Final Report on Independent Amerithrax Review

As Scott Shane reported in today's New York Times, the panel of independent psychiatric experts who reviewed the behavioral health history of Dr. Bruce E. Ivins--the person believed to be responsible for the 2001 anthrax attacks--just released a redacted, public version of its final report. The executive summary of the report is here. Chief Judge Royce Lamberth of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia had ordered the review in a 2009 order that remains under seal. Judge Lamberth asked the panel, known as the "Expert Behavioral Analysis Panel," to "provide insights into how the country can be better defended from such attacks and to provide a better understanding of Dr. Ivins himself." The report concluded that Dr. Ivins’s "decades-long history of mental problems should have disqualified the Army microbiologist from getting a security clearance or working with dangerous pathogens." It also found that "[o]nly [Dr. Ivins's] involuntary commitment for psychiatric treatment prevented a mass shooting and fulfillment of his promise to go out in a ‘blaze of glory.'" The report recommends several changes to personnel screening procedures applicable to persons who would either be given or retain access to certain chemical and biological agents. According to the report, Dr. Ivins "acknowledged that he was the sole custodian of the 'RMR-1029' flask that held the anthrax used in the attacks."