William Broad and Scott Shane have written a very useful NYT piece on the anthrax letters.  It discusses a new academic paper by Martin Hugh-Jones, Stuart Jacobsen and Barbara hatch Rosenberg, which explores the meaning of the tin and silicon found in the anthrax spore preparation of the anthrax letters. A decade after wisps of anthrax…

From the LA Times: The phony campaign was aimed at helping find and kill Osama bin Laden, but the doctor involved now faces treason charges, and real immunization workers say Pakistanis don’t trust them. …Aid teams heading polio vaccination drives reported that more parents were refusing to allow their children to be vaccinated after news…

 From the University of Wyoming: …  “The scientific evidence clearly shows that the (anthrax) wasn’t produced in our laboratory (USAMRIID),” the two UW professors say. “The FBI based part of its case on unusual activity that took place in our lab for one week. There is no way he could produce that amount of spores…

Let’s do a back-of-the-envelope risk-benefit calculation on swine flu vaccine: In 2009-10, 44 Finns of all ages died of swine flu.  [With 5.3 million Finns, this is one death per 120,000 people of all ages.] About half the population of Finland received Pandemrix.  Had the vaccine been given before the pandemic struck (a near impossibility)…

From Agence France Presse: HELSINKI — The Finnish government and major insurance companies announced Wednesday they will pay for lifetime medical care for children diagnosed with narcolepsy after receiving the swine flu vaccine. “The compensation will provide much-needed financial assistance for the families, although it cannot take away the emotional distress caused by this condition,” Social…

From the Courant: October 5, 2011 After the World Trade Center was destroyed 10 years ago, death arrived once again — in the mail. Anthrax, a terrifying and deadly bacterium that multiplies rapidly when inhaled, began to appear in letters sent to a variety of places. Among these were the New York Post, the offices…

Read it an weep; each American is paying $4.00 for their share of this stockpile of poison. press release Oct. 3, 2011, 7:00 a.m. EDT Emergent Biosolutions Receives Award to Supply 44.75 Million Doses of BioThrax to US Government Over Five Years ROCKVILLE, Md., Oct 03, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Emergent BioSolutions Inc. /quotes/zigman/429174/quotes/nls/ebs EBS…

There is so much written that is dead wrong about this year’s flu vaccine,  another post is needed.  Here are some facts: 1.  This year’s flu vaccine is the same as last year’s vaccine.  If you are healthy and got the vaccine last year, you probably still have antibodies against all 3 strains. 2.  The…

From the BBC:  Link between narcolepsy and flu vaccine investigated  Health officials are investigating a link between narcolepsy and the Pandemrix vaccine in two people who were treated for swine flu. Northern Ireland’s Chief Medical Officer has confirmed to the BBC, that Northern Ireland had become the latest country to report suspected cases of the…

for video click here Despite the report below, CSL is one of six flu vaccine manufacturers licensed to sell flu vaccine in the US in 2011.  The CSL vaccine, Afluria, is labelled for use over 5 years old.  However, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practises recommends that Afluria not be used in children aged…

The following article talks about an important finding, which I mentioned back in a 2002 NY Times interview:  the people who developed inhalation anthrax (or cutaneous anthrax that became generalized) were likely to suffer from the identical symptoms as those who became very ill after anthrax vaccinations.  These symptoms have now lingered for ten years…

Sep 1, 2011 (CIDRAP News) – A final report from Finnish health officials on the link between the 2009 H1N1 Pandemrix vaccine and narcolepsy confirmed the link, finding a greater risk than their earlier estimate and identifying a genetic risk factor in all patients. In a statement on the findings today, a task force from…

From Miles Goslett at the Daily Mail: Doctors are preparing to challenge the Government’s decision not to hold an inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly… This month the doctors were given a 33-page legal opinion by Aidan O’Neill QC, a colleague of Cherie Blair at Matrix chambers in London, indicating that Mr Grieve’s…

From the NY Times Editor: A former top official in charge of ensuring that real secrets are kept secret has delivered a stunning repudiation of the Obama administration’s decision to use the Espionage Act against a whistle-blower attempting to expose government waste and abuse. J. William Leonard, who directed the Information Security Oversight Office during…

