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Stars and Stripes: Anthrax Vaccine: A Doctor’s Oath And A Military Code Collide
Anthrax Vaccine: A Doctor’s Oath And A Military Code Collide
Feb 20, 2001
Dave Eberhart
Stars and Stripes Veterans Affairs Editor
Capt. John Buck, M.D., works the evening emergency room shift
at busy, sprawling Keesler Air Force Base near Biloxi, Miss.
He answers questions with a crisp “Yes, sir” or “No,
sir.” Buck says he wants to serve his country in any climate
or any place, in peace or war. After an hour with him, you have
the impression that, if ordered, he would parachute into downtown
Baghdad at night with his medical kit.
But there’s one thing Buck won’t do, even if ordered:
Allow the U.S.
Air Force to inject him with the anthrax vaccine.
Last October, after being placed on a two-hour alert to ship out
to Bahrain in the Persian Gulf, the doctor was ordered three times
to get the first of six anthrax shots under the Pentagon’s
controversial immunization program. The final order was in writing.
In each case Buck politely refused, citing a stack of solid scientific
reasons why he considered the vaccine unsafe, untested and unnecessary.
Refuses NJP
After Buck refused to accept non-judicial punishment (NJP) from
his commanding general, the Air Force convened an Article 32 pre-trial
investigation. The investigating officer recommended one charge
and one specification of violation of Article 90 of the Uniform
Code of Military Justice (failure to obey a lawful order). He
now faces the crucible of a general court-martial.
Buck insists that any order to a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine
to take the vaccine is unlawful—an order, according to Buck,
that puts the service member at risk with no benefit to health,
safety or combat readiness.
The present anthrax vaccine is not approved by the FDA, and we shouldn’t be injecting our troops with it.
· Dr. Buck
“Antibiotics have been shown to be just as effective,”
Buck told The Stars and Stripes. “And furthermore, such treatment
is safe and approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration.
The present anthrax vaccine is not approved by the FDA, and we
shouldn’t be injecting our troops with it.”
Patients With Symptoms
Buck’s objections to the vaccine are not all gleanings from
his medical journals. On a day-to-day basis in his practice at
Keesler AFB, he says he has seen case after case of harm done
by the controversial vaccine. The medical history is always the
same, he says. A patient would show no symptoms before the shot
series and have serious symptoms afterward, including chronic
and crippling fatigue, thyroid disorders and faulty autoimmune
functioning.
Not long before I was ordered to commence the series, a fellow
officer and friend told me gratuitously: ‘Whatever you do,
don’t take that vaccine,’
· Dr. Buck
“Not long before I was ordered to commence the series, a
fellow officer and friend told me gratuitously: ‘Whatever
you do, don’t take that vaccine,’” Buck said. After
completing the series, Buck said his friend “went from the
top 10 percent of the physically fit to someone who could barely
get out of bed in the morning.”
But why turn down the administrative proceeding and risk a criminal conviction?
“I’m doing this for the men and women in the service,” Buck said without hesitation. “I had no interest in getting embroiled in this. Typically, those who were refusing the vaccine were being punished at NJP and were receiving forfeiture of half their base pay each month—through to the end of their tours.”
Buck said that while accepting NJP would have ended his personal dilemma, it would do nothing to prompt leaders to end the vaccination program.
“There are 30 strains of anthrax out there. We know, for instance, that the Russians have a strain that is totally resistant to our vaccines.”
“It is my responsibility as an officer and as a physician to do what I am doing.”
The Air Force has not set a date for Buck’s court-martial. He has hired a private attorney and is digging in. In the meantime, he continues to practice his specialty of emergency medicine at the hospital—and continues to see what he perceives as the ravages of the vaccine.
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Last revised: March 2004