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On Sunday February 6, the TV
show 60 Minutes will be airing a piece on this topic.
The Pentagon has ordered Anthrax shots to guard
against biological warfare. Air Force Maj. Sonnie Bates who is stationed
at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, was summoned before his commanding
officer last week and told he is the first U.S. military officer facing
court-martial for refusing a vaccine designed to protect against the deadly
biological warfare agent anthrax. Bates says he "never thought I'd be
singled out for not following an order." Bates refused the shot because
many of his comrades got sick after being vaccinated.
"It wasn't a difficult decision at all because I
feel like I have a higher order to follow," he explains, "and that is
to stand up against things that are wrong." According to Col. Harvey Crowder,
the chief of preventive medicine with the USAF Surgeon General's Office,
"I think that good order and discipline is the key for military units
to operate effectively. As a former commander, I continue to believe that
this is a safe vaccine that's lawfully ordered to be given to protect
someone against a fatal disease."
But there are problems at Dover. Medical records
obtained by CBS News show more than 100 service members reported the vaccine
made them ill. Some pilots became so sick they were grounded. Others developed
possible long-term health conditions. Bates says a minimum of 15 people
in his squadron are sick, with unusual symptoms similar to those associated
with Gulf War Syndrome. What's more, he says, "A lot of the doctors are
telling them it's psychological -- put them on Prozac or tell them they're
malingerers." "And I have reports," Bates adds, "that people themselves
-- firsthand knowledge -- have come to me and said 'Major, the doctor
told me if I talk about anthrax that I'll be facing a medical discharge.'"
The only plant in the country licensed to produce
the vaccine remains shut down due to quality concerns. The FDA re-inspected
the plant in November and found many violations still uncorrected. The
Pentagon insists the vaccine is safe -- but Bates isn't buying it. He
thinks, "There's a difference between being willing to give your life
and sacrificing your health over a mismanaged government contract." If
convicted, Bates faces up to five years in prison. Given the venue he's
prepared for a conviction, but hopes to one day bring his case to a civilian
court. "And they'll hopefully come to reason that service members do have
rights," he says. "That we shouldn't be expected to take questionable
drugs into our own bodies without informed consent."
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