Chris Harding

Date: 13 August 2013 A Logical Mistrust of Veterans Affairs Power

US Citizen United States of America CC: US President; US House Committee on Veterans Affairs; US Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs; US Senator Merkley; US Senator Wyden; and US Representative Defazio

To Whom It May Concern:

Year 1771 Quote: The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse." Edmund Burke, speech on the
Middlesex Elections

Year 1999 Quote: "My concerns about the VA culture of tolerating favoritism, cronyism, harassment, and retaliation
are a matter of record. The VA has a history of turning a blind eye towards mismanagement and misconduct by senior officials while punishing anyone who dares to speak up. It is a prime example of the good old boy network."[Hon.Terry Everett, Chairman of the Subcommittee;1, pg. 2]

Year 1999 Quote: "Mr. Chairman, in concluding, I want to again apologize on behalf of the department for the
failure to respond in a timely manner to your letter of September 8, 1998. This delay, in my opinion, was inexcusable and it will not happen again."[Mr. Brickhouse, Veterans Affairs to Chairman US House Committee on Veterans Affairs, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations;1, pg. 61]

Year 2013 Quote: "VA is currently sitting on nearly 100 separate requests for information made by the committee,
some dating back more than a year. The leisurely pace with which VA is returning requests and in some cases not returning them is a major impediment to the basic oversight responsibilities of the committee."[US House Committee on Veterans' Affairs;3] Obviously, the 1999 and 2013 quotes are only two points in time. Still, the points in time are examples of a very large organization's, US Veterans Affairs, ignoring of some of the most powerful men and women in the United States of America. If the US Veterans Affairs can treat our congressional members with such disdain, how do you think the US Veterans Affairs treats the individual veteran. When considering US Veterans Affairs treatment of veterans, I ask that you consider veterans from: WWII radiation experiments; Vietnam Agent Orange[5]; 1991 Gulf War toxins[5;6]; and post 9/11 burn pits[6]. Sadly, the Congressionally Chartered Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (RAC) is facing the power of US Veterans Affairs as well. As an example, I provide quotes from Dr. Steele; Dr. Binns, Chairman of RAC; and Dr. Coughlin, Epidemiologist and VA Whistleblower:

Year 2013 Quote: "In contrast to DODs mission-oriented approach, the Department of Veterans Affairs has not
historically established a research vision or scientific plan, or managed a coordinated program to achieve targeted priorities for Gulf War veterans."[Dr. Steele, Baylor University; 4]

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Chris Harding

Year 2013 Quote: "5. The individuals behind the recent staff pushbacks are some of the same people that Congress
was concerned about in 1997, who have built their careers on minimizing the health consequences of toxic exposures. Dr. Michael Peterson, currently in charge of post-deployment health research at the VA Office of Public Health, was a principal investigator of the 1987 update to the Ranch Hand study that concluded Agent Orange had no adverse effect on the health of Vietnam veterans. Dr. Kelly Brix, currently DoD co-chair of the Deployment Health Working Group subcommittee that co-ordinates VA/DoD research policy, was a staff member of the 19951997 Presidential Advisory Committee that concluded the likely causes of Gulf War Illness was stress." [Dr. James Binns, 5]

Year 2013 Quote: "Anything that supports the position that Gulf War illness is a neurological condition is unlikely
to ever be published." [Dr. Coughlin, VA Whistleblower; 6] Whistle-blower The whistleblower helps modulate the power imbalance. Sadly, most employees are afraid of whistleblower retaliation[1;6]. Dr, Coughlin experienced retaliation[6]. In fact, Dr. Coughlin told me that the Veterans Affairs has refused to publish two journal articles authored by Dr. Coughlin and others[8;9]. Recently, Dr. Coughlin informed me that other VA employees, not researchers but mostly clinicians, decided to blow the whistle about patient safety after Dr. Coughlin came forward and testified[6]. According to Dr. Coughlin, they "took a beating," left the Veterans Affairs, and most left their profession. In other words, all the whistle-blowers were retaliated against. Wait, doesn't the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General exist? With respect to the Veterans Affairs, there have been past instances where whistleblowers are rightfully concerned about the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General, which is an office that will likely investigate whistleblower claims since the Office of Special Council is limited in staff. As an example, consider the following quote:

Year 1999 Quote: "In 1998, I testified both as a deputy medical examiner and as a VA employee in the case of Elzie
Havrum versus the VA. I gave really critical damaging evidence. For instance, I pointed out that from Jesse Brown to Dr. Kizer to many people throughout the VA, they were all aware of the deaths, they were well aware, I believe, that they had a serial killer. They refused to take responsibility. They actually turned this nurse loose, where I investigated his performance in local hospitals where more deaths occurred."[Dr. Adelstein;1, pg 45]" The court ruled in favor of Elzie Havrum, and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) had performed an incompetent investigation. In fact, I provide a GAO Quote:

