THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, January 22, 1997 TAG: 9701220421
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: 57 lines
Gulf War veterans who were near an accidental release of nerve gas in Iraq show a higher rate of muscle and bone ailments than those farther away, a top veterans official said Tuesday.
The Department of Veterans Affairs identified 81 Gulf veterans, part of a weapons demolition team, who blew up shells that later were found to contain deadly sarin nerve gas. Of that group, 31 percent ``have been diagnosed with musculoskeletal conditions at a higher rate than veterans who were farther away,'' Dr. Kenneth Kizer, the VA's top health official said.
The results are preliminary, Kizer cautioned. They concern soldiers involved in the demolition of Iraqi weapons at a site called Kamisiyah in March 1991, just after the war. Test results on these 81 soldiers ``cannot be generalized to the entire Kamisiyah group or considered definitive,'' he said.
Nevertheless, they bolster the arguments of veterans and lawmakers who argue that exposure to chemical weapons during the Gulf War may explain various ailments suffered by thousands of veterans. The ailments, known collectively as Gulf War syndrome, include headache, insomnia, muscle ache, joint pain, stomach disorder and chronic fatigue.
The VA has conducted diagnostic examinations of more than 52,000 Gulf veterans. Of those, 1,978 were within 31 miles of Kamisiyah and 81 were at the scene of the demolition operations. The soldiers thought they were blowing up conventional munitions. Only last year did the Pentagon confirm reports that some of the warheads contained sarin.
The medical exams of all Gulf veterans compared with those within 31 miles of the site returned similar results: 25.3 percent and 25.9 percent respectively reporting ailments of ``musculoskeletal and connective tissue.'' For the 81 veterans at the site, however, 30.9 percent reported musculoskeletal and connective tissue ailments.
Exam results indicating ``injury and poisoning'' of various kinds also were higher for the Kamisiyah group: 8.6 percent, compared with 4.8 percent for all those examined and 5.9 percent for those within 31 miles of Kamisiyah.
In several other categories, the reported problems among the 81 at Kamisiyah were not appreciably higher. Indeed, in such categories as mental disorders, nervous and circulatory system ailments and respiratory and digestive troubles, the results for the 81 at Kamisiyah were slightly lower.
Because the veterans who came in for VA exams were ``self-selected'' in that they came in because they believed they were ill, comparisons of various subcategories of Gulf veterans may be of limited value to the nearly 700,000 American troops who served in the conflict.
``This information gives one perspective, or a partial snapshot,'' Kizer said.
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., chairman of the House Governmental Reform and Oversight human resources subcommittee, pressed Kizer on the VA's failure until 1995 to ask ailing veterans about possible chemical exposures.
When Kizer refused to concede that the VA had made mistakes, Shays retorted, ``You are being evasive.''
KEYWORDS: PERSIAN GULF WAR CHEMICAL GULF WAR SYNDROME