The following excerpts from today’s NY Times article point to serious failures of data collection, analysis, and commitment to safety at FDA.  The failures follow lax, politically-driven regulations, which allow products to be licensed without data if they are substantially like other licensed products.  There is no good guideline for how alike the products must…

From Reuters and the NY POst: Prosecutors will ask a judge to dismiss all charges in the [criminal] sexual assault case against former IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn at a court hearing on Tuesday, the New York Post reported on Sunday, citing unnamed sources.   The Manhattan district attorney’s office will file a motion recommending the…

From McNeill and Adelstein at The Independent: It is one of the mysteries of Japan’s ongoing nuclear crisis: How much damage did the 11 March earthquake inflict on the Fukushima Daiichi reactors before the tsunami hit? The stakes are high: if the earthquake structurally compromised the plant and the safety of its nuclear fuel, then…

Well-known arms control/disarmament/nonproliferation expert Jonathan Tucker died last week at 56.  Paul Walker, who follows a similar career trajectory, as arms control advocate and expert, wrote about Tucker’s life and accomplishments.  Regarding Tucker’s views on the anthrax letters case, Paul wrote the following: His intellectual and academic vigor, together with his journalistic instincts, were also…

Someone got inhalation anthrax along the old west cattle trail.  This is where cattle in decades past were herded, and sometimes died of anthrax.  When that happened, the spores entered the soil and even today emerge periodically, during extreme weather conditions, to reinfect cattle. Only problem is, they do not reinfect humans.  The spores only…

Extraneous materials in vaccines is an old story.  Many have been shown to contain unwanted viruses or even bacteria such as mycoplasma.  (I used to have the abstracts posted on my website showing examples.)  Anthrax vaccines had flecks of stopper material and fungi in them, noted on visual inspections by FDA in the late 1990s. …

From the Kansas City Star, a McClatchy paper, Frontline and ProPublica authors: A federal judge has blocked, at least temporarily, a Justice Department attempt to back away from court admissions that appeared to undercut previous FBI assertions that an Army researcher was responsible for the 2001 anthrax attacks. In an order issued Monday, U.S. District…

Thanks to Ed Silverman at Pharmalot for posting on this issue, and for his links. I’ve blogged in the past here and here about how Merck created a complex scheme to market Gardasil vaccine through mandates from state legislatures.  It seemed this was not working, as only one state and the District of Columbia passed such mandates.  After…

According to the European Medicines Agency press release: The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) considered that the epidemiological studies relating to Pandemrix in Finland and Sweden were well designed and the results show an association between Pandemrix vaccination and narcolepsy in children and adolescents in those countries. The results indicate a six- to…

After seriously undercutting the FBI claims about Bruce Ivins’ guilt 5 days ago, the DOJ revised its filing yesterday in the case brought by Bob Stevens’ wife against the government. Marcy Wheeler provides great details and links to the filing and other useful documents.  Scott Shane gives us the usual FBI response when challenged:  “We…

From Mike Wiser, Greg Gordon and Stephen Engelberg come the following story: Justice Department lawyers filed a brief on July 15 that said Bruce Ivins did not have access to equipment in the Fort Detrick hot suites that would have enabled him to make the dried anthrax found in letters to two Senators.  … the…

Marcia Angell completes her tour de force analysis of the underpinnings of psychiatry and its medications in the second part of her article, “The Illusions of Psychiatry” in the NY Review of Books.

From Matt Appuzzo at the AP, published in the Washington Post, comes this amusing piece: WASHINGTON — In his 2009 speech to the Muslim world, President Barack Obama announced a new effort to eradicate polio, which persists in three Muslim countries. One of the biggest hurdles had been persuading some local leaders that vaccination campaigns…

Although the DHHS recently field-tested an informed consent document for parents (whose children were sought for an anthrax vaccine clinical trial in the Washington, DC public schools) it was reported that so far there were no takers.  This information was stated at a public meeting held July 7 by DHHS to discuss the ethics and…

