NEWS FROM….

CONGRESSMAN LANE EVANS

RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

    U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FOR RELEASE:  January 14, 2000

Calls on Defense, HHS to Take Corrective Actions

"Blunders have undermined the credibility of the Ranch Hand Agent Orange study," said Congressman Lane Evans (D-IL) today as he released a report prepared for him by the General Accounting Office (GAO). In response to the GAO fact-finding report, Evans, the Ranking Democratic Member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, has called on the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Health and Human Services (HHS) to quickly take needed corrective actions.

Ranch Hand, a long-term study to examine possible consequences of human exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides containing the contaminant dioxin, was begun in 1982. Conducted by the Air Force, Ranch Hand will not be completed until 2006.

According to GAO:

• The Air Force has not provided other scientists, veterans and other interested parties sufficient access to Ranch Hand study data. An eight (8) year delay in releasing a 1984 study on birth defects among children of veterans is one example of data not being accessible by other scientists and interested veterans. Replication is considered to be the "hallmark" of scientific inquiry. Without access to Ranch Hand study data by other scientists, study findings cannot be replicated. Likewise, new associations between Agent Orange exposure and disease cannot be established.

• The Air Force has not produced reports and publications on Ranch Hand study findings in a timely manner. Most results were not shared with veterans until seven years after the study began. Only recently has the Air Force begun to routinely publish reports and information as required by its scientific protocol.

• Despite a requirement for inclusion of scientists nominated by veterans organizations, the Advisory Committee overseeing the Ranch Hand study did not include them before 1990. Such openings are still not widely publicized.

• Veterans have not been adequately informed about the conduct of the Ranch Hand study, its findings, or public meetings on the conduct of the study.

• There was a failure to comply with measures intended to guarantee the Ranch Hand study was conducted independently and without bias. According to GAO, documents from 1984 and 1985 show that "Air Force management and the [Reagan] White House at the time tried to direct certain aspects of the Air Force scientists’ research."

• The Air Force characterization of study results as "reassuring," as was done with the birth defects study, has been misleading and inaccurate. While important, the Ranch Hand study was unable to detect any associations with rare diseases because of the relatively small number of study participants. In addition, the study population’s illnesses may also be different from other Vietnam veterans because their exposure to dioxin occurred differently. The Air Force has failed to report this information in its publications.

• Some of the inherent limitations of epidemiological studies, like Ranch Hand, have not been communicated by Air Force scientists. The Ranch Hand study cannot be used to "rule out" connections between Agent Orange exposure and veterans’ health problems.

• The Ranch Hand study has provided useful information, such as providing a basis for compensating veterans’ children with spina bifida born after the war. The study may also provide the foundation for compensating veterans with diabetes mellitus. Animal studies and other scientific literature, however, have been the basis of compensating all veterans’ conditions currently linked to Agent Orange exposure. The usefulness of the study for establishing a basis for compensating veterans for health problems – one of its original stated goals – remains unknown.

"Ranch Hand has required a massive commitment of resources, " Evans said. "First and foremost are the invaluable contributions made by scores of Vietnam theatre and era veterans who have participated in Ranch Hand. They have donated countless hours to participate in clinical evaluations and medical follow up. In addition, America’s taxpayers have literally invested millions of dollars in the Ranch Hand study. "Yet there are still many questions today about whether Ranch Hand is addressing the key issues about herbicide exposure that it was intended to evaluate. I called on GAO to report on Ranch Hand now to determine if we are getting our money’s worth," Evans said.

"Persistent problems continue to plague the Ranch Hand study. These problems need prompt corrective action and I am now calling on Secretaries Cohen and Shalala to make certain needed action is taken," Evans continued, "so the Ranch Hand study will be as useful as possible."