[ RadSafe ] U.S. Army delays, alters medical studies under little-known scientific censorship program

[Steven Dapra]

Oct. 27

         This censorship escapade probably can not serving serve its 
purported purpose ("to deny Iraqi and Afghan insurgents sensitive data such 
as combat injury and death rates").  I'm sure the insurgents are capable of 
paying enough attention to their activities to be able to tell how many 
soldiers and Marines they are killing and injuring.  It sounds to me like 
another episode of the post Sept. 11 paranoia that is very close to 
becoming ubiquitous.

         The threat of disciplinary action is more of the paranoia.  How 
can any rational person construe lamenting adequate resources as revealing 
death and injury statistics?  This is so stupid it defies description.  It 
sounds more like the Department of Defense is trying to stamp out anything 
that might cause the Iraq and Afghanistan wars to be called into question; 
or that might serve to embarrass the war mongers.

Steven Dapra


At 12:28 AM 10/27/08 -0600, Maury Siskel wrote:
>Seems appropriate that the List should be at least aware of this practice 
>or possibility.
>Best,
>Maury&Dog (Maury Siskel maurysis at peoplepc.com)
>==============
>
>"U.S. Army delays, alters medical studies under little-known scientific 
>censorship program" by Bryant Furlow, October 21.
>
>Since 2006 U.S. Army censors have scrutinized hundreds of medical studies, 
>scientific posters, abstracts and Powerpoint presentations authored by 
>doctors and scientists at Walter Reed and other Army medical research 
>centers—part of a little-known prepublication review process called 
>"Actionable Medical Information Review."
>
>More than 300 scientific documents have been reviewed by Army censors to 
>date. Fewer than half of them have been cleared for public disclosure in 
>their original form.
>
>The program is intended to deny Iraqi and Afghan insurgents sensitive data 
>such as combat injury and death rates. But dozens of studies reviewed 
>under the program did not involve research directly related to combat 
>operations. Instead, they described controversial topics like the effects 
>of war on soldiers' children, hospital-acquired infections, 
>post-deployment adjustment issues, refugees, suicide, alcoholism, 
>vaccines, cancer among veterans and problems with military health care 
>databases.
>
>An Army epidemiologist has been threatened with disciplinary action for 
>allegedly violating the policy after sending a letter to Stars & Stripes 
>lamenting the Pentagon's inadequate resources for tracking and studying 
>diseases—as Congress requires.