Today, one Irish website (Irish Medical Times) rejoiced that a study just out in the BMJ showed Pandemrix swine flu vaccine, containing a novel GSK (GlaxoSmithKline) adjuvant, did not cause Guillain-Barre syndrome, a life-threatening form of temporary paralysis from which over 90% survive and make partial to full recoveries.  No mention is made in the article of…

I hate to say “I told you so” but here it is, from the NY Times.  Now one may ask, why was DSK presumed guilty and treated abominably at the onset of the case?  Still think this was not a political frame-up in which the USG was a major participant?  From today’s NYT: The sexual…

Finally, members of my profession are fighting back against corrupt doctors and the companies who pay lavishly for their undeserved testimonials.  Respected university bigwigs are just as susceptible as anyone else to 10 or 20 million dollar payoffs:  and they may feel they have no conflict of interest as a result and their work is…

This June 23, 2011 article by Marcia Angell, a former NEJM editor and a Harvard professor of medicine, is a must-read.  Actually, this article is only Part 1, and the second half will come out in two weeks.  Angell reviews 3 books on psychiatry, and asks all the right questions: Why are half of American…

From the Guardian, an article provides new information on how Tony Blair’s administration lied to make the case for war in Iraq. What do you call this crime?  Is it treasonous to start a war under false pretenses, costing your country hundreds of lives and billions of dollars?  And what was it for, anyway? The…

Dr. Annette Hanson penned the following piece on the ethically impaired “Expert Behavioral Analysis Panel” paid for by FBI: In March, a panel chaired by Dr. Gregory Saathoff, commonly known as the expert behavioral analysis panel (EBAP), released a report containing a summary and analysis of the investigation of Dr. Bruce Ivins, the suspected anthrax…

From the Sydney Morning Herald comes this piece that says our FDA found CSL’s “investigation” of why so many children had seizures post-vaccination to be entirely inadequate.  If you don’t find the problem then you don’t have to make any expensive changes to your manufacturing facility.  And you are not liable for willful misconduct, which…

In order to meet the requirements of 45 CFR 46.407, a federal advisory panel must review the proposed pediatric research, agree that it will provide important generalizable knowledge, and that children participating in the research will be protected from taking dangerous risks.  DHHS has convened the necessary panel, which will meet to discuss details of…

Most detailed look yet at the flawed decision-making and terrible information sharing between TEPCO, government bureaucrats, political leaders and outsiders during Japan’s nuclear crisis by the NY Times: Reuters The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, damaged by a tsunami on March 11, became the site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, as workers successfully warded…

More on America’s widening surveillance state from the NY Times: The Federal Bureau of Investigation is giving significant new powers to its roughly 14,000 agents, allowing them more leeway to search databases, go through household trash or use surveillance teams to scrutinize the lives of people who have attracted their attention. Valerie E. Caproni, the…

After David Cameron recently said a full inquest into David Kelly’s death was unnecessary, it was no surprise that his Attorney General soon afterward echoed his statement.  Excerpts from the BBC: On the day Dr Kelly’s body was discovered, then Prime Minister Tony Blair asked Lord Hutton to conduct an urgent investigation into the circumstances…

 Mines, like this one in  Badahkshan, could lift Afghanistan out of poverty (NPR) From National Public Radio, information on how the Pentagon is working to develop business opportunities in Afghanistan for US corporations: There’s close to a $1 trillion waiting to be unearthed beneath the rocky soil of Afghanistan. The massive deposits of iron, copper,…

See here for a detailed discussion of the expanding anthrax vaccine stockpile, vaccine maker Emergent Biosolutions, and the illegality of shooting up children with an anthrax vaccine potion that is too dangerous for adults. *

From the Washington Post: “After a weeklong meeting on the type of electromagnetic radiation found in cellphones, microwaves and radar, the expert panel said there was limited evidence cellphone use was linked to two types of brain tumors and inadequate evidence to draw conclusions for other cancers.” This whole issue is totally gummed up by…

From the BBC: Germany’s coalition government has announced a reversal of policy that will see all the country’s nuclear power plants phased out by 2022. The decision makes Germany the biggest industrial power to announce plans to give up nuclear energy. Environment Minister Norbert Rottgen made the announcement following late-night talks. Chancellor Angela Merkel set…

