http://members.tripod.com/tomcolosimo/id21.htm

Mom Pickets Military Over Son's Illness

By Eliza Bussey and Stephen Pincock (Reuters)

Friday August 4 6:02 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters Health) - A Pennsylvania woman picketed the federal
building in Jamestown, New York on Friday to draw attention to what she calls
the military's ``refusal to provide adequate health care'' for her ailing son.

Gloria Graham wants the military to transfer her son, Senior Airman Tom
Colosimo, from Hill Air Force Base in Utah, to an Air Force Base near Walter
Reed Hospital in Bethesda, Maryland to be treated for symptoms she asserts
are ``largely a result of the anthrax vaccine.''

``Can you imagine that a young man with black outs, heart problems, sleep
apnea, and a range of complex disorders--who is unable to drive a car, and
often unable to work--is sitting alone in his apartment without any support
or medical attention?'' she asked.

Graham says doctors diagnosed her son with 'neurogenic orthostatic
hypotension', which causes low blood volume and low blood pressure, resulting
in ``black outs.'' She added that since being returned to Utah in June, his
health has badly deteriorated.

Graham has written more than one hundred letters to Congress-and even to the
President--in an effort to stop the military from giving her son his 5th
anthrax shot.

US Congressman John Peterson intervened, she said, and the military agreed to
put Colosimo's fifth anthrax shot on hold, pending medical investigations.
``So far he (Congressman Peterson) has been the only one who cares,'' Graham
said.

But according to Colonel James L. Laub, 75th Medical Group Commander, ``We
know nothing of Congressman Peterson's involvement in this case. We made the
decision to stop the vaccinations...so we could fully assess what was wrong
and eliminate that as a possibility. It did not put him at risk to stop them
and at the same time it reduced the mental anguish for him and his family.''

``We are working to transfer SRA Colosimo to Walter Reed Medical Center,''
Laub told Reuters Health via email. ``Walter Reed is a multi-disciplinary
center of excellence more capable of handling cases like those of SRA
Colosimo's. So while his care at Hill would be adequate, his care at Walter
Reed would be more optimal, efficient and easier on the patient.''

As to why the transfer has not already happened, the Colonel says that
``there is a lot of coordination that goes into a decision to move somebody
and we want to make sure we do it right.''

In the face of a continued storm of controversy over the military's mandatory
anthrax vaccination policy, implemented two years ago, officials contend that
the vaccine is safe.

Graham, whose husband was a US Navy Chief for 20 years, and other son and
daughter are in the military, says her story is 'one of thousands' whose
voices may never be heard.

``We are a proud military family, but what the government is doing is wrong,
and it is time to wake up America from its conformable stupor and say 'no
more.'''

The House Government Reform Committee is due to hold another hearing on
'adverse events' related to the Anthrax vaccine sometime in October, when
servicemen will testify as to their experiences. Graham says her son is
'ready to testify'.