Experimental Vaccines Can Be Administered to Military
Without Consent
January 4, 2000
On September 30, 1999 President Clinton signed an
executive order [Executive Order 13139] giving any president of the United States
the authority to waive informed consent for military
personnel regarding experimental vaccines, antidotes,
and treatments.
The order reads: "It is the expectation that the United
States Government will administer products approved
for their intended use by the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA). However, in the event that the Secretary [of
Defense] considers a product to represent the most appropriate
countermeasure for diseases endemic to the area of operations
or to protect against possible chemical, biological,
or radiological weapons, but the product has not yet
been approved by the FDA for its intended use, the product
may, under certain circumstances and strict controls,
be administered to provide potential protection for
the health and well-being of deployed military personnel
in order to ensure the success of the military operation."
Under what circumstances will a president be able
use this new power? The order continues: ". . . [T]he
President may waive the informed consent requirement
for the administration of an investigational drug to
a member of the Armed Forces in connection with the
member's participation in a particular military operation,
upon a written determination by the President that obtaining
consent:
(1) is not feasible;
(2) is contrary to the best interest of the member;
or
(3) is not in the interest of national security."
Who is going to inform the nation's Armed Forces personnel
about this new order? Will volunteers who don't want
to serve as experimental subjects be given the opportunity
to resign? Will new recruits be informed through written
contracts about this new military "duty"? These are
serious questions that our national leaders and media
should be addressing.
Not informing citizens of their involvement in experimental
medical studies is an infringement of their human rights.
[A copy of the September 30, 1999 Presidential Executive Order
is posted here.]
This article was originally published in the November/December
1999 issue of Health
Freedom Watch.
Page updated November 4, 2009. |
