Chernobyl Nuclear Accident Congressional Hearings Transcript

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standard of medical diagnostic and research equipment and the
availability of medical supplies. For instance, Ukrainian kids need
diphtheria vaccines. The American Academy of Pediatrics recognizes
this need. Badly needed are medical programs for children
based on their potential risk for cancer. Nobody disputes this need.
Assessment of genetic effects and chromosomal abnormalities. I see
no data except from Germany or other faraway lands. That needs
to be done.
Programs to alleviate psychological effects. I remind anyone in
this room that when we had the Buffalo Creek disaster in West
Virginia, 125 people died when the dam broke, but American psychiatry
now alludes to "Buffalo Creek syndrome". Eighty percent
of the survivors had serious psychological problems. We also think
that we should develop programs with emphasis on high-risk populations,
just as the International Advisory Committee recommends.
We must focus on those that had the most exposure unwillingly.
Those are called euphemistically "hot spots". It is not rational to
accept the fact that people can walk around them, as stated a few
minutes ago.
We think that there is a deep need for public information. I
think the public is fully aware of the potential effects of radiation,
but they need to know facts and they need to trust those that dispense
these facts. For instance, after Chernobyl, there has been an
increased rate of abortions in lands as far as Italy, Denmark, and
Sweden. We have no idea about the degree of such effects of Chernobyl
on the reproductive patterns in Ukraine, direct or indirect. I
also think we need to provide incentives for joint ventures to develop
a pharmaceutical infrastructure. I think that drugs can be initially
packaged, vaccines can be initially partially manufactured by
creative tripartite or even more complex arrangements. These are
urgent matters.
We need to provide incentives for businesses to engage in joint
ventures in medical technology, and the engineering is there, but
it's focused on the defense industry. We need to particularly single
out how technology can provide Ukraine with a better food chain.
Specifically, I would like to only call attention to the issues related
to thjrroid cancer. We heard before that studies may have been
undertaken too soon. Then we should not talk. The International
Advisory Committee stated that the available data reviewed do not
provide an adequate basis for determining whether there has been
an increase in leukemia and thyroid cancer as a consequence of the
accident. Let's face the fact that there may have been 800,000 children
exposed. Investigations by Brookhaven National Laboratory
and others in the U.S. have shown that when you find thyroid
S5miptoms in radiation-exposed kids in Utah or Arizona, only 3 percent
knew that they had thyroid disease. So unless somebody goes
and studies those Ukrainian kids, nobody will know, because the
symptoms will not be apparent. And the most likely victim which
incorporates radioactive iodine is the unborn. Purely epidemiologic
studies of risks and outcomes are humanistically unacceptable. Investigations
have to include medical monitoring, health care, and
prevention. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children need
follow up.