Andy Thibault

     [Back to Columns & Stories]

Cool Justice
Punished For Saving Lives
By ANDY THIBAULT, Columnist
Law Tribune Newspapers
July 18, 2005

   Two Connecticut National Guard pilots fought a war against the Pentagon and won. They exposed fatal flaws in a controversial anthrax vaccine, saving many lives. Now, this branch of the military they served honorably wants nothing to do with them.

   Majors Thomas Rempfer of Suffield and Russell Dingle of East Hartford were assigned to research a vaccine in 1998 made by BioPort Corp. The two majors found it was not inspected properly. They also reported irregularities including the re-dating of expired vaccines.

   Mission accomplished, one would think.

   Yet, the military would make use of this vaccine mandatory,

   At least six deaths have been linked to the vaccine, along with birth defects. More than 1,000 service members have either refused the vaccine, retired or transferred to avoid taking it. Many have been court-martialed.

   Rempfer and Dingle were vindicated when a federal judge ordered the Pentagon to stop making the vaccine in mandatory in 2004. The judge's ruling reflected facts reported by Rempfer and Dingle in 1999.

   "Our intent," Dingle said in an interview, " was to bring to our commanders' attention the safety issue and the legality of the program. We want to obey legal orders, but no one wants to obey or enforce an illegal order. That was the primary basis on which I refused because I felt it was an illegal order. Through all my subsequent research that was proven to be true. It was not properly licensed. They're asking you to take a drug that's not properly licensed [and] not following informed consent provisions of the Public Health Safety Act."

   So, what happened in 1999?

   Rather than giving them medals, the National Guard forced them to resign. When Rempfer and Dingle requested records surrounding their treatment, the National Guard stonewalled for at least eight months. Then, they give Dingle the wrong records. They gave Rempfer some wrong records while failing to produce all the documents he requested. The state Freedom of Information Commission ultimately fined a judge advocate general and a general for breaking the FOI law.

   The two majors have been trying to get reinstated for five years. In 2000, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal recommended reinstatement. Just this month, Gov. M. Jodi Rell - commander in chief of the Connecticut National Guard - said she didn't have the authority to reinstate the pair.
"I'm confused that she's confused," Dingle said. "The statutes clearly says she's the commander in chief. We were forced to resign our state commissions, not our federal commissions.

   "No one wants to claim responsibility, but they're avoiding the obvious. The issues were crystal clear five years ago and that's why Attorney General Blumenthal made his recommendation the way he did. Nothing has changed."

   Rell and Blumenthal asserted - also this month - that Connecticut has power over Air National Guard warplanes. Control over planes but not personnel? This isn't leadership. This is passing the buck.

   Rempfer and Dingle should be reinstated. Period. End of story.

Back to Top