In D.C. Today, UT Southwestern's Haley Will, Yet Again, Make Case for Gulf War Syndrome

For more than a decade, UT Southwestern epidemiologist Robert Haley has been at odds with naysayers over the existence of Gulf War Syndrome; here, from 1998, is Ann Zimmerman's piece in the Observer about the doc's battle with government officials who insisted that those symptoms -- everything from all-over aches...

By Robert Wilonsky

July 30, 2009

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For more than a decade, UT Southwestern epidemiologist Robert Haley has been at odds with naysayers over the existence of Gulf War Syndrome; here, from 1998, is Ann Zimmerman's piece in the Observer about the doc's battle with government officials who insisted that those symptoms -- everything from all-over aches to severe fatigue to memory and hair loss -- were little more than figments of the soldiers' imaginations. Most recently, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has been at odds with Haley and UT Southwestern over a five-year, $75-million study grant; a July 15 report by the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General says Haley and UT Southwestern have wasted money, failed to comply with terms of the contract (which involves turning over patient information to the VA), and that "it appears that UTSWMC has given VA has no option other than to terminate the contract for default."

Under that shadow, Haley this morning is in Washington to testify in front of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. He's among several witnesses being called to testify about "The Implications of U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' Limited Scope of Gulf War Illness Research," and Haley will have much to say on the subject -- he always has. One has to wonder whether Rep. Harry Mitchell, the Democratic chairman of the subcommittee, will bring up the the Inspector General's report. There's always the Webcast.

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