My column from yesterday's LDR.
WHERE IS OUR EBOLA CZAR?
Has anyone seen our Ebola Czar? No, not Ron Klain. (Although no one has seen him yet either as I write this on Thursday afternoon. But more about that later.)
But I’m talking about the one we have had since 2009. Her name is Dr. Nicole Lurie. She is an assistant secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and her job is “to lead the nation in preventing, responding to and recovering from the adverse health effects of public health emergencies and disasters, ranging from hurricanes to bioterrorism.”
Her job description is to help the country prepare for emergencies including the responsibility of developing “the countermeasures - the medicines or vaccines that people might need to use in a public health emergency”.
She has been referred to as the “highest ranking federal official in charge of preparing the nation to face such health crises as earthquakes, hurricanes, terrorist attacks, and pandemic influenza.”
In 2004 Congress passed The ProjectBioshield Act which authorized up to almost six billion dollars in new spending by the National Institutes for Health (NIH) for the purpose of purchasing, stockpiling and distributing vaccines should the “unthinkable” happen.
In 2006 Congress passed the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act, which established Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. This authority was established to give “an integrated, systematic approach to the development and purchase of the necessary vaccines, drugs, therapies, and diagnostic tools for public health medical emergencies.”
Then last year the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Reauthorization Act of 2013 was passed. So we should be good to go, right?
Well, not really. As with all things in Washington, D.C. it all boils down to money.
According to Dr. Francis Collins, who heads the NIH, they don’t have enough money and he blames the Republicans for not continuing to fund the necessary research, and Hillary Clinton parrots Collins’ whining that “funding restrictions were to blame for inability to combat Ebola.”
This year, the 70,000 workers of HHS will spend a total of $958 billion. (That’s almost $8000 for every U.S. household in case you are doing the math.)
So if they don’t have money for research and vaccines, where did that money go? I’m so glad you asked, but you probably won’t like the answer.
According to The Federalist, a 2012 report on how NIH spends its money reflects a $509,840 grant to pay for a study that will send text messages in “gay lingo” to meth-heads. (I know. I can’t appreciate the necessity of that either but it’s real money paid from your tax funds.)
Also included in 2012 expenditures were a grant in excess of $702,500 for the study of the impact of televisions and gas generators on villages in Vietnam; more than $175,500 to the University of Kentucky to study the impact of cocaine on the sex drive of Japanese quail; almost $56,000 to study hookah smoking in Jordan; and almost $600,000 to study why chimpanzees throw objects.
No one seems to know why Dr. Lurie has been sidelined right in the middle of the Ebola crisis in favor of a lawyer with no medical knowledge or experience whatsoever, but we can’t blame this all on President Obama this time.
In fact, Congress is responsible for oversight of this situation and has failed in their responsibility. They know about the legislative actions taken in previous years and the funding of billions of dollars which have apparently gone down the drain (or into the hookah pipe, as the case may be). It seems they usually find it easier to grant additional funding than to “follow the money” once the checks have been written, and put a stop to the waste described above.
And by the way, while the current administration and NIH leadership are denouncing the Republicans in their effort to politicize the Ebola crisis, they should go back and take a look at where the original funding and support for Ebola research came from.
They would find that the ProjectBioShield Act of 2004 and the subsequent funding were the compassionate actions taken by the man that President Bush referred to as his “point man”, a patriotic Republican who had the foresight to know what the terrorists who committed such a cowardly and dastardly deed on September 11 were capable of doing in years to come.
Yes, it was Vice-President Dick Cheney who became an advocate in the George W. Bush White House for the appropriation of billions of dollars to stop deadly pathogens.
In a recent telephone interview the former Vice-President said he knew that the U.S. had to "take bioterrorism seriously as a threat in the aftermath of 9/11,” and the same threats are present now that we are dealing with an outbreak of Ebola.
According to the Bloomberg News, at least seven drugs now being tested -- including some used to treat Ebola victims in the U.S. -- grew from biodefense measures first approved after Sept. 11 as a result of Vice-President Cheney’s efforts.
So the background work has been done. Laws have been passed, authorization has been given and it appears we have a very capable medical doctor with years of experience in both primary care and public health, who also carries the rank of Rear Admiral in the U.S. Public Health Service.
In fact, after reading her testimony presented to the House Committee on Oversight last week, I believe she is probably the most qualified person in the Obama Administration to do anything, including running the Oval Office.
So why are we messing around with this Klain guy, and who cares where he is? He’s already missed two meetings. Did the President not tell him there is a certain urgency here?
I’m all for contacting Dr. Lurie and asking her to make a House call. (And a Senate call, and by the way, stop by the Oval Office. Somebody there needs some help, too.)
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