"The worst friendly-fire incident in military history was not caused by a bomber pilot's navigational error or a poorly targeted artillery bombardment. It came from something no soldier had any reason to think would harm him: a vaccine administered by the military's own medics. When troops went to the Middle East to fight the Gulf War in 1991 and the Iraq War in 2003, they were immunized with the only FDA-approved anthrax vaccine in existence - or at least they were supposed to be. A number of them, perhaps thousands, received an experimental vaccine instead. Without their knowledge or consent, they were used as human guinea pigs in a massive medical experiment. An experiment that went disastrously wrong - and yet continues today." "In Vaccine A, journalist Gary Matsumoto combines narrative with understanding of the history and science of vaccines to explain just what went wrong, and why. He shows how the Pentagon suddenly, in 1979, became aware that its moribund biodefense program needed to be kicked into high gear; how the military tried to develop an anthrax vaccine of unsurpassed safety and purity; how military scientists gradually learned that their new vaccine, though pure, was also ineffective; and how, to boost its effectiveness, they added an "adjuvant," an oil called squalene, to stimulate the immune system. What they didn't know, but should have known, is that squalene causes autoimmune diseases: chronic and even life-threatening illnesses like lupus, crippling arthritis, and multiple sclerosis. This is the stuff that military doctors secretly injected into Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine personnel."--BOOK JACKET.