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AUTISM LINKED TO MERCURY VACCINE MERCURY in vaccines for babies and infants could be the cause of a steep rise in cases of autism in children around the world, according to a growing number of scientists. The increase in reports of autism in Britain, America and some other countries coincides with a growth in the number of inoculations given to young children, say the researchers. Many of the vaccines contain a preservative called thiomersal, which is 49.6% mercury - a substance known to have neurotoxic effects, especially in infants whose brains are still developing. Symptoms are similar to those displayed ...

The first of thousands of motorcyclists from around the country already have fired up their engines and headed to Washington, D.C., to celebrate Memorial Day weekend on the National Mall. As they have for the past 14 years, the riders are linking up enroute with Rolling Thunder, Inc., a group of veterans with equal passion for the POW-MIA issue and Harley-Davidson road machines. This year marks the 26th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, and more than 400,000 people are expected to attend the remembrance ceremonies and festivities May 27 between the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.

The disappointment and frustration in Curt Furberg's voice are almost palpable. A well-respected clinical trials expert, Furberg chairs the largest study ever to compare newer high blood pressure drugs with old standbys. The point of the research, he says, is to improve the public's health by influencing how doctors treat their patients. But, Furberg says, he's learned that scientists are no match for a major pharmaceutical company's marketing machine. Although his landmark study found more than a year ago that patients on one drug, Cardura, were more likely to experience certain serious heart problems than those on another, neither ...

BILOXI, Miss. — The first military doctor to refuse the mandatory anthrax vaccine has requested to resign from the Air Force. The decision came after a military judge ruled that the order to take the shot is lawful. The military judge, Lt. Col. Mark Allred, denied a motion by Buck's attorneys to declare the order to take the shots illegal because the vaccine is experimental. Buck and his defense team wanted a military jury to hear evidence on the vaccine's safety. "I realize that it is pointless to proceed to trial if these facts cannot be presented to a ...

Stars and Stripes Omnimedia is a privately owned news source and is in no way affiliated with the U.S. government.) Lawyers for Air Force Capt. John E. Buck, the first doctor to be court-martialed for refusing the anthrax vaccine, today cracked open a Pandora's Box that government attorneys have labored hard to keep shut. It was the second day of pre-trial hearings at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., where Buck is being court-martialed for disobeying an order to take the anthrax vaccine. A Department of Defense e-mail was one of several documents entered into evidence. "I will work the BioPort ...

Stars and Stripes Omnimedia is a privately owned news source and is in no way affiliated with the U.S. government.) Lawyers for Air Force Capt. John E. Buck, the first doctor to be court-martialed for refusing the anthrax vaccine, today cracked open a Pandora's Box that government attorneys have labored hard to keep shut. It was the second day of pre-trial hearings at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., where Buck is being court-martialed for disobeying an order to take the anthrax vaccine. A Department of Defense e-mail was one of several documents entered into evidence. "I will work the BioPort ...

Two Air Force officers who refused to take the military's anthrax vaccine filed a federal lawsuit May 2 to have the vaccine declared an investigational drug. Former Maj. Sonnie Bates of Dover, Del., was forced to end his 14-year career last year after he refused to take the vaccine. Capt. John Buck, a doctor stationed at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., is facing a court-martial for refusing the vaccine. Their attorney said they and hundreds of others discharged or disciplined for refusing the vaccine could have their records expunged if the lawsuit succeeds. Bates, now a corporate pilot, says he'll ...

Dr. Frank Fisher describes the 1993 incident that he believes led to his retirement from the active military "like something out of `The X-Files.'" It was two years after the Persian Gulf War, and Fisher's unit at Brooks Air Force Base in San Antonio was about to be called on a mission. Medics were busy vaccinating some of the unit's members all in a line, one after the other. Fisher was expecting a typhoid vaccination. But first came a surprise, mysterious shot that Fisher, a lieutenant colonel, could not identify. It was delivered by a junior enlisted medical technician with ...

"We've had 10,700 people inoculated for anthrax in the Air National Guard, with one known refusal documented," said Maj. Gen. Paul Weaver, director of the Air National Guard (ANG) during a September 1999 hearing before a Congressional panel. A group of military officers later charged that Weaver misled the committee and a recent investigation agreed with them--in part. "His [Weaver's] statement lacked the necessary element of 'straightforwardness,' and so was inconsistent with guidelines for honesty as set forth by the Joint Ethics Regulations (JER)," said the Department of Defense (DOD) Office of the Inspector General (IG) in a report ...

Starting on May 5, one Veteran is, once again, going to ride over 200 miles in his wheelchair, from Moorhead to the capital of Minnesota, St. Paul to demand answers about Gulf War Illness. Currently there are 186 thousand vets registered with symptoms of the gulf war illness and thousands have died. Since the Gulf War information has been obtained that proves that there are many unanswered questions and the government is withholding the answers. My name is Kevin R. Shores. I am a Native American that served in the Navy from September 1985 though May 1988. During my enlistment, ...

