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/.