By Vicki C. Walker

CDC scandal broadens
Evidence has emerged indicating that the diversion of CFS research funds is only the tip of the iceberg at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as Lyme disease, hantavirus, hepatitis and HIV funds also appear to have been misused.

When the CFS scandal broke, CDC Director Dr. Jeffrey Koplan made the rounds on Capitol Hill, assuring legislators that the diversion of CFS funds was "an isolated incident."

Paralleling his remarks on the CFS diversion, he said that the hantavirus funds were used to respond to emergencies in "very important public heath areas." These latest reports have left some in Congress angry at and distrustful of CDC and wondering about the pervasiveness of CDC managers disregarding Congressional direction and lying to cover their tracks.

The House Commerce Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation started looking into this question, using documents from the Inspector General's CFS audit and The CFIDS Association of America as sources. Senators Bliley and Upton have sent letters to Dr. Koplan seeking additional information about how funds were used.

On February 29, the Senate got in its licks at the DHHS Appropriations Hearing. Senators Specter and Reid did not accept Dr. Koplan's or DHHS Secretary Dr. Donna Shalala's responses to their questions about the diverted CFS, hanta-virus and Lyme disease funds. The Hearing transcript is posted on the web page listed at bottom left.

A major point of contention was whether or not Dr. Koplan had met with the Inspector General (IG) to learn of the other problems uncovered in the CFS audit that were beyond the scope of that report. Dr. Koplan avoided answering, which fed Senator Specter's anger. He and Senator Reid demanded to know what disciplinary actions had been taken against those behind the scandal and whether illegal activity had taken place.

The hearing was essentially shut down when Dr. Shalala said that it was unlawful to discuss private personnel matters in a public forum, so Drs. Shalala and Koplan were taken behind closed doors by the Senators to discuss the matter in private. Dr. Shalala agreed to additional oversight hearings if warranted.

In addition, Senators Specter, Harkin, Bingamin and Domenici and have asked the GAO to investigate CDC's accounting practices. The GAO and the requesting Senators are currently working to define the scope of that investigation and get it underway, although it will be a year or more before the results are released. CDC has also con-tracted with private accounting firms to conduct additional audits.

In February, an independent PricewaterhouseCoopers audit showed that, in 1999 CDC could not account for $53,207 of $6.4 million it spent on CFS research, even though the program was actively being watched by the General Accounting Office (GAO), CDC's Office of the Director, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the Office of Management and Budget, Congress and the CFIDS community.

There is still no word from the Department of Justice regarding Senator Reid's request for an investigation into possible breaches of the "Lying to Congress" Act. C-ACT members have reported that Senators Kyl, Robb, Murkowski and Santorum have also asked the Justice department to investigate this situation.

NIH grant information released
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recently provided information about the CFS grants it funded in fiscal year 1999. A total of $6.7 million was provided by six NIH Institutes. Please see the CFIDS Advocacy section of the Association's web site at www.cfids.org/advocacy for a list of the grants NIH has reported to be CFS-related.

"State of the Science" committee formed
Dozens of people were nominated to serve on the "State of the Science" Conference planning committee announced at the February 8th CFS Coordinating Committee (CFSCC) meeting (see Winter Chronicle). This meeting, to take place in October 2000 in concert with a CFSCC meeting, is a replacement for the botched National Institutes of Health (NIH) "State of the Science Internal Consultation" held in February. 

On April 10, the NIH announced that the following people had been named to the planning committee. From the CFSCC: Anthony Komaroff, MD (chair); Donna Dean, PhD; Kim Kenney; Nancy Klimas, MD; Jan Montgomery and Jon Sterling. From the public: David Bell, MD; Pat Blankenship and Leonard Jason, PhD.

Although considered a CFSCC activity, NIH will pay for the conference, which will be open to the public.

The committee has chosen two broad subjects for the conference: the central nervous system, including neuroendocrine studies, cognition, pain, autonomic dysfunction, sleep and fatigue, and immunological findings, although specific infectious agents will not be a primary focus. The committee hoped to finalize its list of presenters and make invitations by the end of April.

Name change task force
Surprisingly, far fewer nominations than expected were submitted for the name-change task force announced at the February CFSCC meeting, despite widespread agreement that the name "CFS" should be changed. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will select new members to join Kim Kenney, Nancy Klimas, MD and Art Lawrence, MD (of DHHS) on the CFSCC task force.

Appropriations requests delivered
On April 5, CFIDS Associ-ation Vice Chairman Jane Permutter spoke before the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (Labor/HHS) Appropriations committee, presenting The CFIDS Association's fiscal year 2001 requests for CFS programs at the federal health agencies (see the "CFIDS advocacy" section of the Association's web site). This is the sixth consecutive year that the Association has been granted one of the coveted slots to deliver its requests in person, rather than only in written form.

Government's CFS review underway
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has awarded a contract to the Evidence-Based Center at Texas Health Sciences University in San Antonio to examine the state of CFS research and make a report on what is known scientifically about the illness. Dr. Gil Ramirez, who is leading the efforts, attended the NIH "State of the Science" and CFS Coordinating Committee meetings February 6-8. A 16-member international advisory committee, of which I am a member, has been formed and will meet in mid-May.

July CFSCC meeting scheduled
The CFSCC will meet July 12 in Washington to discuss the GAO report. Meeting details will be announced through the C-ACT e-mail list and posted on the CFIDS Advocacy section of the Association's web site.

Vicki Walker is Research and Public Policy Project Manager for The CFIDS Association of America.