Where are the 30 vials of plague?

Note: This was an interesting science-law article. Although not
specifically biology-evolution related I thought readers might find it
interesting.

It appears Dr. Butler's cognitive abilities are diminishing as he gets
older if this AP article is accurate. At first Dr. Butler reported the
30 vials of plague missing. Then he stated in a written statement he
accidentally destroyed the samples. If that was the case then why report
them missing in the first place? Maybe once he got the police involved
maybe he had second thoughts about reporting this and so he thought
stating he accidentally destroyed the vials would let him off the hook.
Then later Butler states he may have accidentally destroyed the vials as
a result of a cleanup but has no memory of it. 

Why is Dr. Butler sending plague samples to Tarzania? Are there some
specimens there to test it on?  According to the article 54 charges were
part of an indictment alleging Butler received $320,675 from two
pharmaceutical companies to conduct clinical trials on drugs to treat
Type 2 diabetes and severe sepsis, an often-fatal infection of the
bloodstream, without Texas Tech's knowledge. The article doesn't specify
if these clinical trials were ever started and if they were what the
status of them are as a result of Butler's prosecution. The article
doesn't state why Butler had plague samples or why he was sending them
to Tarzania. Finally, assuming Butler was telling the "truth" about the
30 vials of plague we still don't know if they were stolen or
accidentally or intentionally destroyed!

No less than four Nobel Laureates come to the defense of Dr. Butler
stating his prosecution is disproportianate and could have a chilling
effect of infectious disease research. There needs to be transparency
when it comes to scientific research on infectious disease. You have
pharmaceutical companies who have shadow contracts with researchers and
the institutions these researchers work at have no idea of these
contracts. Since the institution has no knowledge it stands to reason
there is the possibility of less transparency. 

What about the research subjects who receive these experimental drugs
for Diabetes II and   
severe sepsis. Do they fully understand the risks involved? What are the
plague samples in Tarzania being used for?

This is cynical but the pharmaceutical companies would test everything
but the kitchen sink out on your mother if they thought they could
possibly receive a profit out of it. It stands to reason sometimes this
greed overshadows the potential usefulness of an experimental drug in
treating a disease.

Information is critical. Note the AP article doesn't even go into detail
on whether there were clinical trials and what drugs were being used to
treat Diabetes II and severe sepsis.
It doesn't even name the pharmaceutical companies Dr. Butler had shadow
contracts with.

The pharmaceutical companies have so much power and money and lobbyists
they are right up there with the oil companies.

Michael Ragland


LUBBOCK, Texas, Dec. 1 —  A world-renowned plague researcher was
cleared Monday of the most serious charges he faced related to a
bioterrorism scare triggered when he reported plague samples missing
from his Texas Tech University lab.
    
 
  The report sparked a bioterrorism scare in this west Texas city in
January, and President Bush was informed of the incident. 
       DR. THOMAS Butler, 62, was convicted of 47 charges, but
most of them stemmed from an investigation entirely separate from the
plague scare.
       The jury acquitted Butler of 22 charges accusing him of
smuggling and illegally transporting the potentially deadly germ, as
well as lying to federal agents. 
       Butler appeared stunned as the verdicts were read after
two days of jury deliberations. He closed his eyes, shook his head and
fought back tears. After the jury left the courtroom, Butler's wife and
son hugged him tightly for several seconds.
       The charges stemmed from his report to police Jan. 14
that 30 vials of the potentially deadly plague bacteria were missing
from his lab. FBI agents rushed to Lubbock to investigate the scare, and
President Bush was briefed about the incident.
       
CONFLICTING STATEMENTS 'We are pleased that Tom was found not guilty of
lying to the FBI.' 

      In a statement written later, Butler said he accidentally
destroyed the samples. However, during his trial he testified that he
had no clear memory of destroying the vials but that they could have
been destroyed during his cleanup of an accident in January. 
       Butler declined to comment after the verdict. 
       The jury of nine men and three women also cleared him of
smuggling plague samples into the United States in April 2002 and
illegally transporting them to federal facilities. 
       "We are pleased that Tom was found not guilty of lying to
the FBI. We are particularly pleased the jury found him not guilty of
perpetuating a hoax regarding his report of the missing plague vials,"
defense lawyer Chuck Meadows said.
       Butler was found guilty of 44 theft, embezzlement, fraud,
and mail and wire fraud charges pertaining to shadow contracts
prosecutors claimed he had illegally negotiated with pharmaceutical
companies with which he also had clinical studies contracts. Butler was
acquitted of 10 similar charges.
       Those 54 charges were part of an indictment alleging
Butler received $320,675 from two pharmaceutical companies to conduct
clinical trials on drugs to treat Type 2 diabetes and severe sepsis, an
often-fatal infection of the bloodstream, without Texas Tech's
knowledge. 
       
UNAUTHORIZED EXPORT
       The companies paid him "amounts separate from and above"
payments to the university's health science center for other clinical
studies, the indictment said. 
       The jury also found Butler guilty of making a false
statement on a Fed Ex package that contained plague samples he sent to
Tanzania and their unauthorized export to the African country. Butler
had marked the package "laboratory materials." 
       Butler faces up to 240 years in prison on the 47
convictions, but the punishment will be far less under federal
sentencing guidelines. No sentencing date was set. 
       Five jurors declined to comment as they left court. 
       In the weeks leading up to the trial, Butler turned down
a plea agreement that would have sent him to prison for six months and
required him to pay an $800,000 fine, said Dr. William Greenough, a
longtime colleague of Butler and a professor of medicine at Johns
Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore. 
       Texas Tech has begun steps to dismiss Butler, but many in
the scientific community have come out in his defense.
       Leading scientific organizations have expressed concern
about the criminal case against Butler and its effect on infectious
disease research. Four Nobel laureates said in an open letter that
Butler had been "subjected to unfair and disproportionate treatment" and
that prosecuting his case "is having a negative impact on the future of
research in this crucial national-security-related field."
       
       © 2003 Associated Press.