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Status of Efforts to Identify Gulf War Syndrome: Multiple Toxic Exposures

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Status of Efforts to Identify Gulf War Syndrome: Multiple Toxic Exposures STATUS OF EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY GULF WAR SYNDROME: MULTIPLE TOXIC EXPOSURES HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION JUNE 26, 1997 Serial No. 105–66 Printed for the use of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight ( U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 45–480 CC WASHINGTON : 1998 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2250 Mail: Stop SSOP, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Jan 31 2003 11:12 Apr 17, 2003 Jkt 086127 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 W:\DISC\45480 45480 COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT DAN BURTON, Indiana, Chairman BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York HENRY A. WAXMAN, California J. DENNIS HASTERT, Illinois TOM LANTOS, California CONSTANCE A. MORELLA, Maryland ROBERT E. WISE, JR., West Virginia CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut MAJOR R. OWENS, New York STEVEN SCHIFF, New Mexico EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York CHRISTOPHER COX, California PAUL E. KANJORSKI, Pennsylvania ILEANA ROS-LEHTINEN, Florida GARY A. CONDIT, California JOHN M. MCHUGH, New York CAROLYN B. MALONEY, New York STEPHEN HORN, California THOMAS M. BARRETT, Wisconsin JOHN L. MICA, Florida ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, Washington, THOMAS M. DAVIS, Virginia DC DAVID M. MCINTOSH, Indiana CHAKA FATTAH, Pennsylvania MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana ELIJAH E. CUMMINGS, Maryland JOE SCARBOROUGH, Florida DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio JOHN B. SHADEGG, Arizona ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, Illinois STEVEN C. LATOURETTE, Ohio DANNY K. DAVIS, Illinois MARSHALL ‘‘MARK’’ SANFORD, South JOHN F. TIERNEY, Massachusetts Carolina JIM TURNER, Texas JOHN E. SUNUNU, New Hampshire THOMAS H. ALLEN, Maine PETE SESSIONS, Texas HAROLD E. FORD, JR., Tennessee MICHAEL PAPPAS, New Jersey ——— VINCE SNOWBARGER, Kansas BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont BOB BARR, Georgia (Independent) ROB PORTMAN, Ohio KEVIN BINGER, Staff Director DANIEL R. MOLL, Deputy Staff Director WILLIAM MOSCHELLA, Deputy Counsel and Parliamentarian JUDITH MCCOY, Chief Clerk PHIL SCHILIRO, Minority Staff Director SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES CHRISTOPHER SHAYS, Connecticut, Chairman VINCE SNOWBARGER, Kansas EDOLPHUS TOWNS, New York BENJAMIN A. GILMAN, New York DENNIS J. KUCINICH, Ohio DAVID M. MCINTOSH, Indiana THOMAS H. ALLEN, Maine MARK E. SOUDER, Indiana TOM LANTOS, California MICHAEL PAPPAS, New Jersey BERNARD SANDERS, Vermont (Ind.) STEVEN SCHIFF, New Mexico THOMAS M. BARRETT, Wisconsin EX OFFICIO DAN BURTON, Indiana HENRY A. WAXMAN, California LAWRENCE J. HALLORAN, Staff Director and Counsel ROBERT NEWMAN, Professional Staff Member R. JARED CARPENTER, Clerk CHERRI BRANSON, Minority Counsel (II) VerDate Jan 31 2003 11:12 Apr 17, 2003 Jkt 086127 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 W:\DISC\45480 45480 C O N T E N T S Page Hearing held on June 26, 1997 ............................................................................... 1 Statement of: Garthwaite, Thomas, Deputy Under Secretary for Health, Department of Veterans’ Affairs, accompanied by John Feussner, Chief Research Officer, Department of Veterans’ Affairs; and Frances Murphy, Director of Environmental Agents Services, Department of Veterans’ Affairs; Bernard Rostker, Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses, Department of Defense, accompanied by Gary Christopherson, Acting Principal Dep- uty for Health Affairs; Col. Hershell Wolfe, Assistant for Occupational Health, Assistant Secretary of the Army, ASA, ILNC; and Col. Eric Daxon, Radiological Hygiene Staff Officer, AEPI, U.S. Army ................... 158 Metcalf, Hon. Jack, a Representative in Congress from the State of Wash- ington ............................................................................................................. 19 Nicolson, Garth, chief scientific officer, Institute for Molecular Medicine, accompanied by Nancy Nicolson, chief executive officer, Institute for Molecular Medicine; Leonard Dietz, physicist and research scientist; and Asaf Durakovic, former chief, Nuclear Medicine Service, Wil- mington, DE .................................................................................................. 92 Roman, Col. Gilbert, retired, Gulf war veteran, Denver, CO; Paul Canter- bury, Gulf war veteran, Ashley, OH; Michael Stacy, Gulf war veteran, Inola, OK; Staff Sgt. Mark Zeller, Gulf war veteran, Fort Rucker, AL ................................................................................................................... 