Court rejects second anthrax vaccine lawsuit

[unhappycamper]

Court rejects second anthrax vaccine lawsuit
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Feb 29, 2008 21:40:26 EST

A federal judge has rejected a claim that the anthrax vaccine given to deploying service members is an ineffective defense against airborne anthrax spores, ruling that the Food and Drug Administration did not act “arbitrarily or capriciously” in deciding that it is effective.

The plaintiffs had challenged a 2005 FDA final ruling that the anthrax vaccine is safe and effective against all forms of anthrax, as well as the Pentagon’s decision to reinstate mandatory inoculations in October 2006.

U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer said the FDA made a good-faith decision to approve the vaccine in issuing its final order in December 2005.

The FDA, she said, “considered the relevant data and articulated an explanation establishing a `rational connection between the facts found and the choice made. The court will not substitute its own judgment when the FDA made no clear error of judgment.”

“It’s a setback,” said John J. “Lou” Michels, one of the two attorneys representing the eight active and reserve officers who brought the suit against the FDA, the Department of Health and Human Services and the Pentagon.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/military_anthraxvax_022908w/