16,269 exposed to chemicals not notified of health issues?

The Pentagon hired a contractor to try to identify more veterans, but GAO found the project lacked sufficient oversight. For example, in 2007, a contractor identified 2,300 people exposed to biological tests at Fort Detrick, Md., in “Operation Whitecoat,” which ran from the early 1950s to the early 1970s.

VA, DoD urged to find chemical-exposed vets

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Saturday Mar 1, 2008 7:56:47 EST

The Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department must work harder to find tens of thousands of veterans involved in military chemical and biological weapons tests since World War II, the Government Accountability Office said in a new report.

“As this population becomes older, it will become more imperative for DoD and VA to identify and notify these individuals in a timely manner because they might be eligible for health care or other benefits,” according to the GAO report.

The classified tests exposed people to various agents. Some were simulated, but many were not. The list included blister and nerve agents, biological agents, PCP and LSD, in a series of tests over several decades known as “Project 112.”

According to the GAO, the military also exposed healthy adults, psychiatric patients and prison inmates in the experiments.

In some cases, service members volunteered for the tests but were misled about what they would be asked to do.

“Precise information on the number of tests, experiments and participants is not available, and the exact numbers will never be known,” the GAO report states.

Still, in 1993, the Defense Department began trying to find as many as it could. They identified almost 6,000 veterans and 350 civilians who may have been exposed. That search effort ended in 2003.

But in a 2004 study, GAO said the Pentagon should review further data and see if it would be feasible to find more people who may have been exposed.

Defense officials decided that looking further would not yield significant results, but GAO said that decision was “not supported by an objective analysis of the potential costs and benefits,” and that the Pentagon had not documented the criteria for its decision.

Since 2003, the Institutes of Medicine as well as other non-military agencies have found 600 more people.

GAO found that the Defense Department efforts in this area lack consistent objectives and adequate oversight, and officials have not used information gained from previous research that identified exposed people. GAO also aid the process lacks transparency because it has not kept Congress and veterans groups informed of its progress.

VA officials sent letters to only 48 percent of the names provided by the Pentagon because those were the only ones for whom they could find addresses. At least 16,269 known to be living still need to be notified.

Some records have been lost or destroyed, but GAO said VA does not work with the Social Security Administration or the Internal Revenue Service to obtain contact information for veterans.

go here for the rest

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/03/military_chemicalweapons_tests_022908w/

A couple of things really wrong with this aside from the obvious. The VA can and does work with the IRS and Social Security when it involves the ability to collect for treatment classified as "non-service connected" and they did this in the 90's at least because they kept taking our tax refund until my husband's claim was approved. The Pentagon also must work with the IRS and Social Security because they managed to track down the National Guardsman they are sending to jail because he had income from a private job while part of the time he was deployed to Iraq. In other words, when they want to find you, they do.