In a lead-up to the release of his book in June, David Willman writes about Bruce Ivins’ eccentricities and threats of violence.  The problem is, the story fails to make clear who Willman’s sources are.  How does Willman know Ivins carried a gun on campus?  How does Willman know Psychiatrist David Irwin said Ivins was…

<iframe id=”4dd4d242ee0fe” name=”4dd4d242ee0fe” src=”http://d.thelocal.com/w/1.0/afr?auid=19633&cb=1478387141″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no” width=”468″ height=”90″><a href=”http://d.thelocal.com/w/1.0/rc?cs=4dd4d242ee0fe&cb=1478387141″ ><img src=”http://d.thelocal.com/w/1.0/ai?auid=19633&cs=4dd4d242ee0fe&cb=1478387141″ border=”0″ alt=””></a></iframe> From Sweden’s English language online paper, The Local: Ninety-three people in Sweden, most of them children, have been diagnosed with narcolepsy since taking the swine flu vaccine Pandemrix last winter, according to figures from the Swedish Medical Products Agency (Läkemedelsverket). In 88…

The US government, according to the anthrax vaccine maker, has promised to spend a billion more bucks on a vaccine that makes 1-2% of recipients seriously ill, and that expires after 3-4 years.  44 million new doses are being ordered.  Every American is kicking in about 6 dollars for this scary product that probably no…

Most Americans who got flu vaccine last year don’t need it again.  But CDC and manufacturers are confident of their maarketing prowess, and manufacturers are making 170 million doses for the US market.  Go figure.  From the Associated Press: ATLANTA (AP) — Vaccine makers said this month they plan to make a record amount of…

Another story by Greg Gordon explores the false/misleading answer the FBI provided Rep. Nadler, a House Judiciary subcommittee chairman, when he asked about the silicon content of the anthrax letters in September 2008.  It took 7 months to get the wrong answer. Nadler was told the Leahy letter contained 1.4% silicon (felt to be “naturally”…

David Kelly’s dental records went missing for several days, then reappeared, according to his dentist.  It now turns out there were several sets of unidentified fingerprints on Kelly’s dental file. This is not what the Hutton Inquiry was told years ago, when it was assured there were no extraneous prints on the file. Although borrowed…

Who is the person in the Obama administration who has been most firmly pro-consumer and staunchly in favor of strict banking regulations?  Elizabeth Warren, a Harvard Law School professor/consumer economist. Professor Warren is trying to clean up the marketplace so consumers will understand what it is they are buying.  She has acknowledged that when reading…

McClatchy’s Greg Gordon has written another excellent piece on the anthrax letters. The focus this time is on the silicon and tin added to the spore prep, and how the FBI resolutely failed to investigate them as a means of solving the case: The existence of the silicon-tin chemical signature offered investigators the possibility of…

From the NY Times‘ editorial page: The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ordered an overhaul of mental health care for veterans, who are killing themselves by the thousands each year because of what the court called the “unchecked incompetence” of the Department of Veterans Affairs. … delays in treating post-traumatic stress…

UPDATE:  Dominique Strauss-Kahn is “not in a position to run” the International Monetary Fund after his arrest over an alleged sexual assault, US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said.  May we remind Mr. Geithner that he was guilty of tax evasion, yet he runs the US Treasury, responsible for collecting taxes.  What was good for…

Partial meltdowns of three reactors and breaches of the containment vehicles are finally acknowledged by TEPCO on May 15.  From the WSJ: Substantial damage to the fuel cores at two additional reactors of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex has taken place, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday, further complicating the already daunting task of…

I attended the European Bioelectromagnetics meeting in Helsinki in September 2001, and discovered then that there were dueling bodies of evidence regarding whether electromagnetic fields from cell phones or other sources caused adverse health effects.  Things have not changed a lot since then, although the body of research has considerably expanded.  Because the research paid…

