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Opening
Statement of Mr. Buyer Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight
and Investigations “Terror
on the Homefront: Are We Medically Prepared?” Nov.
14, 2001 Today’s hearing will examine
a very important question, which affects not only those of us in this
room, but all Americans. We must answer the fundamental question,
“Is the U.S. medical community prepared for biological, chemical,
and radiological acts of terrorism?”
Since September 11th,
our country has been in a constant state of fear and anxiety of not
only flying the so-called friendly skies, but also opening our mail.
We are fighting a two-front war, not only here in America, but also
abroad. It is clear our health care
providers are not resourced or trained with the proper tools to
detect, diagnose, and treat casualties in the face of biological,
chemical and radiological weapons. The purpose of this
hearing is to review the critical roles that the VA and DoD should
play in providing our Nation’s medical students and current health
care professionals with the education and training programs necessary
to respond to terrorist activities. Before I continue with my
statement, I would like to extend a warm welcome to our distinguished
panelists. Today we are fortunate to have with us Rep. Dave Weldon of
Florida and Rep. John Cooksey of Louisiana. I would also like to extend a
special welcome to Admiral John Eisold, our Attending Physician to
Congress. Since the
Office of the Attending Physician was established in 1928, someone in
that position has never testified before a House or Senate Committee.
However, given the importance of the subject matter of this
hearing, and Admiral Eisold’s personal and professional interest, he
has agreed to share with us his perspective on this critical subject. I also would like to recognize
two physicians who are on the front lines in this medical war on
terrorism. The first, Dr.
Susan Matcha, diagnosed and treated two employees of a Washington, DC
area postal facility who contracted the anthrax virus. Second is Dr.
Carlos Omenaca, who diagnosed and successfully treated one of the
first victims of inhalation anthrax in the Miami, Florida area. A welcome should also be
extended to VA Deputy Under Secretary for Health Dr. Fran Murphy and
her staff; Dr. Val Hemming, Dean of the F. Edward Hebert School of
Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences;
Dr. Edward Hill of the American Medical Association; Dr. Jordan Cohen
of the American Association of Medical Colleges; and Dr. Martin Blaser
of New York University. They are all here today
because this hearing will provide us, as well as the American public,
with information crucial to the new war or terrorism. Your testimony
will help this subcommittee better understand the alleged shortcomings
of the medical community’s educational institutions and how the VA
and DoD can assist and coordinate expertise to help the new generation
of doctors to detect, diagnose, and treat these new threats to public
health. Experts have been warning
us for years that our healthcare system is NOT prepared for a
chemical, biological, or radiological event – terrorist or
otherwise. I would like to share
with you a foretelling statement made by Dr. Tara O’Toole in 1999.
Dr. O’Toole, a senior fellow at the Center for Biodefense Studies at
Johns Hopkins University, said, I quote, “Media coverage of modern
epidemics will have a profound influence on the outcome of response
efforts should a biological attack occur. The number of people who
were ill and in need of hospital care would likely be exceeded by
individuals seeking care because they were fearful of being sick.” I
believe that this was the public response to the recent anthrax
attacks. I firmly believe that
physicians and the entire health care community must be educated about
the potentially devastating consequences of terrorism and the critical
role that health care providers must play in addressing such attacks.
It is essential that health care providers can recognize the
basic clinical manifestations and treat diseases caused by weapons of
mass destruction. Our civilian healthcare system
must develop effective, practical responses to these deadly weapons.
It must do this through planning, training, and preparation for
further terrorist attacks. This is why I introduced H.R.
3254, the “Medical Education for National Defense in the 21st
Century.” I want to thank Full Committee Chairman Chris Smith,
Vice-Chairman Michael Bilirakis, Cliff Stearns, who is the
Vice-Chairman of the Veteran’s Health Subcommittee, John McHugh,
Chairman of the Armed Services Subcommittee on Military Personnel, and
that Subcommittee’s Ranking Member Vic Snyder. This legislation will create a
partnership between the VA and the DoD and task these two agencies to
develop and disseminate a program to both our current medical
professionals and current medical students in the Nation’s medical
schools. We already have a nexus in place between our medical
universities where there is a VA hospital in close proximity, and this
is what we plan to tap into. The combination of the DoD’s
expertise in the field of treating casualties resulting from an
unconventional attack, and the VA’s infrastructure of 171 medical
centers, 800 clinics, satellite broadcasting capabilities, and a
preexisting affiliation with 107 medical schools, will enable the
current and future medical professionals in this entire country to
become knowledgeable and medically competent in the treatment of
casualties of weapons of mass destruction. We cannot afford to assume that
our country will never have to experience a massive biological,
chemical, or radiological attack. We must act to ensure that if the
worst of our fears are realized, our medical professionals will be
ready and able to effectively respond to such fallout. An
American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) Reporter
article in December 1998 quotes an issue of Military Medicine
that says, “Even military physicians, who should be more prepared
than civilian doctors, aren’t sure about their capability of
handling such a situation: the June 1998 issue of Military Medicine
reported that only 19 percent of military physicians were confident
about providing care in ‘NBC’ situations. The majority of those
confident few - - 53 percent - - were USUHS graduates.” And Dean, if
you have any comments on that Reporter article, I would
appreciate that. It is not the intent of this
legislation to create new community standards of practice. We must
recognize that diseases such as smallpox, botulism, and the plague are
not normally seen around the country. I noticed this morning in the
press that the family of one of the postal workers who died has
already obtained and filed suit over that death. Family physicians all across
the country are not looking for anthrax, botulism, smallpox, and other
such diseases. So I just
want to make sure, and be on the record for legislative intent, that I
am not interested in setting new community standards with regard to
health care, nor am I trying to lay ground work for the many trial
lawyers out there. I think it is extremely
important that we disseminate the expertise that we have, so that
doctors, in their diagnostic analysis, begin to think about other
things from what they normally see in their family practices. At this time, I will turn to Ms. Carson, the Ranking Member, for any comments that she may have. Back to Witness List |