So let me get this straight: The unionized government employees who came down with anthrax are now suffering from lingering, impossible-to-verify effects, previously not associated with anthrax, that keep them on their disability leave. Meanwhile, the elderly retiree who has no financial incentive to continue to be sick has made a full recovery. Does that about sum it up?
You have a point -- I don't know any of these people, and I have no idea if you're being overly cynical or not.
Is it in fact true that Blanco would have no financial incentive to continue to be sick? Doesn't he have disability coverage as well? (AMI seemed to take better care of their employees than the USPS, at least during the critical period.)
It does appear from the article that the various individuals are describing very similar symptoms and that they were surprised to discover that. But of course I don't know that they aren't in collusion; however, it would require collusion on the part of all four of these individuals, and their doctors, and their family members. I also don't think that it's necessarily fair to characterize these effects as "impossible-to-verify". The symptoms can be tested for, and malingering (to the extent of being able to fake convincingly the results of medical and psychological tests) is a skill unlikely to be found in four randomly selected individuals. (Plus, at least one of the four is likely to be honest or have an honest family member.)