UPDATE:  I was reminded that a fellow named Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor (formerly of Blackwater/Xe) shot two Pakistanis on motorcyces to death in February.  President Obama claimed he was “our diplomat”and insisted Pakistan grant him immunity under the Vienna Convention on diplomatic immunity of 1961.  Davis had a car full of weapons, disguises and…

While the world waits for UK Attorney General Dominic Grieve to decide whether to hold an inquest into Dr. Kelly’s death, accruing information makes the suicide theory less and less tenable.  A helicopter, hired by Thames Valley police, landed at the scene 90 minutes after Kelly’s body was discovered, stayed 5 minutes, then left.  Another…

Take the Flu App Challenge! “Applications and technology make it easier to communicate critical information about the flu and its impact. We’re looking for an innovative use of technology to raise awareness of influenza and/or educate consumers on ways to prevent and treat the flu.” Software innovators, you have until May 27 to submit your…

The 2010-11 flu season is now over.  Where do we stand in terms of vaccination and deaths from flu? The influenza vaccine is said to have been a good match to the majority of strains that circulated during this flu season. One hundred two (102) pediatric deaths were reported to CDC from the entire US for the flu…

From the journal Health Affairs, the entire May issue focuses on the health effects of exposures to toxic chemicals in the environment.  From the Health Affairs blog: With growing evidence of the link between exposure to toxic chemicals and chronic diseases, especially in children, the United States needs to step up its efforts to protect…

Today a press conference was held to announce publication of a study of Vaccine Injury Compensation Program decisions– 83 were made in favor of children who developed autism after vaccination.  The peer-reviewed study by Mary Holland, Research Scholar and Director of the Graduate Legal Skills Program, NYU School of Law; Louis Conte, Robert Krakow, and…

Curious timing of anthrax letters arriving at DC schools.  Might they have been sent in support of the child vaccine trial?  From IBT: Nearly 30 schools in Washington DC have received envelopes containing a mysterious white powder and with ‘AL AQEDA-FBI’ written on them, the Federal Bureau of Investigation said on Thursday. Preliminary testing has…

Yesterday it was announced that the government would be purchasing 3.42 million doses of anthrax vaccine to add to the civilian anthrax vaccine stockpile.  This is on top of the military stockpile, and comes out of DHHS funds.  The purchase adds up to $101 million to the total contract for DHHS’ anthrax stockpile, now worth…

There was a lot of interest in my discussion of the benefit of knowing the ingredients in vaccines.  There was further interest in what these ingredients are.  I have therefore annotated a CDC-derived ingredient list for vaccines by highlighting those ingredients derived from animals or humans, and circling in red those ingredients obtained from a…

Appreciate the Washington Post giving us real numbers to improve our grasp of the deficit as we grapple with how to lower it (and in the near term, simply lower its growth rate). The nation’s unnerving descent into debt began a decade ago with a choice, not a crisis. In January 2001, with the budget…

Bob Stevens’ family’s attorney has filed papers disputing the role of Bruce Ivins (in a much delayed lawsuit against the federal government), regarding the wrongful death of Bob Stevens, a photo editor at the National Enquirer who died after exposure to an anthrax letter in 2001.  From the Palm Beach Post: Maureen Stevens’ attorneys originally…

From the Australian: THE drug regulator has told GPs to stop giving patients a second dose of a vaccine that protects against pneumococcal disease, after more than 80 Australians suffered severe reactions, including severe swelling and abcesses. The Therapeutic Goods Administration said it was investigating what could have caused 178 reports of reactions to the…

Half of combat veterans from Afghanistan and Iraq have filed for benefits since 2001.  From the Washington Post: The caseload at the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims has doubled in recent years, with the court deciding more than 600 cases per judge each year — far more than other federal appellate courts…. By…

This long piece meanders from the H1N1 pandemic and the billions spent to save us from a flu much less malign than usual, to the marketing of Tamiflu (a dangerous drug for influenza whose efficacy may be zero) to the problems with industry control of research on all drugs in our pharmacopeiea.  The points may…

Greg Gordon may not be as well-known as some investigative journalists, but he is one of the best in the business.  Greg has penned an incredible series on Goldman Sachs, detailing how the company bet against investment vehicles they had designed (to fail), for which he was a finalist for a Pulitzer last year.  [See…

