Sanders to
address British
[contents]:
Union Calendar
No. 228
Back To:
Primal Scream:
Beyond the Box
Essays: Gulf
War Syndrome
Links:
GulfWeb.org
GulfLink.mil
Pages 33 - 35 of the printed ver-sion are shown at right. A complete copy of this re-port is available from your Con-gressional Rep-resentative, or from:
U.S. Printing
Office
A pdf version is available from the Federal Government at:
Library of
Congress
In December 1990, a month before the war, the Food and Drug Administration [FDA] agreed
to issue a waiver to the DOD allowing the military to issue experimental drugs and vaccines to
U.S. personnel in the Gulf without first obtaining informed consent. A factor possibly
contributing to the illnesses of Gulf veterans was the ingestion of anti-nerve gas pills,
pyridostigmine bromide tablets [PB tabs]. Troops were required to take the experimental drug
to counter the effects of potential exposure to chemical warfare agents.
PB expert Dr. Thomas Tiedt, a neuroscientist and former pharmaceutical industry researcher,
testified before the Human Resources Subcommittee that "evidence shows that Gulf War
Syndrome was easily predicted. The symptoms largely match those of cholinergic syndrome,
which results from inhibition of the life-critical and development-critical enzyme
acetylcholinesterase [AchE]. Pyridostigmine bromide, Sarin, and organophosphate pesticides
are examples of AchE inhibitors . . . [which] cause stunning nerve and muscle degeneration
moments after a single dose, which worsens with multiple doses."130
"My team's research at the University of Maryland during the mid-1970's about
physiological and microscopic AchE toxicity was comprehensive," Dr. Tiedt stated.
"Our work was followed by an explosion of research by DOD during the 1980's, the most
relevant of which was produced by my co-authors and colleagues at Maryland and the [Army's]
chemical-warfare R&D center in Aberdeen [MD]. DOD [research] established by the early
1980's that; 1) PB would be harmful in healthy individuals; 2) PB was worthless, even
counterproductive, as a protectant against chemical warfare; and 3) PB was more toxic than
sub-lethal doses of chemical warfare agents. I understand PB was taken by about 500,000
soldiers . . . [and] it has been reported that 50-60 percent of soldiers taking PB have acute side
effects."131
Dr. Tiedt concluded: "More attention is needed on the long record by the military to
conduct involuntary, meritless, and hazardous experiments on soldiers. The Nuremberg Code
[signed following World War II] states, 'No experiments should be conducted where there is an
a priori reason to believe that death or disabling injury will occur.' The use of PB was
an experiment. It was the first time we used PB for such a purpose. There were no data
supporting its use or the way it was used. Sadly, no records remain or were
kept."132
Researcher and pharmacologist Mohamed Abou-Donia of Duke University has conducted
research on animals using pyridostigmine bromide and other chemicals. Dr. Abou-Donia fed
groups of hens with the anti-nerve agent PB, the insecticide permethrin, and the insect repellant
DEET -- all routinely used by the military in the Gulf war theater. Each chemical was
administered alone and in various combinations.
According to Dr. Abou-Donia: "This study shows that relatively high doses of PB,
DEET, and permethrin [sic] appear to cause minimal health risk when used individually. It
demonstrates, however, the increased neurotoxicity associated with coexposure to the same
doses of test compounds. Although this study was not intended to simulate actual exposure
conditions that may have existed during the Persian Gulf War, nor was it designed as a
dose-response study, from it one can hypothesize why co-exposure to test compounds may have
contributed to Gulf War veterans' illnesses. The variety of symptoms reported by veterans make
it unlikely that a single etiologic cause is responsible for producing the Gulf War
illnesses."133
Dr. Satu Somani, PB expert and professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Southern
Illinois University's School of Medicine, also testified before the Human Resources
Subcommittee on the health effects of pyridostigmine bromide. Dr. Somani stated:
"Years after Desert Storm, many veterans continue to suffer from medical problems
such as fatigue, headache, joint pain, gastrointestinal disorders, and other ailments. This
testimony is based on the premise that Gulf veterans were taking pyridostigmine as a
precautionary measure against potential exposure to nerve agents (e.g., Sarin) and they were
exposed to insecticides ant other harmful chemicals. They were also under physical stress that
modified the effects of such exposure, The toxic, harmful or poisonous nature of nerve agents is
exacerbated by the fact, even if an individual were provided pre- or post-treatment, there is still a
strong potential for such effects to continue because of delayed neurotoxicity [Somani
emphasis]. Further, while acute toxicity can be treated with atropine, oxime and diazepam, no
treatment is available for delayed neurotoxicity."134
"Delayed neurotoxicity, first reported in the 1950's, can occur 5 or 10 years after
exposure to nerve agents. Studies have shown that organophosphate-induced delayed
neurotoxicity [OPIDN] is due to inhibition of neurotoxic esterase enzyme in the nervous system,
and histopathological axonal degeneration. This also produces muscular weakness and ataxia
(difficulty in movement)."135
Dr. Somani concluded: "Based on recent experimental evidence and the similarities of
symptoms of delayed neurotoxicity reported by workers in the organophosphate industry and
also by Desert Storm veterans, the author concludes that GWS may be due to low-level exposure
to Sarin [a chemical warfare agent] exposure, intake of pyridostigmine [bromide], and exposure
to pesticides and other chemicals. The adverse effects of such exposures were amplified by
physical stress conditions."136
Vaccines were also given to Gulf War troops. Anthrax was tested and approved by the FDA
for limited use, and was administered to about 150,000 troops in the Gulf region. Botulinum
toxoid vaccine was approved by the FDA for use with a waiver of informed consent, and about
8,000 troops were given this vaccine. It is also not known if side effects could occur with these
vaccines when combined with PB or other chemicals.137
The PAC report was critical of the FDA and DOD handling of experimental drugs and
vaccines. It stated: "The Committee also found that DOD and FDA deliberated carefully
before enabling, through rulemaking, DOD to require troops to take pyridostigmine bromide
[PB] and botulinum toxoid [BT] vaccine as pretreatments for possible CBW agents without FDA
approval of the products for that purpose. We were concerned that FDA had failed, in the 5
years since the Gulf War, to devise better long-term methods governing military use of drugs and
vaccines for CBW defense. We also found DOD's inability to produce records of who received
PB or BT indicative of much need for wholesale improvement in the governments's performance
on medical recordkeeping during military engagements."138 Pesticides and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity [MCS]
[NOTES]
130. Statement of Thomas Tiedt, Human Resources Subcommittee
hearing, No. 2, p. 301.
131. Ibid., p. 303.
132. Ibid., p. 306.
133. Mohamed Abou-Donia, et al., "Neurotoxicity Resulting from
Co-Exposure to Pyridostigmine
Bromide, DEET, and Premethrin: Implications of Gulf War Chemical Exposures," Journal
of
Toxicology and Environmental Health, 1996, 48:pp. 35-56.
134. Statement of Satu Somani, Human Resources Subcommittee
hearing, No. 2, p. 321.
135. Ibid.
136. Ibid.
137. See supra note 97, p. 5.
138. PAC Report, p. 18.