Year 1998 Quote: "GAO noted that: (1) the VA OIG conducted the Special Inquiry as a management review to
determine how hospital and VA Central Region management had responded to an out-of-norm situation regarding unexplained deaths; (2) GAO determined that the OIG did not collect or analyze evidence in an manner that would identify intentional cover-up efforts; (3) thus, the Special Inquiry's conclusion that no evidence of an intentional cover-up had been found was not consistent with the inquiry conducted and was misleading; (4) OIG failed to comply with its own reporting policies on completeness and accuracy by presenting statements that were not supported by the evidence contained in OIG files, including reference to a discussion that the Special Inquiry never verified; (5) OIG attributed the nearly 2-year delay in acting on the cover-up allegations received in February 1993 to administrative error; (6) the confidentiality of the staff physician who had made the allegations of a cover-up was breached by OIG on at least three occasions; and (7) current OIG policies and procedures on confidentiality are adequate." [GAO; 2] Hopefully, the VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) has changed. In fact, their most recent Semiannual report states the following about potential retaliation in Veterans Affairs Office of Research Development[7]:

Year 2013 Quote: "The Office of Research and Development (ORD) has revised its guidance on reporting ethical
breaches like those discussed in this report; however, SRG members may still be dissuaded from reporting ethical breaches due to concerns about retaliation."[VA OIG;7;pg. 20]

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Chris Harding What is clear is that whistleblower retaliation seems to be common. In fact, my own Veterans Affairs Social Worker told me it was not her job to report veteran maltreatment. Instead, she said it is the veterans job. As you can imagine, the latter comment is illogical. Often, the veteran is limited in an ability to change medical professionals, and Veterans Affairs Patient Advocates are, for the lack of a better term, useless according to many veterans. A Needed Voice The moral of the story is that the veteran needs a voice. Since we cannot trust the Veterans Affairs to have our best interest at heart, we need the US Congress to protect our interest. Many 1991 Gulf War veterans do not trust the Veterans Affairs decision to dilute the Congressionally Chartered Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (RAC) independence and authority. As such, we hope you read, become aware, and understand our concerns. References: [1] US House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Whistleblowing and Retaliation in the Department of Veterans Affairs, March 11, 1999. commodes.house.gov[online]. 2013. Available from: http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/vets/hvr031199.000/hvr031199_0.HTM [2] US Government Accountability Office. Veterans Affairs Special Inquiry Was Misleading, May 14, 1998. ago.gov[online]. 2013. Available from: http://www.gao.gov/products/T-OSI-98-12 [3] US House Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Trials in Transparency. veterans.house.gov[online]. 2013. Available from: http://veterans.house.gov/transparency [4] US House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Witness Testimony of Dr. Lea Steele, Research Professor of Biomedical Studies & Director, Veterans Health Research Program, Baylor University, March 13, 2013. veterans.house.gov[online]. 2013. Available from: http://veterans.house.gov/witness-testimony/dr-lea-steele-0 [5] Congressionally Chartered Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses. Letter from Dr. James Binns, Chairman of Congressionally Chartered Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (RAC) to Hon. Jose D. Riojas, Interim Chief of Staff of Secretary Eric Shinseki, US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), May 29, 2013. scribd.com[online]. 2013. Available from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/150958154/LETTER-RAC-Chair-Binns-to-Riojas-ReRAC-Charter-05-29-2013 [6] US House Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Witness Testimony of Dr. Steven S. Coughlin, Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology, Emory University, March 13, 2013. veterans.house.gov[online]. 2013. Available from: http://veterans.house.gov/witness-testimony/dr-steven-s-coughlin [7] US Department of Veterans Affairs. Office of Inspector General. Semiannual Report to Congress, October 1. 2012 -March 31, 2013. va.gov[online]. 2013. Available from: http://www.va.gov/oig/pubs/sars/VAOIG-SAR-2013-1.pdf [8] Coughlin, Steven S.; McNeil, Rebecca B.; Provenzale, Dawn T.; Dursa, Erin K.; Thomas, Cathern M. Method Issues in Epidemiological Studies of Medically Unexplained Symptom-based Conditions in Veterans. Journal of Military and Veterans' Health. scribd.com[online]. 2013. Available from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/159444977/Method-Issues-inEpidemiological-Studies-of-Medically-Unexplained-Symptom-based-Conditions-in-Veterans [9] Coughlin, Steven S.; Leo, Sher. Suicidal Behavior and Neurological Illnesses. J Depress Anxiety. scribd[online]. 2013. Available from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/159434404/Suicidal-Behavior-and-Neurological-Illnesses [10] Harding, Chris. A Logical Mistrust of Veterans Affairs Power, August 13, 2013. scribd.com[online]. 2013. Available from: http://www.scribd.com/doc/160127038/A-Logical-Mistrust-of-Veterans-Affairs-Power A Logical Mistrust of Veterans Affairs Power 3 of 4

Chris Harding

Have a nice day! Chris Harding, 100% T&P Disabled 1991 Gulf War Veteran Email: harding.cb@gmail.com;

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