Press Release
For Immediate Release
November 5, 2001
P.U.L.S.E. (Persons United Limiting Substandards and Errors in Healthcare) A
nonprofit support group for the survivors of medical malpractice and
substandard healthcare.
Contact - Colorado - Jennifer Dingman, President (719) 564-0280
New York - Ilene Corina, Executive Director (516) 579-4711

PULSE (Persons United Limiting Substandards and Errors in Health Care)
reminds consumers that it is there right to be tested for anthrax by their
healthcare provider if there
is any suspicion or concern.

Local health department officials are making policy decisions for their own
communities that do not correlate with recommendations by the CDC or the
government.

There are no federal standards of testing for anthrax symptoms and there are
no federal standards on how communities are to deal with suspicious mail.
With bio terrorism as the weapons, it is imperative for all medical providers
to be on the same page, we cannot afford different opinions to get in the way
of our safety. It is time for standards of care to be given freely to
society to judge healthcare quality. We must be given proper information and
all of the tools to protect ourselves from bio terrorism. We must quickly
enact laws that are clear on treatment and testing of all symptoms in every
community in our nation.

It is clear by the example of the delayed diagnosis of the postal workers in
Washington that poor judgment on the part of the providers' has added to the
numbers of those who have suffered an error in healthcare. The CDC claimed
that it was up to the judgment of the providers, while the providers stood
fast that they did "nothing wrong" as they simply followed the advice of the
CDC. Fortunately, the CDC quickly amended it's policy and apologized.
Unfortunately, the health care providers did not. If similar problems were
to occur in places that do not have wide media access, many could die before
the CDC is ever notified.

If we do not soon see Homeland Security force National standards on bio
terrorism, the casualties of this war will be far worse then imaginable. A
justifiable fear is that traces of anthrax will soon randomly get into
household mail all over the nation. Will the first victims of this war in
their communities have to die because a local health department advised
citizens to put suspicious mail in double plastic bags and throw it in the
trash? A health department official wrote the following to her readers in
her Sunday column: "no need for nasal swabs or other medical testing" and "I
will make sure you are informed of any recommendation changes". How will
the local providers know if it is bio terrorism or a flu without tracking and
testing mail in the area routinely? What about "poor judgment" when the
bacteria has yet to be found in the state in question? Can we really
afford more system errors?

We would like to propose the following ideas to Homeland Security:

1. Suspend all mail delivery to all schools in the United States. Have
school district representatives take safety precautions and sort mail for
the schools in a restricted area away from school buildings. Request a
moratorium on all third class and standard mail until the problems are
resolved.

2. Set federal standards regarding random testing of mail facilities in
all states. Regularly test post office buildings, state government
buildings, hospitals and schools for contamination. This would give a
state a head start if contamination were found, and better equip health care
providers to deal with symptoms presented.

3. Set federal standards of care in medicine regarding standard tests for
symptoms of anthrax, regardless of other cases or warnings reported to local
health departments.

4. Set cut and dry Federal standards as to how citizens should deal with
suspect mail.

Without enforced standards, healthcare is not as efficient and safe as it
could be. Things are getting better, but we have so far to go.

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