more gov't slight-of-hand...

February 4, 2000

I wonder how much of the missing $$ went to the bum steers....

Tax Money for Medical Research Disappears

Congressional appropriations go astray

The 1993 death of a long-distance runner prompted Congress to allocate

$7.5 million to fight the deadly hantavirus that caused her death. The

money was sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in

Atlanta, but it may never have been used for its original purpose. A

Washington Post story, also carried on MSNBC, references a long history of

questionable bookkeeping at the CDC.

It appears that that the CDC spent much of the money on other programs the

agency thought more worthy, although CDC financial practices make it

difficult to see where the money went.

This isn't the first time the CDC has played this game. The agency also

redirected research money for chronic fatigue syndrome. CDC scientists have

complained of loose bookkeeping at the $2.4 billion agency.

Meanwhile, a new General Accounting Office (GAO) report lashes out at the

government's effort on behalf of Gulf War veterans, ABC News reports.

" We spent $120 million in a two-year period and we have nothing to show

for it, " said Rep. Shays, R-Conn., chairman of a House of

Representatives subcommittee on veterans' affairs. He says scientists with

no government financing at all have come up with more conclusive

information about Gulf War illnesses than have researchers given $100

million of the government's money.

A letter from the Defense Department protests the idea that there is even

a particular Gulf War syndrome. But Shays says that basic questions about

the illnesses of up to 700,000 Gulf War veterans have not been answered,

and that research objectives have not been met.

The CDC offers information on Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome.

The Defense Department's position on Gulf War syndrome can be accessed at

the Office of the Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses. The civilian view is

available at a number of sites, including Gulf War syndrome chronology.

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