Sen. Reid Calls for Criminal Investigation into CDC's Reporting of CFS Expenditures

On November 9, 1999 Senator Harry Reid of Nevada asked U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno to launch a criminal investigation into CFS misspending at the Centers for Disease Control.

On November 10th the Washington Post reported "CDC Director Jeffery P. Koplan has apologized publicly and the General Accounting Office is looking into the diversion [of CFS funds]. Even so, Reid said, the CDC does not appear to take the problem seriously."

Earlier this year the Department of Health and Human Service's Inspector General (IG) found that CDC officials knowingly "provided inaccurate and potentially misleading information to Congress concerning the scope and cost of CFS research activities." (For a copy of the IG's report, visit The CFIDS Association's website at http://www.cfids.org, or request a copy from the Association by phone at 704/365-2343, fax at 704/365-9755, or e-mail at c-act@cfids.org.) The Association acted on information provided by the IG that the "Lying to Congress" act may have been violated by certain CDC staff.

This Act prohibits "anyone from knowingly and willfully making misrepresentations to the government." Included under the Act's definition of criminal activity is knowingly providing inaccurate information to a superior which results in misrepresentations being made to Congress.

The IG found that the Division Director responsible for CFS research at CDC, Dr. Brian Mahy, "consistently overstated the extent of effort devoted to CFS research." The IG also found that "the Division Director, who generally justified the transfer of CFS costs to ensure that other division programs were sufficiently funded, was able to transfer unrelated costs to the CFS program without appropriate analysis, documentation, or justification" and "As a result of these inappropriate charges, CDC officials provided inaccurate information to Congress regarding the use of CFS funds and have not supported the CFS program to the extent recommended and encouraged by Congress."

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