On The Front Lines
DOD Agrees to Settle Lawsuit Over Air Force Sgt. Punished for Speaking Out About Effects of Tainted Anthrax Vaccine on Military Personnel
WILMINGTON, Del. - The U.S. Air Force has agreed to settle a First Amendment lawsuit filed in 2004 by Rutherford Institute attorneys on behalf of SSgt. Jason A. Adkins, who accused the Air Force of retaliating against him after he voiced concerns about a tainted anthrax vaccine he and other Air Force personnel were required to take. In the settlement agreement, the Department of Defense agreed to restore Adkins' unblemished 15-year record of distinguished service in the Air Force and will deem "to be of no effect" a Letter of Reprimand issued after Adkins challenged the vaccination program. Adkins was represented during the three-year legal battle by Rutherford affiliate attorneys Thomas S. Neuberger and Stephen J. Neuberger of the Neuberger Firm Adkins.
The settlement comes after Institute attorneys successfully thwarted attempts by the U.S. government to dismiss Adkins' claims. In 2005, the U.S. District Court in Delaware denied a motion to dismiss the free speech retaliation lawsuit, which named Adkins' supervisors in the Air Force, the Secretary of the Air Force, the Secretary of Defense and others.
"This case reaffirms that the military is not above the law in our system of government and that military personnel do have basic constitutional rights," stated John W. Whitehead, president of The Rutherford Institute.
All U.S. troops deployed overseas are required by the military to take a series of six or more anthrax vaccinations. SSgt. Jason Adkins, a C-5 aircraft flight engineer and a decorated airman who served on the first C-5 aircraft flown into Baghdad in the Iraq War and other numerous classified special operations missions, received eight inoculations. However, testing by the Food and Drug Administration discovered squalene in numerous batches of the inoculations administered to Dover Air Force Base personnel. Research indicates that even trace amounts of squalene can stimulate the immune system, causing arthritis, neurological problems, memory loss and incapacitating migraine headaches.
In keeping with flight safety protocol, on Oct. 21, 2004, SSgt. Adkins reported to the Dover Air Force Base flight surgeon with a "crippling" headache and was subsequently grounded from a scheduled flight mission. Since his first day in the Air Force, Sgt. Adkins has been trained in one basic sacred safety principle-that flight officers with unsafe medical conditions are not to fly. Even during a flight, if crew members become ill or overly tired, they are encouraged to declare 'safety of flight,' at which point they are relieved of their duties, no questions asked, and always without any fear of discipline or repercussions. However, shortly after reporting to the flight surgeon, Sgt. Adkins was given a career-ending written reprimand and accused of dereliction of duty and faking his medical condition, allegedly in retaliation for having voiced his concerns that he might be suffering effects of the experimental anthrax vaccine. Other military personnel have since echoed Sgt. Adkins' concerns about the effects of the tainted vaccine. Institute attorneys filed suit in federal district court in 2004 in defense of SSgt. Adkins' First Amendment rights.
