Shays to Convene February 2 Oversight Hearing On Government’s Research Agenda into Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses

[Guest guest]

DSNurse@... wrote:

Congressman Shays to Convene February 2 Oversight Hearing On the

Government’s Research Agenda into Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses

SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY, VETERANS AFFAIRS

AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Shays, Connecticut

Chairman

Room B-372 Rayburn Building

Washington, D.C. 20515

Tel: 202 225-2548

Fax: 202 225-2382

E-mail: nsvair.groc@...

NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release

Contact: Newman

January 27, 2000

(202) 225-2548

Congressman Shays to Convene February 2 Oversight Hearing On the

Government’s Research Agenda into Gulf War Veterans’ Illnesses

(Washington, DC) -- Congressman Shays (R-CT), Chairman of the

Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and International Relations,

will convene an oversight hearing February 2 to examine the federal government’s

research efforts into the causes and treatments of Gulf War veterans’ illnesses.

The hearing was announced today by Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN), Chairman of

the Committee on Government Reform.

" The federal government has committed more than $133 million in research since

1994 to identify the causes and successful treatments of over 100,000 sick Gulf

War veterans, " said Chairman Shays. " The purpose of this oversight hearing is to

examine the productivity of this research spending, with a special focus on

whether sick veterans are any better today than when they were first examined

years ago. "

The Wednesday, February 2, hearing will convene at 10 a.m., Room 2154, Rayburn

HOB in Washington, DC. Witnesses will be representatives from the General

Accounting Office (GAO), Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Veterans

Affairs (VA), Department of Health & Human Services (HHS, specifically the

Centers for Disease Control or CDC), and researchers from the private sector.

Recently, the GAO completed a study of the government’s research program into

Gulf War illnesses. The report, requested by the Subcommittee early last year,

is entitled " Gulf War Illnesses: Manangement Actions Needed to Answer Basic

Research Questions, " (GAO/NSIAD-00-32, January 2000). Among GAO’s findings were:

most research underway is still ongoing and no assessment has been made of the

extent to which research objectives identified in 1995 have been satisfied;

little is known about how veterans’ conditions have changed over time; research

projects are heavily weighted toward epidemiological studies; and little

knowledge exists concerning the causes, courses, or successful treatments of

veterans’ illnesses.

In the nine years since the end of the Gulf War, the federal government has

sponsored a variety of research projects on Gulf veterans’ illnesses. Federal

research is directed by the Persian Gulf Veterans Coordinating Board (PGVCB),

formed in 1994, composed of the Secretaries of DoD, VA, and HHS. The Research

Working Group (RWG) of the PGVCB has primary responsibility for managing

research into Gulf War illnesses.

During FY97-98, according to GAO, the DoD, VA and HHS reported total

expenditures of over $121.3 million on research of Gulf War illnesses. These

expenditures included $112.4 million in DoD funds of which $65.3 million was

spent by DoD’s Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses (OSAGWI)

headed by Dr. Bernard Rostker. Also, the VA spent $7.2 million, and HHS spent

$1.6 million. OSAGWI plans to spend $65.4 million in FY99-00.

The GAO reports that OSAGWI considers its expenditures investigation, not

research, and therefore has not coordinated its activities through the

Coordinating Board. OSAGWI spends a high percentage of its budget on support

contracts, and GAO states that some of these contracts do not comply with

federal procurement standards.

In 1998 testimony before the Subcommittee, the GAO also presented results of a

study of federal research into Gulf veterans’ illnesses (Gulf War Illnesses:

Federal Research Strategy Needs Reexamination, " GAO/T-NSIAD-98-104, February

1998). The study’s findings were: formidable methodological problems are likely

to prevent federal researchers from providing precise, accurate, and conclusive

answers regarding the causes of veterans’ illnesses; research on Gulf illnesses

lacks a coherent approach;

and several risk factors such as chemical and biological agents had been ruled

out prematurely as possible causes of the illnesses.

" It appears from the recent GAO report that serious issues remain after six

years of effort by the government to find answers to Gulf War illnesses, " said

Shays. " The Subcommittee needs to know when the extraordinary commitment of time

and money by the government will finally bring results that benefit sick

veterans. "

The Subcommittee on National Security, Veterans Affairs and International

Relations have oversight jurisdiction of those departments and agencies of the

federal government involved in national security, veterans affairs and

international relations, including DoD and VA.

Witnesses:

Panel I

Kwai Chan

Director

Special Studies & Evaluations Group

General Accounting Office

accompanied by,

Sushil Sharma, Ph.D.

Assistant Director

Special Studies & Evaluations Group

General Accounting Office

Panel II

Lt. Gen. Dale Vesser, USA

Deputy to the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses

Department of Defense

, Ph.D.

Director

BioSysytems

Department of Defense

Mazzuchi, M.D.

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs

Department of Defense

Feussner, M.D.

Chief Research & Development Officer

Department of Defense

Drue Barrett, Ph.D.

Chief, Veterans’ Health Activity Working Group

Centers for Disease Control & Prevention

Panel III

, M.D., M.S.

Assistant Professor

Environmental & Occupational Medicine

University of Texas Health Science Center

Mohamed Abou-Donia, Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Pharmacology & Cancer Biology

Duke University Medical Center

Urnovitz, Ph.D.

Scientific Director

Chronic Illness Foundation

Iris Bell, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Program in Integrative Medicine

University of Arizona College of Medicine