Foreign Correspondence

[CoalTrain]

Funding halted for fallout study

By BRIAN PASSEY
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http://www.thespectrum.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050330/NEWS01/503300303/1002


ST. GEORGE - In three more years, Dr. Joseph L. Lyon might have known more about the connection between atomic testing in Nevada and thyroid disease. But now that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has halted funding for the program, his life's work may never be complete.

Thyroid disease is one of many health problems attributed to radiation exposure by people, often called downwinders, who lived in Southern Utah during the aboveground testing from 1951 to 1961.

The CDC recently notified Lyon that the funding for his University of Utah study would not be renewed past September, though he said it will take three years to complete.

"(The federal government) essentially declared they have no interest in the adverse effects of nuclear radiation," Lyon alleged.

But the CDC said the study was scheduled to be complete by September and has already extended the funding twice, committing more than $8 million to it, said Tom Skinner, a CDC spokesman.

"A lot has been learned from this study," Skinner said. "We're committed to evaluating the exposure to radiation."

Skinner said the University of Utah study is just one of many radiation studies the CDC is funding around the country, including studies in Washington state, Idaho and New Mexico.

St. George resident Jeff Bradshaw, who has thyroid problems, is one of the downwinders who is participating in Lyon's study. He heard about the funding cut Tuesday afternoon.

"I'd just say it's another one of (the federal government's) schemes," Bradshaw alleged. "I think they're trying to get away from doing anything for the downwinders because they want to start the testing again."

He has been participating in Lyon's various studies for about 20 years. Though Lyon began this particular study in 1998, he has been looking at health problems associated with the downwinders for 27 years.

Lyon, like Bradshaw, said he thinks there is more to the funding cut than money. He said a core problem is that the federal government is both the "polluter" and the one trying to find solutions.

Lyon said they have only completed examinations on about 1,300 of 4,000 individuals. Ideally, Lyon said the people should be followed throughout their lives.

"We've got three more years of hard work to complete the study by," Lyon said.

But without the funding, the study will not be completed.

"We have to shut down," Lyon said. "We'll have to archive this information."

It likely will cost several million to restart the study if funding is ever obtained, Lyon said.

The funding cut will not affect the local Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program at Dixie Regional Medical Center because it is not funded by the CDC, said Becky Barlow, project director. The program also operates clinics in Hildale and at Valley View Medical Center in Cedar City.

The clinic is basically the screening arm for the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act of 1990, which provides payments to downwinders who contracted certain diseases, Barlow said. Those at the clinic check for cancerous conditions and offer education about the increased risk of cancer among downwinders.

"Our clinic does an overall assessment on the whole body," Barlow said. "We look at more than just the thyroid."

Barlow said it was a shame that Lyon's program had lost funding because of the amount of information it had gathered on thyroid problems. She said her clinic has referred patients to Lyon's study.

"He literally has made that his life," Barlow said.


Originally published March 30, 2005