ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, December 7, 1996 TAG: 9612090042
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-10 EDITION: METRO
VA accused of threats on doctors
WASHINGTON - The lawmaker who has led the chief congressional investigation of illnesses among veterans of the Persian Gulf War accused the Department of Veterans Affairs on Friday of seeking to purge the agency of doctors who publicly questioned the government's stand on the issue.
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., was responding to reports this week that two doctors from the agency had been targets for dismissal because they were outspoken in the view that some veterans of the 1991 war had been made sick by exposure to Iraqi chemical weapons or by an infectious agent endemic to the region.
``Anybody who comes forward is threatened with removal,'' said Shays, the chairman of a House Human Resources subcommittee that opened an investigation of gulf war illnesses in March. ``If you have a contrary view that maybe the Congress or the public needs to hear, you are silenced.''
The government insists it has no evidence that chemical weapons or infectious agents are linked to many veterans' mysterious ailments.
The Veterans Affairs Department said Friday that no doctors were being punished for their views. Jule Moravec, a senior department official who is a spokesman on the issue, said many doctors throughout the VA system were being transferred or let go as a result of budget cuts at many hospitals and a move toward expanded outpatient care. |- The New York Times
Soiled pants no lesson for board
CHARLESTON, W.Va. - A teacher who said he soiled himself because the faculty bathroom was locked went to the School Board and offered his pants as proof of poor conditions at his school.
Fifth-grade teacher Dow Ooten was then suspended with pay until a hearing on charges of misconduct, inappropriate behavior and unfitness to teach.
``There's no excuse for this,'' said Superintendent Everett Conn. ``It's unprofessional behavior to bring soiled clothing into any room, for any meeting.''
Ooten said the faculty bathroom was locked and a teacher's aide refused to let him into a restroom in the special education section.
All Mingo County public schools, including Lenore Grade School, were closed for about a week last month after an outbreak of hand-foot-and-mouth disease, which usually spreads through contact with feces, blisters or saliva on hands. Health officials cited Ooten's school in January for unsanitary conditions, including a lack of soap and hot water.
- Associated Press
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