peterjennings@abcnews.com
Sent: Monday, November 11, 2002 8:06 AM
Subject: Met with Dr. Deyton, Veterans Administrations Hepatitis
C Program Director.
Last
spring Hepatitis C's Movement for Awareness (HMA) met with
Dr. Deyton, the Veterans Administrations (VA) Hepatitis
C Program Director. He told us that the new qualifications
for being screened for HCV now include the pneumatic, needleless,
jet gun injections veterans received for mass vaccinations.
We
asked Dr. Deyton how many Veterans within the VA system
have been tested and had HCV. He could not answer that question
because of inadequacy in the prior system wide screening
process cited by the Government Accounting Office (GAO).
The
following article now claims that more than half of all
veterans attending VHA medical clinics have been screened
for HCV. This is the first documentation by the VA as to
how many Veterans have been screened. According to Dr. Robert
H. Roswell, VA under secretary for health, the VA has screened
more than 2.6 million out of 4 million veterans attending
the Veterans Health Care system for hepatitis C risk factors
since the system wide policy was established in 1999....
The
article does not mention the system wide policy was sited
by the GAO. Many were confused, including Dr. Deyton, to
the actual number of veterans screened after reports of
discarded blood samples, inadequate screening questions
and the public locations for screening veterans.
The
article also fails to mention the screening qualifications
as of 2002 have changed....
Ask
a Veteran, "Did your doctor tell you they now including
the jetgun shots as part of the screening qualifications?"
Be sure to mention that according the GAO, if you were tested,
you need to be tested again. Why? They threw away the blood
samples. http://www.house.gov/reform/ns/107th_testimony/bascetta_june14.htm
As
a result of this press release, many Veterans will die because
of the continued embellishment of achievements stated by
the Veterans Administration.
Many Veterans think they have been tested and are safe.
Many Veterans don't think they have risk factors.
The
Veterans Administration statistics state 25,470,700 veterans
are alive in the United States and the HCV infection rate
among veterans in the VA system is about 10%. This means
based on reported numbers of infected people by the CDC,
3,900,000. An estimated 11 3/4% of the general population
are veterans, or 458,250 veterans were included in the CDC
results. Based on the infection rate quoted by the VA and
CDC, 3,441,750 civilians of which 2,547,070 are Veterans,
compromise the majority of infected people in the United
States. Approximately 75% of the people with HCV are Veterans
with infections longer than 20 years.
This
means out of the three million chronically infected stated
by NIH 2002 Consensus Conference, at least 2,250,000 have
had this disease for over 20 years. NIH states 20% or 450,000
are expected to develop cirrhosis or cancer NOW, 337,500
will be veterans.
In
lieu of all these defenders of freedom facing death, the
saddest part of all is the number one clinic, with the highest
success rate for treating HCV positive veterans, is being
politically phased out. This is because Dr. Cecil prescribes
medicines for his patients. He spends too much money.
( see petition at http://hcvets.com/vabs/disc.htm
)
The
following press release ends with this statement, "VA's
approach continues to be a model for how large systems can
manage this debilitating disease."
How
can you say all those Veterans previously tested are safe?
How can you close Dr. Cecil's clinic then pat yourself on
the back with such an ambiguous statement that the VA is
a model for others?
We
need mandatory testing of all veterans currently in the
VA health care system.
We need disease surveillance tracking how many veterans
that die also had HCV.
We need private Physicians to be aware of new guidelines
for screening and educating all veterans in their care.
This needs to be done by stating all of the transmission
methods that existed during the pre/post Vietnam era.
Please
respond to our questions.
Tricia
Lupole
Natl. Coordinator and the members of
Hepatitis C's Movement for Awareness
http://hcvets.com
VA Offers New Treatment for Veterans with Hepatitis C
WASHINGTON (Nov. 1, 2002) -
Less
than 10 days after a new treatment for hepatitis C was approved
by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) made it available to enrolled veterans
| "We
take care of more patients with this debilitating liver
disease than any other health system in the country
-- more than 70,000 a year," |
said
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Anthony J. Principi.
| "These
veterans deserve the best, most responsive care we can
offer, including the very latest, approved treatments." |
The treatment approved by the FDA Oct. 16 is called "pegylated
interferon alfa-2a." VA has made arrangements
with the manufacturer to ship the new drug to VA facilities
sooner than any other medical system.
| "We
are getting this drug in the shortest time possible
to facilities that have the most need," |
said
Secretary Principi. Several advances in treating hepatitis
C, particularly with the introduction of the "pegylated
interferons," include drugs that act against the hepatitis
C virus used alone or in combination with other drugs. Through
VA's national hepatitis C program, which has been in place
about two years, veterans with hepatitis C receive the most
appropriate medical care, including: Counseling for risk
factor identification and disease prevention; Systematic
screening and testing; Proactive patient and clinician education;
Liver transplantation if clinically necessary; and Support
services such as substance abuse and mental health care.
VA has screened more than 2.6 million veterans for
hepatitis C risk factors since the system-wide policy was
established in 1999. To better manage and improve
patient care, VA created a national case registry of patients.
| "We
have worked hard to put in place the largest hepatitis
C screening and testing program in the world, all to
the benefit of the veterans we serve," |
said Dr. Robert H. Roswell, VA under secretary for health.
| "VA's
approach continues to be a model for how large systems
can manage this debilitating disease." |
To
view and download VA news releases,
please visit the following Internet address:
http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/
If
you were tested, you need to be tested again!
(Members
please forward this again to Mr. Principi Anthony.Principi@mail.va.gov)
