by Channel 2 News staff
Friday, August 6, 2010

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The reach of the U.S. military is being felt across rural Alaska as part of aid exercises. The Coast Guard, the Alaska National Guard and members of the U.S. Public Health Service are conducting Operation Arctic Crossroads. The training exercise brings military and government doctors, medical teams, and veterinarians to isolated parts of the state to offer their services to villagers free of charge. So far, the teams have examined more than 100 patients, and treated 120 animals. The Coast Guard is also testing out some of its rescue equipment in the rural areas to see if it can handle the shallow Western Alaska coastline.

The operation is based in Kotzebue. Crews were in Selawik Friday and will continue to conduct daily visits to some of the state's most isolated villages.

The Tennessee Department of Health and Department of Environment and Conservation are hosting training activities by the United States Public Health Service July 18-24. Survey teams will conduct these training exercises in Wilson and Rutherford Counties.
"This is an important and effective program that benefits Tennesseans by helping collect information useful for improving our responsiveness in emergency events," said Rand Carpenter, DVM, epidemiologist and public health veterinarian with the Tennessee Department of Health (TDOH).

As part of this training exercise, teams of uniformed public health officers will conduct surveys of residences and water utilities in Wilson and Rutherford Counties. Activities will include assessing the availability of public water and wastewater utilities and location of private water wells and onsite sewage disposal systems. Training team members will be dressed in military-style uniforms, and residents should not be alarmed if they see team members in their neighborhoods.

Resident participation in this project is voluntary and encouraged in order to further TDOH's mission to protect, promote and improve the health of people living in, working in and visiting Tennessee. Anyone with questions or concerns about this project may contact the Department of Health at 615-741-7247.

The U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps is an elite team of more than 6,000 full-time, public health professionals dedicated to delivering the country's public health promotion and disease prevention programs and advancing public health science. To learn more, visit www.usphs.gov/default.aspx.

Congratulations are due to officers who graduated on 23 July 2010 from the Commissioned Officer Training Academy as graduates of the Officer Basic Course (OBC) 35.

OBC training is a 2-week course of study for new calls to active duty to the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service (Corps). Officers learn about the history of the Corps and establish a foundation of knowledge in preparation for their Corps careers.

Special congratulations to LT Jonnie D. Purify Jr. as Distinguished Graduate.

The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Improvements Act of 2010 sponsored by Sen Akaka, Daniel K. [HI] unfortunately does not go far enough in permitting transferrability of unused educational benefits to USPHS Officers. The changes do not change the wording in the original Act that refers to eligible members as Armed Forces members.

The USPHS must still rely on a decision by the VA General Counsel, who interpreted the statutory provisions as expanding the definition of ‘Armed Forces’ in 38 U.S.C.101(10) to also include USPHS and NOAA for purposes of benefits administered by VA. The agency concluded that service as a commissioned officer of USPHS or NOAA meets the ‘active duty in the Armed Forces’ service requirement in section 3311 of Title 38, U.S.C. The VA said, “We agree that commissioned officers of PHS and NOAA are eligible for benefits under the Post9/11 GI Bill.”

Even though the Improvements Act of 2010 has eliminated language that disallowed the Secretary of Defense from authorizing the Secretary of Health and Human Services from permitting an individual described as a "member of the Armed Forces" to elect to transfer benefits to one or more dependents, the Secretary of Defense still has the authority to make this authorization under the Improvements Act.

This is concerning and clearly not enough changes have been proposed to eliminate the possibility that USPHS Officers will be denied the authorization to utilize the 9/11 GI Bill and the ability to transfer benefits to dependents of USPHS Officers. To those officers who wrote letters to assist COA in getting this far, it seems that the fight for clear language that allows parity is not over yet.

From: Commissioned Corps News and Information [mailto:CCINFORMATION-L@LIST.NIH.GOV] On Behalf Of Rutstein, David (HHS/OPHS)
Sent: Friday, June 04, 2010 10:36 AM
To: CCINFORMATION-L@LIST.NIH.GOV
Subject: PPACA Issue Resolution Announcement



Colleagues:

We are pleased to announce today that several measures have been implemented that enable the Corps to once again call officers to active duty, and continue the Commissioned Corps Student Training Extern Program (COSTEP).

As you know, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act enacted on March 23, 2010 legislates several immediate changes to the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Undoubtedly, the Act provides many new opportunities for public health and medical professionals to join the Corps and bring their expertise to bear on important health issues of our time. To address transitional challenges that come with these changes, the Department’s senior leadership for the past two months has ardently pursued delegations and implemented procedures to take full advantage of these new provisions and position the Corps for the future. We have also been developing new regulations and policies that will govern our new Corps in a manner that comports with the legislative language.