From Reuters today: European regulators have recommended changes to the product label for GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK.L) pandemic flu vaccine Pandemrix to highlight the potential risk of narcolepsy in children or adolescents.  The decision is based on preliminary results of studies from Finland, Sweden and France suggesting a possible link between the vaccine and the rare sleeping…

UPDATE:  Both LD 941 and LD 694 made it out of committee and will be voted on by the entire legislature.–Meryl Meryl Nass, MD Mount Desert Island Hospital Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 April 9, 2011 Dear HHS Committee Member (Maine Legislature): I am writing with regard to LD 941 and the subject of mandatory vaccinations….

UPDATE:  Here is a list of vaccine ingredients posted by CDC.  I have annotated the list with yellow highlights for animal-derived materials, and annotated in red MRC-5 DNA and protein.  MRC-5 is a human fetal cell line derived from lung tissue. — Meryl Meryl Nass, MD Mount Desert Island Hospital Bar Harbor, Maine 04609 April…

In early January, Ireland’s Health Service Executive advised doctors to use the Pandemrix (GSK) brand of swine flu vaccine only in the event they ran out of seasonal flu vaccine.  This is the brand linked to narcolepsy cases. Apparently that warning was not sufficient.  On April 3 Ireland’s Health Service informed doctors that they would…

Still no news about narcolepsy or any other specific adverse effects from the US and Canada, who used the most  swine flu vaccines in 2009 and 2010.  So much for claims that the US put into effect special monitoring programs for this vaccine! Ireland is finding increased narcolepsy cases in the vaccinated 4-19 age group…

Noah Schactman has an extremely detailed, useful piece on the anthrax mailings in Wired.  Noah did his homework.  The 72 comments are also interesting. UPDATE:  Podcast with Noah here.  Extracts of the magazine story follow: In February 2003, anthrax became part of the rationale for invading Iraq. Colin Powell went to the United Nations Security…

From the BBC: A group of doctors campaigning for a full inquest for Dr David Kelly have appealed to Prime Minister David Cameron to intervene on their behalf… And, addressing the prime minister directly, they caution: “If an inquest is denied, despite all the evidence carefully provided to the attorney general, there is a real…

A group of psychiatrists [UPDATE:  See Dr. Jeffrey Kaye’s analysis of the panel composition] offered their forensic expertise in solving the anthrax criminal investigation, by using their insight into the criminal mind.  Somehow DC Judge Royce E. Lamberth blessed them, and FBI paid the $38,000  bill.  The group only had one suspect, whose confidential medical…

From San Diego’s station KPBS: SAN DIEGO — A KPBS investigation has found that nearly two out of three people diagnosed with whooping cough in San Diego County this year were fully immunized. California is in the midst of the worst whooping cough epidemic in 50 years. The numbers raise questions about how well the…

The “Review Committee on the Functioning of the International Health Regulations (2005) and on Pandemic Influenza A (H1N1) 2009”  was charged with assessing the usefulness of existing International Health Regulations in light of the H1N1 swine flu pandemic, improving preparedness, and evaluating WHO’s response to the swine flu pandemic.  Thus much of its draft report…

Data suggest that children may have been hospitalized for post-swine flu vaccination seizures at a rate 2-6 times greater than their rate of hospitalization for swine flu disease.  Data are lacking on other post-vaccination side effects that might also occur.  I suggest you read this short BMJ piece by authors Peter Collignan, Peter Doshi and…

Professor David Salisbury, the Director of Immunisation for the UK Department of Health, wrote to colleagues/stakeholders on March 16 suggesting that routine pneumococcal immunisation in the over-65 age group be ended, and asking for their views before making a final decision on the program.  Ending routine vaccinations in the elderly is the recommendation of the…

UPDATE:  I just learned that in 2008 GSK obtained European regulatory approval to market a so-called “Prepandemic” Vaccine for H5N1 avian flu.  This virus is not circulating in humans.  The theory behind the vaccine is that if a bird flu virus emerged to cause a pandemic, the GSK vaccine is likely to be somewhat similar to it,…

