The FBI’s Anthrax Case/ NYT

From the February 27 NY Times … More problematic is the investigative work that led the F.B.I. to concludethat only Dr. Ivins, among perhaps 100 scientists who had access to the sameflask, could have sent the letters. The case has always been hobbled by a lack of direct evidence tying Dr. Ivins to the letters….

VA to Reconsider Benefits for Ill Gulf War Vets/ WP

In a hearing today, Feb. 26, VA Secretary Shinseki said he would be reviewing disability claims for Gulf War-related illnesses to be sure they were handled correctly. How this will be done was not specified. New training for personnel re how to evaluate claims is needed. New training and guidelines for doctors treating ill veterans…

Bill for more investigation of ’01 anthrax case passes House

From the Baltimore Sun: A measure requiring further federal investigation into the 2001anthrax attack that killed five people was approved Thursday by the House of Representatives. It was proposed by two skeptics of a recently closed FBI probe that blamed the deadly attacks on Bruce Ivins, a microbiologist at the Army biodefense lab at Fort…

US House Seeks Further Review Of Anthrax Attacks/AP

From WJZ and the Associated Press: WASHINGTON (AP) ― The House of Representatives is seeking further review of the 2001 anthrax mailings that killed five people. House members approved an amendment to an intelligence authorization bill Thursday that would require the government to look for credible evidence of foreign involvement in the attacks that killed…

Kissin Memo: Piecing Together the Anthrax Letters Story

The Frederick News-Post has posted a long memorandum by Attorney Barry Kissin, a resident of Frederick, Maryland on its website. Attorney Kissin has no professional connection to USAMRIID or Dr. Ivins. Yet he has followed the anthrax letters story closely, and has written a cogent and thoroughly documented though controversial paper discussing what various people…

FBI and Sandia were unable to produce an identical spore preparation: so how could they prove Ivins made the spores on Fort Detrick equipment??

Audio and Text from the National Academy of Engineering Anthrax Close-up, Part 2 12/14/2008 The FBI says spores from the anthrax attack letters are genetically linked to spores in a flask controlled by Fort Detrick researcher Bruce Ivins. But high-tech microscopic analysis shows what might be a key difference. Listen Randy Atkins: The chemical element…

No reason to assume the anthrax powder was produced in the week before the letters were sent/ GSN

From Global Security Newswire, including material from the Frederick News-Post: The fact that Ivins kept very late laboratory hours in the days before the letters were mailed is not as unusual as the FBI contends, said former USAMRIID head of bacteriology Gerry Andrews. Ivins was working on multiple projects at the time could have kept…

Additional details emerge to challenge the FBI’s anthrax letter scenario

Today’s NY Times carries an article by Richard Bernstein, “Haste Leaves Anthrax Case Unconcluded.” Edited only slightly for brevity, the article follows: … an article in Aerosol Science and Technology published in March 2008 has acquired considerable significance in light of the announcement by the F.B.I. last week that it would close its nine-year investigation…

Media Called for an Independent Investigation; New FBI report fails to assuage their concerns

Washington Post Editorial, September 19, 2008“Anthrax Suspicions: Why an independent look at the FBI probe is essential” THERE’S NO better proof of the need for an independent review of the FBI’s anthrax investigation than the words of Sen. Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.)… Mr. Leahy rejected the agency’s assertion that government scientist Bruce E. Ivins acted…

Federal Bureau of Invention: CASE CLOSED (and Ivins did it)

But FBI’s report, documents and accompanying information (only pertaining to Ivins, not to the rest of the investigation) were released on Friday afternoon… which means the FBI anticipated doubt and ridicule. And the National Academies of Science (NAS) is several months away from issuing its $879,550 report on the microbial forensics, suggesting a) asking NAS…

England drowning in swine flu vaccine; Poland has none and explains why/ BBC

From Fergus Walsh, BBC Medical correspondent: By my reckoning (and this is an estimate only) around 5.25 million people have been vaccinated in Britain. That means there is an awful lot of vaccine – tens of millions of doses – going spare. I’m told an announcement is likely in around 10 days regarding what will…

