Sunday, May 5, 1996
Karen Dorn Steele/The Spokesman-Review
An expert picked by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control to help set up a program to monitor thyroid disease in the Inland Northwest may have a conflict of interest.
Dr. David Becker of Cornell University Medical College also is being paid $350 an hour to help defend former Hanford contractors in the massive Hanford downwinders suit. The companies are using Becker's expertise in an effort to fend off allegations that they ruined the health of thousands of people by exposing them to radioactive iodine while making plutonium for nuclear bombs. Thyroid disease is one of the most common health problems associated with radioactive iodine. Under an unusual government agreement with nuclear contractors, taxpayers foot the bill for their defense -- including Becker's consulting fee in the Hanford case. Becker was named recently to a panel of experts advising the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a branch of the CDC, on how to set up a thyroid monitoring program for Hanford downwinders. The registry studies health risks at Superfund sites nationwide, including Hanford. Becker's appointment ``was quite a shock,'' said Judith Jurji, president of the Hanford Downwinders Coalition in Seattle. ``When I first heard about it, I couldn't believe that the sole thyroid expert they picked was a highly-paid expert for the defense,'' Jurji said. ``This wasn't deliberate, but it was a blunder,'' she said. Jurji and downwinder Trisha Pritikin of Berkeley, Calif., are members of the registry's advisory committee. They learned of Becker's appointment a few days before a recent committee workshop in Bellevue. Becker was at the meeting and acknowledged he'd been hired by the Hanford contractors, Jurji said. ``He said he didn't think it was a problem, and yet he understood it could be perceived as a conflict of interest,'' Jurji said. Becker could not be reached for comment this week in New York. Becker is a world-renowned thyroid expert, but the disease registry realizes it may have a problem on its hands, said Dr. Robert Spengler, assistant director for science in the agency's health division. ``We are working with the situation as it comes to light,'' Spengler said. The agency may add another thyroid expert, or even drop Becker from the panel. This week, Spengler plans to meet with agency attorneys in Atlanta to see whether the appointment violates the registry's rules of conduct. The appointment was discussed at the registry's public advisory board meeting in Kennewick. Downwinders advising the registry have been careful not to recommend experts working for the Hanford plaintiffs, Jurji said. ``We've gone out of our way to avoid these situations. We assume most experts, if involved with litigation, would say, `no thanks,''' she said. The 19-member advisory board was formed to advise CDC and the registry on Hanford-related health research and public activities. Details of the medical monitoring program the registry may offer to downwinders are still being worked out, Spengler said.