Documents reveal flaws in Gulf War illness probe

by Dave Parks

Birmingham (AL) News

January 21, 2001

Internal documents from a presidential oversight board on Gulf War illnesses raise serious questions about the military's scientific integrity in investigating toxic exposures during Desert Storm.

The documents, faxed to The Birmingham News last week, support contentions by a dissenting member of the Presidential Special Oversight Board on Gulf War illnesses who said the board's mission was compromised by Department of Defense officials.

The documents also reveal that an environmental health analyst with the oversight board resigned after his reports were watered down by superiors who held few scientific credentials. He later withdrew his letter of resignation.

The oversight board was created by President Clinton two years ago to ensure that the Pentagon properly investigated reports of chemical and biological warfare detections during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

The board, whose authority ended Saturday, released a final report Dec. 20 concluding that military officials had 'worked diligently to fulfill the president's directive to leave no stone unturned' in investigating possible causes" for Gulf War illnesses.

But the internal documents indicate there was sharp scientific dissent within the board, and officials took steps to quash it.

Copies of e-mail message show there were efforts to keep a dissenting opinion from apÐ pearing with the oversight board's final report.

Vinh Cam, who holds a doctorate in cellular immunology/ immunotoxicology, was the lone dissenter on the final report. In her dissenting opinion, she said the oversight board praised the Department of Defense too much and inappropriately blamed stress for illnesses of some Gulf War veterans. She said the oversight board at times "acted more like an extension" of the arm of the Pentagon that was supposed to be the subject of oversight — the Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses, or OSAGWI.

According to documents, on Nov. 21, Dr. Cam received an e-mail message from the oversight board's executive telling her she would not be allowed to dissent on the final report because a deadline had passed and it was too late. It also said that Warren Rudman, a former Republic senator who was chairman of the oversight board, "expressed his preference that you agree with the report."

An e-mail reply from Dr. Cam's stated that she was told to submit dissenting remarks afÐ ter a revised final draft report was completed, and that had not been done. "I DON'T CONCUR with the report," her message said.

Another document, a letter dated Nov. 15 from Dr. Cam to the oversight board, stated, "The tone of the draft Final Report reflects the eagerness of closing a chapter on a controversial and embarrassing issue for" the Defense Department.

The letter asked that her signature be removed from an approval sheet for the final report. "By the way, the collection of approval of all board signatures should not have been obtained before board members actually concur with the report," her letter stated.

Dr. Cam's dissenting remarks were eventually included with the report, but Rudman attached a reply that sharply criticized Dr. Cam, who was the only member of the board without a military background.

"Dr. Cam remained aloof and uncommunicative throughout the board's period of operation and has no one to blame but herself for her isolation," he wrote.

In a telephone interview last week, Dr. Cam said she found the criticism "very disturbing."

"After I put in my dissenting comments, I suddenly became a bad person," she said.

First military encounter

Dr. Cam said this was her first experience with the military, and she felt intimidated. "I was not really part of that old boys' network," she said.

But what disturbed Dr. Cam the most was a lack of compassion among some board memÐ bers about sick veterans, she said. They joked about Gulf War illnesses not being real, just malingering, she said.

"It was very repulsive."

Other documents indicated that William H. Taylor, a scientist who had been on loan to the oversight board from the U.S. Public Health Department, angrily resigned his position as an environmental analyst on Sept. 21.

"I believe it is necessary to show how minor abuses of power have led to a great injustice — the abrogation of the truth," he said in a four-page letter of resignation. "Our veterans deserve better."

Taylor's letter said the board's function had been compromised by OSAGWI.

"Who is overseeing whom?" Taylor asked.

Taylor said staff analysts started out scoffing at OSAGWI's scientific methods of investigating possible toxic exposures, saying they "do not pass the laugh test."

"Unfortunately, the laugh was on us when our efforts at communicating these overarching observations to the board began to be censored," he wrote.

Taylor said his reports were watered down by Michael E. Naylon, executive director of the board, and Roger Kaplan, the board's assistant executive director.

Last week, Kaplan confirmed in a telephone interview that the letter was genuine and was being circulated with other documents by a veterans' organization.

"It's unfortunate," he said.

But he said that after the resignation there had been a further exchange of letters between Taylor and Rudman. Kaplan said Taylor eventually retracted his letter of resignation because it was written in anger. Efforts failed to reach Taylor for comment.

Kaplan said Taylor worked for the oversight board for two years, and started getting disenchanted after 18 months. He said things came to a head with a report by Taylor that criticized OSAGWI's conclusion that a large container found at a Kuwaiti girls' school did not contain a chemical warfare agent.

Kaplan said he edited Taylor's report, reducing it by four or five pages — removing wordiness, unsubstantiated allegations and emotional passages.

"I toned a few things down," Kaplan said.

Kaplan, who served as a civilian employee for the oversight board, acknowledged he was not a scientist. He earned a bachelor's degree in science from U.S. Military Academy in 1975 and had gone through chemical and biological warfare training. A retired military officer of 22 years, most of his work has been in public affairs, he said.

Naylon, a retired U.S. Army Reserve officer and former executive director of the veterans' organization AMVETS, holds a master's degree in business administration.

Taylor is a commander in the U.S. Public Health Service and a certified toxicologist, and holds a doctorate in chemistry.

Taylor's letter said problems started after staff analysts presented some of their findings publicly. Taylor said that provoked Bernard Rostker, who heads OSAGWI, and a crackdown followed in which reports underwent "depejoratization."

He said OSAGWI's investigations into toxic exposures were imprecise, highly biased and too convenient.

"OSAGWI selectively ignored evidence that it did uncover, and showed an unwillingness to investigate leads that suggested a conclusion contrary to its assessment," he wrote.

A spokeswoman for OSAGWI, Barb Goodno, said everything was done properly.

"There has been a scientific approach," she said. "I can assure you that the relationship we've had with the oversight board has been one of oversight."

Source: http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/?Jan2001/21-gulfwar.html