An excellent piece was published by Agence France Presse.  The article below is by MARIA CHENG, The Associated Press-Washington Post, March 10, 2011: LONDON — An expert panel commissioned by the World Health Organization to investigate its handling of the swine flu pandemic has slammed mistakes made by the U.N. body and warned tens of…

UPDATE:  Australia has banned 4 flu vaccines and approved 2 for children under age ten, on March 11, 2011.  The 2011 flu vaccine in Australia has identical antigens as last year.  According to The Australian, up to 1 in 100 children under five vaccinated with the CSL vaccine last year suffered a seizure, more than the ninefold…

David Relman, vice chair of the National Academy of Science committee that reported on the FBI’s anthrax letters research last week, did some clearer speaking (compared to the committee report and his statements at the NAS press conference on 2/15) about the committee’s findings for a press release from Stanford University, where he is a…

WHO Statement on Narcolepsy and Vaccination 8 February 2011 Since August 2010, following widespread use of vaccines against influenza (H1N1) 2009, cases of narcolepsy, especially in children and adolescents, have been reported from at least 12 countries. Narcolepsy is a rare sleep disorder that causes a person to fall asleep suddenly and unexpectedly. The rates…

Steve Nissen et al. hit another homer; the authors examine why bad medical devices (those eventually recalled) were initially approved by FDA, and learn it was due to skirting the standard review process.  Does abbreviated review of products benefit the public in any way?  Shouldn’t this abbreviated approval process be eliminated for all but emergency…

Today the Washington Post called for an independent commission on the anthrax letters: RESOLUTION OF THE 2001 anthrax attacks continues to prove elusive. The Justice Department and the FBI identified Maryland scientist Bruce E. Ivins as having single-handedly carried out the attacks that killed five people and seriously sickened 17 others. The department was on…

Professor Paul Keim, an anthrax genetics expert at Northern Arizona University and FBI contractor, is claiming the NAS report supports the FBI’s case.  It doesn’t.  Please review the report and judge for yourself. The NAS report has many confusing aspects.  But it basically says: The FBI totally screwed up its data collection of anthrax samples,…

1.  The FBI’s anthrax letters investigation:  points to consider November 30, 2010   2.  My summary of unresolved issues in the anthrax letters case March 7, 2010   3.  Jean Duley emerges from undisclosed location after 18 months to bolster FBI’s case against Ivins March 6, 2010   4.  The FBI’s Anthrax Case/ NYT February…

Glenn Greenwald (Salon) talks about the origins of this story.  He covers the media response to the FBI’s case in 2008, when calls for an independent investigation came from … the editorial pages of The Washington Post, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal).  Mainstream scientific sources were equally skeptical; Nature called for an independent investigation and…

From today’s Washington Post: FBI continues to claim Ivins misled them with his original anthrax sample, although NAS pointed out that the instructions for sample collection were ambiguous, and FBI failed to collect needed information about the specific procedures used by those submitting samples. FBI claims it had to meet a stiffer standard than The…

From the LA Times: … Rep. Rush D. Holt, a Democrat from New Jersey, the site of the postal box where the letters were mailed, reintroduced legislation Tuesday to establish an 11-member commission to study the anthrax attacks. “There are still questions to be answered and still lessons to be learned,” Holt said. “It would…

There is no getting away from the NAS report conclusions, as reported worldwide:  the science does not support FBI’s claims that Ivins was the anthrax perpetrator. See articles from the AFP, NPR, AP, Science, and a later WP article. The FBI responded that their case was based on a totality of the evidence, not just…

From Jerry Markon at the Washington Post: A panel of prominent scientists is casting new doubt on scientific evidence that was a key part of the FBI’s case against Bruce E. Ivins, the deceased Army scientist accused of carrying out the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks. The National Research Council, in a report issued Tuesday, questioned…

WHO noted that narcolepsy has never before been associated with vaccines.  When there is no prior association, odd diseases occuring in temporal relationship to vaccination are generally felt to be coincidental.  Therefore, they are not generally reported to voluntary reporting systems, like the US’ VAERS.  No data get collected, and it remains unknown whether vaccination…