25 Letters, statements, etc., submitted for the record by: Canterbury, Paul, Gulf war veteran, Ashley, OH, prepared statement of ..................................................................................................................... 30 Christopherson, Gary, Acting Principal Deputy for Health Affairs, list of members of the Department’s peer review organization ....................... 222 Dietz, Leonard, physicist and research scientist, prepared statement of .... 125 Durakovic, Asaf, former chief, Nuclear Medicine Service, Wilmington, DE, prepared statement of ........................................................................... 141 Garthwaite, Thomas, Deputy Under Secretary for Health, Department of Veterans’ Affairs: Detailed information concerning Dr. Baumzweiger ............................... 225 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 161 Metcalf, Hon. Jack, a Representative in Congress from the State of Wash- ington, prepared statement of ...................................................................... 21 Nicolson, Garth, chief scientific officer, Institute for Molecular Medicine, prepared statement of ................................................................................... 96 Roman, Col. Gilbert, retired, Gulf war veteran, Denver, CO, prepared statement of ................................................................................................... 42 Rostker, Bernard, Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses, Department of Defense: Information from the Armed Forces Radiological Research Institute .. 231 Prepared statement of ............................................................................... 182 Sanders, Hon. Bernard, a Representative in Congress from the State of Vermont, letter dated June 20, 1997 ...................................................... 7 Shays, Hon. Christopher, a Representative in Congress from the State of Connecticut, prepared statement of ........................................................ 3 Stacy, Michael, Gulf war veteran, Inola, OK, prepared statement of .......... 53 Zeller, Staff Sgt. Mark, Gulf war veteran, Fort Rucker, AL, prepared statement of ................................................................................................... 71 (III) VerDate Jan 31 2003 11:12 Apr 17, 2003 Jkt 086127 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 W:\DISC\45480 45480 VerDate Jan 31 2003 11:12 Apr 17, 2003 Jkt 086127 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 W:\DISC\45480 45480 STATUS OF EFFORTS TO IDENTIFY GULF WAR SYNDROME: MULTIPLE TOXIC EXPO- SURES THURSDAY, JUNE 26, 1997 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON HUMAN RESOURCES, COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENT REFORM AND OVERSIGHT, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:15 a.m., in room 2154, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Christopher Shays (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding. Present: Representatives Shays, Pappas, Towns, Sanders, and Kucinich. Staff present: Lawrence J. Halloran, staff director and counsel; Robert Newman, professional staff member; R. Jared Carpenter, clerk; Cherri Branson, minority counsel; and Ellen Rayner, minor- ity chief clerk. Mr. SHAYS. I welcome our witnesses and our guests, and we will begin this hearing. In the course of these oversight hearings on Gulf war veterans’ illnesses, we have delved deeply into complex scientific, clinical, military, and administrative issues. We are likely to do so again today as the subcommittee examines the possible synergistic effects of exposure to toxic cocktails, including low-level chemical weapons, pesticides, smoke from oil well fires, experimental drugs, depleted uranium, and biological agents. Immersed in a sea of technical details, it is possible to lose sight of the larger question that still confronts us as a Nation 6 years after the war: Are sick veterans getting better? Fortunately, testimony before this subcommittee from the Gen- eral Accounting Office, GAO, Tuesday cut through the complexity and reasserted that simple, yet profound, important question as the moral, medical, and operational test of everything this Government does in the name of those it serves. As directed by Congress last year, GAO evaluated the effective- ness of the clinical care and research programs for six Gulf war veterans. They found neither the Veterans’ Affairs Department, VA, nor the Defense Department, DOD, can say whether the vet- erans on their health registries since 1992 are any better or worse today than when they were first examined. GAO also found the re- search effort reactive, predisposed to certain lines of inquiry, and highly unlikely to provide conclusive answers regarding the causes of Gulf war illnesses, and they found some official conclusions (1) VerDate Jan 31 2003 11:12 Apr 17, 2003 Jkt 086127 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 W:\DISC\45480 45480 2 about Gulf war illnesses by the Presidential Advisory Committee, the PAC, weakly
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