LETTER TO DR. MICHAEL FRIEDMAN, FDA

October 27, 1997

Dear Dr. Friedman:

I read a disturbing article in the recent Army Times. It talked of the Pentagon asking for FDA approval to use certain experimental medications in cases of terrorism here in the U.S. I wanted to let you know my opposition to such approval, as a citizen and a military spouse.

The article did speak of the FDA's apparent disapproval. However, I wanted to speak on behalf of family members and service members who have endured the problems induced by the approval the Pentagon received in 1990 and 1991. My husband almost died when he took "P.B." pills in "theater". He stopped breathing for 4 minutes. It turns out that asthmatic should not be take this medication. And the pills were ordered by a physician, the unit's C.O. (my husband was in a medical unit). I would also add that I was never notified of this incident by the military, and my husband was not sent home or reassigned after this incident.

It is now 1997 and the Pentagon, and Army, still has not fully evaluated my husband for the effects of his service in the Gulf. When he enrolled for the Gulf War Registry, recently, he was asked to take several tests up at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. His supervisor does not consider it to be important, and has stopped him from going to appointments for evaluation. The Army, and the Pentagon by association, does not seem to care for the health of their service members. The Pentagon does not care for the promises it made to the FDA to track the use of experimental medications. All that suffering during the Gulf War and no credible data to show for it.

I am sure you are also aware of concealment the Pentagon and the Armed Services have been involved in about chemical and biological exposure in the Gulf. I do not feel they have proven trustworthy in this particular arena. The Pentagon has failed in what should have been a sacred trust, the lives of service members and their families. Like many family members, I feel betrayed be the Army. I will never know conclusively if the health problems of my husband, my daughter, and me, are due to the exposure to various agents in the Gulf, and the poor decontamination afterwards.

For these reasons, I do not believe that the Pentagon should ever receive the approval to use experimental medication.

Sincerely,

Fort Belvoir, VA

politikal@oocities.com

P.S. A copy of this letter is being sent to the Army Times and posted on my web site at http://www.oocities.org/CapitolHill/Lobby/4161/.