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The information on studies and research on
Hepatitis C were sought in response to fears by some veterans that
Hepatitis C could have evolved from Pentagon experiments on servicemen
to find a vaccine for hepatitis during the Vietnam War.
Hepatitis C Origin
Points to Possible Military Link
DOCUMENTS RAISE QUESTIONS ABOUT
VIETNAM ERA EXPERIMENTS
ED WENDT
Copyright 1999 by Forward Times
Documents obtained by Forward Times under the Freedom of Information
Act, for an investigation of the hepatitis C epidemic, reveal that U.S.
servicemen were used to test experimental vaccines while they were in
Basic Combat Training during the Vietnam Era.
Responses to the request by the Department
of Defense indicate that soldiers at major U.S. military training bases
during the late 1960s and 1970s were used to test vaccines for spinal
meningitis and other diseases.
Hepatitis, not Hepatitis C, was a serious medical condition for military
personnel during the Vietnam War. Thousands of servicemen contracted the
disease and the Pentagon was determined to do something about it to
resolve a drain on combat readiness.
Forward Times, under the Freedom of
Information Act, requested the following:
* Any information,
documents, research
reports, and records
pertaining to
experimental and/or
test vaccines
administered to
trainees in Basic
Combat Training at
Fort Leonard Wood,
Missouri in 1970 for
spinal Meningitis
and hepatitis.
* The criteria in
which trainees were
selected for said
vaccines, and
details of any
follow up done by
the Department of
the Army on the
soldiers who
participated in the
vaccinations.
* Any studies and
research on
Hepatitis C
contracted by
soldiers in the
United States Army.
The information on studies and research on
Hepatitis C were sought in response to fears by some veterans that
Hepatitis C could have evolved from Pentagon experiments on servicemen
to find a vaccine for hepatitis during the Vietnam War.
The Department of Defense responded to the
Forward Times request only after intervention by U.S. Representative
Gene Green, D-Houston.
The Pentagon revealed that the Office of the
Surgeon General of the Army established a "hepatitis C registry" during
the early 1990s.
But the Department of Defense, according to
the response, "discontinued the hepatitis C virus diseases registry on
October 21, 1993 after concluding that the "infection rates among Army
personnel were low, about one percent."
According to the response, the Pentagon
concluded "that hepatitis C did not constitute a significant drain on
either personnel or medical resources. The Department of Defense
admitted that "the registry was neither complete nor a truly random
sample."
The response, written by Anne Johnson-Winegar,
stated that the original intent of the registry was to:
-
Maintain a list of individuals who had tested positive for hepatitis
C virus antibodies in orer to evaluate screening tests."
-
Track the natural
progression of
hepatitis C virus
and infection and
disease in soldiers
and other
beneficiaries.
-
Attempt to assess
the impact of
hepatitis C virus
disease on military
personnel and
readiness.
-
Establish a database of infected persons who could be followed over
time."
"Data was collected from May 1990 through
October 1993," said Johnson-Winegar. "Data was collected from medical
treatment facility blood banks and clinical laboratories, from
prevention medicine services, and from the references at WRAIR. The
reporting of patient data by the preventative medicine services was
mandated by OTSG, but compliance varied from post to post. In the
absence of patient data from preventative medical resources, only
hepatitis C virus antibody tests results were known for an individual."
While the Pentagon disbanded the hepatitis C registry for military
personnel in 1993, after concluding that the infection rate was only one
percent, recent studies indicate that military veterans have the highest
hepatitis C rate in the nation.
Statistics by the American Liver Foundation show that 1.8 percent of the
U.S. population is Hepatitis C positive. Twelve to 14 percent of those
infected are veterans.
African-Americans, at 3.2 percent, are the largest infected ethnic
group, followed by Mexican-Americans with 2.1 percent, and 1.5 percent
for whites.
More than four million Americans have
hepatitis C. It is estimated that 300,000 of those who have tested
positive contracted the virus through blood transfusions they received
before 1992.
Government officials are being urged to mobilize health resources to
educate the public on hepatitis C. Houston City Council, among other
agencies, is being targeted to adopt education and outreach programs on
the virus.
The governor of New York recently signed
into law Assembly Bill 86868. The legislation directs the
commissioner of health to develop educational materials on diagnosis,
treatment and prevention of hepatitis C for health care professionals
and persons at high risk.
Hepatitis C warriors are urging other
political subdivisions, including the city of Houston, to adopt similar
measures.
Inquiries reveal that the Houston Health
Department is doing very little to educate the public on hepatitis C.
Veterans’ organizations throughout the nation are mobilizing to combat
hepatitis C and to lobby governmental entities to launch an all-out war
against the disease. Many veteran victims are concerned that Vietnam Era
soldiers, who received blood transfusions for wounds on the frontlines
of the war, may have contacted the virus through contaminated
transfusions and spread the disease upon returning home and becoming
part of society.
Hepatitis C was not identified until 1989.
However, blood samples of American servicemen taken in 1948 were
recently reviewed during a study. Those samples detected the hepatitis C
virus.
California, like New York, is cracking down on hepatitis C. A California
Senate hearing recently revealed that little action has been taken by
the state to stop the spread of the killer virus which is expected to
kill more people than AIDS.
Center for Disease Control statistics
provided to the panel revealed that minority groups are more at risk for
hepatitis C.
CDS statistics show that California ranks
first in the hepatitis C prevalence rate. Texas ranks second, New York
ranks third, and Florida ranks fourth.
Studies prevented to the panel indicated
that if detected early enough, about 40 percent of hepatitis C patients
successfully respond to treatment. However, most infected people are not
aware that they have hepatitis C until irreversible liver damage has
occurred.
The studies concluded that even for those
who do not respond to treatment, it is important that they become aware,
because there are interventions that can significantly slow down the
progression of hepatitis C damage to the liver by abstaining from
drinking alcoholic beverages and making sure they are immunized to
protect from hepatitis A and B.
Information about hepatitis C can be
obtained from
the Texas Liver Institute by calling 713-791-8668.
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