Washington, May 2 (Bloomberg) -- Two servicemen are suing the U.S. government over the anthrax vaccine, claiming immunization against the world's deadliest biological agent isn't approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. A former Air Force major, Sonnie Bates, and Capt. John Buck, both refused to have the shots, which have been administered 500,000 military personnel, according to the lawsuit. The inoculations are protection against the virus, that the U.S. believes could be produced by North Korea, Iraq and Iran. The government's goal is to inoculate all 2.4 million active and reserve troops by 2006. ``There's never been a ...

Motorcycles Roaring Toward Nation's Capital to Mark Memorial Day The first of thousands of motorcyclists from around the country already have fired up their engines and headed to Washington, D.C., to celebrate Memorial Day weekend on the National Mall. As they have for the past 14 years, the riders are linking up enroute with Rolling Thunder, Inc., a group of veterans with equal passion for the POW-MIA issue and Harley-Davidson road machines. This year marks the 26th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War, and more than 400,000 people are expected to attend the remembrance ceremonies and festivities May ...

Thought maybe someone could help answer this question and perhaps advise.

For millennia, plagues have ripped at the fabric of civilizations and decimated untold populations. The Black Plague, perhaps best known in modern history, may have been a relatively small outbreak when comparing it to even earlier periods of antiquity. Man has always hoped to be able to avoid the ravages of such devastation of human life. With the advent of "modern science" came great promise to minimize or eradicate the effects of such killing and crippling diseases. Polio, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps, rubella and a host of influenzas were now considered plagues of the past. As new vaccines ...

The strange case of a Marine convicted of murder has critics of the Uniform Code of Military Justice calling for a review of a system with a 98 percent conviction rate. "I don’t ask you to believe a word I say. I would prefer that you look at everything in my case as if you were pro-government. Don’t listen to my opinions. Look for yourself and make your decision. Read both sides and weigh it for yourself.” These are the words of a convicted murderer, written in a letter to his mother from his prison cell. It is a ...

The Pentagon may run out of anthrax vaccine by the end of summer, forcing it to suspend the controversial program to inoculate the U.S. armed forces against the disease. Need an anthrax shot? Some 2.3 million U.S. troops ordered to receive the controversial vaccine under the Clinton administration may have to take a number. If they wait too long, those who are midway through the six-shot regimen may have to start all over again. The blame? The Pentagon underestimated how long it would take troubled BioPort Corp., the sole supplier of the vaccine, to get its act together and ...

Washington, D.C.--His Class-A uniform boasting three rows of ribbons, Maj. Jon F. Irelan, an Army Ranger, obviously is a soldier's soldier. "When you're given an order," he told a special committee of the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine April 18, "you suck it up and march on." But the order that Irelan obeyed was a command to take the military's anthrax inoculations--an order, he says, that has literally cost him his manhood. Stationed at a lonely outpost in Saudi Arabia, Irelan was given shot number four in the six-shot regime. Shortly afterward he became ill with fatigue, ...

Washington, D.C.--Each day, boxes of medical records arrive at VA headquarters from regional offices across the nation. Attorneys like Jimmy Pritchard of the National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP) comb through each file for references to diseases linked to exposure to dioxin from Agent Orange. The VA says that about 8,700 veterans and 850 of their children currently receive benefits for dioxin-linked illnesses. But according to the NVLSP, the VA may not have been paying veterans or their widows the full amount owed them under a 1991 ruling by U.S. District Judge Thelton Henderson in San Francisco. Henderson recently ...

Ed.: Dr. John Buck is an Air Force physician who has refused to undergo the Anthrax vaccination program. This is an exclusive introduction for the members of SFTT to better understand why the Doc made his difficult decision. No matter what the outcome will be, he has shown the courage to face a system that doesn’t seem to care what the troops think or endure. My name is John Buck. I am a physician in the USAF in the process of being court martialed for refusing to be inoculated with the Anthrax Vaccine. My trial date is scheduled for ...

Massachusetts Lawmaker To Introduce Bill Banning Anthrax Vaccine Use On State's Military When a frustrated and ailing Capt. Jason Nietupski of the 104th Fighter Wing at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts met recently with state Rep. Mary Rogeness, he hoped she could light a fire under his disability claim for severe reactions to the military's anthrax vaccine. Rogeness not only promised to help, but will introduce legislation April 23 to prohibit "the administration of experimental drugs and vaccines to members of the Massachusetts militia." Rogeness told The Stars and Stripes April 18 that she is canvassing her colleagues ...