Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)This book is frightening if true. The premise, set forth in the introduction and detailed in the book, is that the US government has used experimental vaccines from the Desert Shield / Storm era through today on GI's and other individuals. Author Gary Matsumoto methodically - sometimes excruciatingly so - grinds through facts and builds a circumstantial case supported by nearly 60 pages of endnotes.
Matsumoto was the first writer to publish a connection between the anthrax vaccine and the Gulf War Syndrome, doing so in an article published in Vanity Fair in 1999. His book, Vaccine A, is the spawn of that article.
Matsumoto does not have an evident bias of distrust in the US government or even the military. He acknowledges the need to develop and use a vaccine effective against anthrax. He is even willing to understand the failure to obtain knowing consent from those injected with an unlicensed vaccine due to the exigent nature of the Gulf conflict and the fear of biological agents in the possession of Saddam Hussein - at least initially.
As his investigation progresses, Matsumoto learns that one of the ingredients of Vaccine A (anthrax vaccine) is squalene. This oily substance is an adjuvant that stimulates the immune system. Unfortunately, this oil too closely resembles oils found in the body and as a result, the body's immune system begins to attack itself. This causes a plethora of autoimmune diseases.
Disturbingly, it appears that a wealth of scientific knowledge about the dangers of squalene was available to a thorough researcher prior to the Gulf War. Even more disturbing is the unwillingness of the US military to acknowledge more than ten years later the fact that squalene in Vaccine A caused a large number of "casualties".
Matsumoto asserts that the US has stockpiled 75,000,000 doses of Vaccine A with squalene for future use by the military and civilians. He further assets that the several other vaccines have been or are in the process of being developed with the adjuvant of squalene.
At times, this book is like reading a textbook - it is grueling. However, the acquired knowledge is worth the effort. This book should be read (or at least the introduction) by anybody who has family or friends in the military or is contemplating a career in the military. Apparently, enemy fire and friendly fire are not the only risks of military service.
In the "how I would improve this book" category I suggest photographs of key individuals mentioned in the book. Also, it would be helpful include a complete copy of the insert that accompanies the current anthrax vaccine.
A tough book to read - but five stars all the same.
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Vaccine A: The Covert Government Experiment That's Killing Our Soldiers--And Why GI's Are Only The First VictimsVaccine-A uncovers a story of betrayal -- the betrayal of the men and women who serve in the armed forces, the betrayal of medical ethics, and the betrayal of the American people by military and civilian leaders sworn to defend and protect. Veteran journalist Gary Matsumoto shows that the worst friendly-fire incident in military history came from something no soldier had any reason to think would harm him: a vaccine administered by the military's own medics. When troops went to the Middle East to fight the Gulf War in 1991 and the Iraq War in 2003, many -- perhaps thousands -- received an experimental anthrax vaccine instead of the FDA-approved vaccine. Without their knowledge or consent, the U. S. government used them as human guinea pigs in a massive medical experiment that went disastrously wrong.
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