Research panel calls for punishment of VA
By Suzanne Gamboa,
Associated Press Writer
November 15, 2005
http://www.boston.com/news/local/connecticut/articles/2005/11/15/research_panel_calls_for_punishment_of_va/
WASHINGTON --Federal officials excluded recent animal studies on the effects of
low doses of sarin nerve gas in deciding whether maladies Gulf War vets suffer
could be related to such exposure, the head of a panel on the illnesses said
Tuesday.
Excluding the studies has misdirected researchers down blind alleys and "away
from paths that might have led to treatments for these debilitating diseases,"
said James Binns, chairman of the Veterans Affairs Research Advisory Committee
on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses.
Binns, testifying before a House subcommittee, called for Congress to "use every
power at its command to investigate," remove people responsible and to punish
them.
"Until they are, there will be no meaningful progress on Gulf War illnesses
research to improve the lives of ill veterans," said Binns, whose panel advises
VA on the direction Gulf War illness research should take.
Thousands of Gulf War veterans have experienced undiagnosed illnesses with
symptoms such as chronic fatigue, loss of muscle control, diarrhea, migraines,
dizziness, memory problems and loss of balance.
Texas businessman Ross Perot funded Texas research on Gulf War illness and
opposes government officials who attribute the illnesses to stress.
Some veterans were exposed to sarin nerve gas while destroying weapons caches,
the government has acknowledged. Sarin is fatal in heavy doses.
A 2002 study by the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute low doses of sarin
had "drastic" effects on the immune systems of lab mice, said Rogene Henderson,
who conducted the study. Similar effects in humans would leave them more
susceptible to infectious agents, she said.
Henderson's study prompted then-VA Secretary Anthony Principi to ask the
Institute of Medicine to determine whether low-dose sarin exposure could explain
some of the illnesses reported by Gulf War veterans.
The institute last year found there is not enough evidence to associate the two.
Based on the findings, VA decided the illnesses could not be considered
connected to the veterans' Gulf War service, denying veterans automatic
eligibility for compensation and health care benefits.
A Veterans Affairs official and scientists from the Institute of Medicine said
101 animal studies and many human studies were reviewed before the institute
made its determination.
"It is not at all true that animal studies were ignored," said Dr. Lynn Goldman,
who led the Institute of Medicine's review on exposures to low-level doses of
sarin.
Samuel Potolicchio, a neurologist who served on the institute's committee, said
no consistent and long-term effects were seen in the rats in the Lovelace study.
He and others said more studies are needed on the issue.
But Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn, said he has become "inherently suspicious"
and suggested the institute set too high a standard since no human studies have
been done on low-dose sarin exposure.
"You want to see more studies. I'm going to say to you I've been hearing that
for 14 years," Shays said. "By the time we are able to help them, they are going
to be too old. They'll all be dead."
Shays, chairman of the House subcommittee on national security, emerging threats
and international relations, authored a law regulating VA's Gulf War illness
research.
Binns said veterans have seen VA "get to first base many times before" on Gulf
War illness research.
"This cycle varies depending upon, frankly, how many times Ross Perot calls the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs," Binns said. "If he hasn't called for a while,
they seem to forget ... Gulf War illness research."