dismissed the chronic health problems they suffered after having received a

series of vaccines against the biological warfare agent anthrax.

In one typical instance, Capt. L. Piel, an Air Force pilot with 13

years of experience, said she developed a host of health problems, including

chronic fatigue and joint pain. Though Piel tested positive for a marker for

autoimmune disorders, she said doctors failed to record many of her symptoms and

dismissed her problems as psychosomatic, suggesting she needed counseling.

Last week, Reps. A. Gilman (R-N.Y.) and Walter B. (R-N.C.)

introduced bills to suspend the mandatory anthrax vaccination program. That

extreme step is premature given that evidence of the vaccine's adverse effects

is still anecdotal and the illnesses described are hard to pin down. However,

last week's hearing did highlight the urgent need for Congress to transfer

oversight of the vaccine program to two agencies more experienced in monitoring

vaccine-related illnesses--the Centers for Disease Control and the Food and Drug

Administration.

The agencies should overhaul the Pentagon's system for recording

vaccine-related illnesses, which managed to misplace all 150,000 medical records

of troops vaccinated during the Gulf War. And according to the chairman of the

House subcommittee, Rep. Shays (D-Conn.), military doctors tend to

attribute illnesses " to coincidence or preexisting conditions in the interest of

protecting the anthrax program rather than the patient. "

There's no direct evidence that the anthrax vaccine is causing any of the

medical problems, but it is clear that the administration of the program is

fueling mistrust and undermining morale. That's why the Pentagon should stop its

historical stonewalling and begin taking soldiers' health concerns more

seriously.