Another Attempt to Delay Release of David Kelly’s Autopsy Records/ Daily Mail

In January, the Daily Mail revealed that Lord Hutton ordered David Kelly’s post-mortem records to be barred from public access for 70 years. Hutton then responded that he would make the records available to physicians conducting a public inquiry on the death. Instead, the UK’s Ministry of Justice said the request for information would be…

Large Mumps Outbreak Ongoing in Vaccinated Hasidic Jews

Snippets from Business Week. One solution being used in Orange County is to keep vaccinating with a third dose of the same vaccine, though the MMWR editor notes that no data exist to support this approach. Isn’t the appropriate answer to develop a better vaccine? According to the MMWR, “Among patients aged 7–18 years, the…

CDC paid Harvard School Public Health for Multiple Polls of swine flu vaccine uptake, though it already knew the answer/ CDC

After paying for many polls of how many people got vaccinated, you can see that all were an unnecessary waste of taxpayer dollars by CDC, here–because CDC knew how many vaccines were given on a weekly basis: The National Pandemic Influenza Plan calls for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) agencies, specifically the…

Most Americans Think Swine Flu Pandemic Is Over, a Harvard Poll Finds / NY Times

Looks like the school-based swine flu vaccinations may have been a pilot program that CDC wants to become “routine.” Excerpts from the NYTimes article: Most Americans do not intend to get the swine flu vaccine, assume the pandemic is over and think the flu threat was overblown, according to a poll released Friday by the…

Lancet vs. Wakefield

I love the Lancet. I have my own subscription, and it isn’t cheap. However, the Lancet took a cheap shot last week, when it retracted a paper on autism by Wakefield et al. immediately following a ruling by the UK’s General Medical Counsel. The Lancet has been embroiled in controversy (and repeatedly tried to extract…

Measles vaccine can cause encephalopathy 8-9 days post injection/ DHHS

I was hoping to avoid joining the Andrew Wakefield/Lancet fray, but so many inaccurate statements have been published in the last few days that I had to jump in. There is clearcut evidence for a syndrome of brain injury (and sometimes death) occurring after measles vaccine (and not after rubella or mumps vaccines). Who discovered…

Hard sell: If you go to the doctor for anything the doctor will be offering free swine flu vaccine

From the UK’s Daily Telegraph, excerpts from a story about Australia’s new push to use up its swine flu stockpile. The multidose vaccine vials need to be used within 24 hours of opening. DOCTORS have been told to issue the swine flu vaccine throughout summer in order to deplete the Government’s stockpile before millions of…

Make Adult Vaccinations as Widespread as Those for Children, Say Immunization Advocates (Sponsored by Pharma)/ Medscape

A report claiming “dangerously low” adult levels of vaccinations just came out, sponsored by Trust for America’s Health (TFAH), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA). TFAH focused on “emergency preparedness” and “pandemic preparedness” as the first two subjects covered in its last 2 annual reports (2005 and 2006)…

WHO challenged at public hearing on the handling of the Swine Flu pandemic/ Council of Europe

From the Council of Europe’s website: “Are decisions on pandemics taken on the best scientific evidence only?” was the question asked today at a public hearing of PACE’s Committee on Social, Health and Family Affairs into the handling of the H1N1 pandemic. The World Health Organisation’s flu chief defended his organisation, saying its advice was…

Holy moly, it’s hard getting swine flu vaccine to people who might need it overseas/ NY Times

WHO’s Dr. Fukuda still isn’t making sense, only now he is discussing WHO’s work getting vaccine to poor nations. Swine flu cases began falling rapidly in the US in October. Countries have been trying to give away much of their vaccine stockpile since December. Yet WHO has only managed to get vaccine to two countries….

Vaccination Coercion: We don’t have the data to show it’s valuable, but some would force vaccinations nonetheless

Here’s a big yawn from the Infectious Disease News: Mandatory policy increased influenza vaccine uptake among Health Care Workers. The article claims that the program’s “success” was supported by “consistent communication emphasizing patient safety and quality of care, coordinated campaigns, leadership support and medical director support to talk with any employee with concerns about the…

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