NEWS FROM….

CONGRESSMAN LANE EVANS

RANKING DEMOCRATIC MEMBER

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS

    U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

FOR RELEASE: January 21, 2000

Evans and Daschle Call on Defense and Health Secretaries to Improve Communications about Agent Orange "Ranch Hand" Study

Washington, DC – In response to a recent government report critical of the Air Force’s inadequate communications with veterans regarding Agent Orange exposure, Lane Evans of Illinois, the Democratic Leader of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and Senator Tom Daschle (D-SD) have called on Secretaries Cohen (Defense) and Shalala (Health and Human Services) to take immediate steps to improve the flow of information and data to veterans and other interested parties.

For almost twenty years, the Air Force has been studying the long-term health effects of herbicide exposure in ongoing research known as the "Ranch Hand Study". Evans requested the General Accounting Office (GAO) investigate allegations that certain government officials involved in the Ranch Hand Study failed to provide veterans with timely and accurate information. GAO’s report recommended several steps the Departments of Defense (DOD) and Health and Human Services (HHS) should take to improve communications.

"There are lots of indications that communications with veterans about the process and results of the Ranch Hand Study have been far from ideal," said Evans. "The Air Force continues to fuel veterans’ perceptions that the Air Force is being evasive…that there is an active cover up about how Agent Orange has affected veterans’ health, and even the health of their children."

Among the GAO’s recommendations were:

• That HHS provide veterans organizations with the opportunity to nominate scientists to the Ranch Hand Scientific Advisory Committee. Although, by law, a third of the scientific advisors are required to be nominated by veterans’ representatives, only two of the major veterans’ service organizations have been asked to make nominations.
• That HHS inform veterans about public meetings of the Ranch Hand Scientific Advisory Committee. Some organizations were not given appropriate information, even when they asked for it.
• That DOD make the Air Force’s vast clinical database readily accessible to the public—particularly to other scientists. Non-governmental scientists will be able to pose alternative hypotheses and use the data to see if they can prove them. This will lend credibility to any conclusions that government draws from the study.

In a letter to Secretary Shalala, Evans and Daschle state: "Clearly the intent of the law is for concerned veterans and their representatives to be able to actively participate in the oversight of this important study… Continued problems with communication perpetuate veterans' concerns that information is not being fully disclosed to them. Particularly in this matter, openness and candor with veterans and their representatives are paramount considerations."

The two Congressional leaders called on Shalala to provide them with an outreach plan to improve communications with veterans in the future.

In calling for Defense Secretary Cohen to make study data accessible to the general public, Daschle and Evans state: "We are sure you will agree that veterans who participated in the Ranch Hand study did so to give scientists the chance to find answers regarding the effects of exposure to dioxin on behalf of all of the veterans with whom they served. We have a responsibility to honor their contribution by making the study data accessible to anyone who might advance the science on Agent Orange exposure and for other meaningful purposes. Science will undoubtedly have many uses for this important resource."

When Ranch Hand began, veterans had hoped that Ranch Hand would provide the science necessary to guide policymakers’ decisions about compensation for veterans, as well as answering their questions about health outcomes associated with exposure to herbicides such as Agent Orange. Yet, almost from the beginning, veterans and others have questioned the protocols and communication efforts by the Air Force.

In an effort to improve communications, Congress required HHS to take part in communicating vacancies on the Ranch Hand Scientific Advisory Committee and informing veterans about the Advisory Board’s meetings. Unfortunately, despite the law, HHS’s efforts have not addressed the problems.

Evans was hopeful that problems could be resolved quickly. "We are not recommending that Defense ‘throw the baby out with the bath water’. The study must continue, but we need to address long-standing concerns about its integrity. The bottom line is that veterans want and deserve to be better informed about this process and its results."

Copies of the Ranch Hand Study are available from the General Accounting Office. To order by telephone call (202)512-6000 or on the Internet contact http://www.gao.gov.

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