We understand that this has been a trying time for the Corps and the many individuals hoping to join its ranks. Without a transition period included in the Act, individuals caught in the process have faced considerable hardship. Some individuals have had orders cancelled, others have put careers on hold, and many have faced financial and quality of life hardships. We deeply regret the disruption caused by these unfortunate circumstances and empathize with those individuals and programs that have been affected. In response to these challenges, we have directed all relevant offices and personnel to undertake activities with utmost urgency to remedy these situations.

We see great opportunity for a stronger Corps during this historic time of health reform throughout our nation. We look forward to leading and working alongside all of you as we mobilize leadership in science and prevention for a healthier nation. We know the Corps has been, and will continue to be, at the forefront of responding to our nation’s public health needs.

Howard K. Koh, MD, MPH
Assistant Secretary for Health

Regina M. Benjamin, MD, MBA
VADM, USPHS
Surgeon General

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
June 02, 2010

Delegation of Authority to Appoint Commissioned Officers of the Ready Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service

MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

SUBJECT: Delegation of Authority to Appoint Commissioned Officers of the Ready Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, including section 301 of title 3, United States Code, I hereby assign to you the functions of the President under section 203 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended by Public Law 111-148, to appoint commissioned officers of the Ready Reserve Corps. The exercise of this authority is limited to appointments of individuals who were extended offers of employment for appointment and call to active duty in the Reserve Corps of the Public Health Service with an appointment date subsequent to March 23, 2010, the date of enactment of Public Law 111-148, but who were not on active duty on that date, and those individuals who are selected for the 2010 Commissioned Officer Student Training and Extern Program. This authority may not be re delegated.

You are authorized and directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal Register.

BARACK OBAMA

Houston Chronicle

Federal official: Childhood obesity is everyone's problem

By CINDY GEORGE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE

May 9, 2010, 7:25AM

In her first report to the nation as U.S. surgeon general, Dr. Regina Benjamin chose to address the nation's obesity epidemic. The Surgeon General's Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation, released in January, came just days before first lady Michelle Obama launched an initiative to combat childhood obesity. One of every three children in America is overweight or at risk of becoming too heavy. Acting Deputy Surgeon General Dr. David Rutstein discussed the topic with Chronicle reporter Cindy George last month while attending a childhood obesity conference organized by the Greater Houston Area Health Education Center.

Q: How does the Office of the Surgeon General set priorities in tackling a problem as complex as childhood obesity?
A: This has to be a collaborative, national approach. That's why I like the theme of this conference: Uniting Against Childhood Obesity — because that's what it's going to take. It can't just involve the federal government or the local government; the public sector or the private sector. It has to involve parents and families and communities and school boards. This isn't new. Primary care physicians like myself and the surgeon general have seen this for years. All these chubby kids are like anything else — unless it's an in-your-face type of threat, it tends to be given lower priority. What's happened in the last five or six years is that other communities in America have started to realize there's a problem.

Q: Like who?
A: The economists who look at our expenditures on health care — 17 percent of our gross national product. Within 15 years it may double. So you could have the richest country on earth spending one-third of everything it produces on health care. It becomes economically unsustainable. Of young men and women who try to enlist in our military, about one-third can't meet the height-weight standards. It's a problem for all of us because it affects the economy and security of our entire nation.

Q: How does the office overcome perceptions that the government is trying to control the lives of youngsters?
A: It begins with education. This problem is not produced by children. Children don't buy things from the grocery store. They're not the ones who set policies of what gets taught or served in school or how much physical education the school board approves. They're not the ones who decide how long they're going to sit in front of the TV. It begins with reaching the adults, the parents, the people in the community who have direct influence over children.

Q: How can the government and the surgeon general help people overcome barriers to healthy lifestyles?
A: If a street doesn't have a sidewalk, you're not going to get people walking down the street. Government at all levels could link the paving of roads with the development of sidewalks. How many urban settings don't have safe playgrounds or the school board won't allow the lights to remain on at the local school after dark and people can't go play basketball or run around the track? There are many areas, particularly the inner city, where grocery stores aren't available and people get their food from a corner convenience store. There's no reason that government can't incentivize large grocery chains to locate in inner city areas.

Q: How do we resolve issues with access to health care?
A: There are tremendous disparities not only in access to care but in outcomes when people have access. The federal government can try to swing the pendulum toward remedying some of the disparities that have accrued over decades and centuries in our nation. Will it happen right away? No, but what we're seeing recently is a greater awareness of this issue.

Q: What is your perspective on the new health reform legislation?
A: I am very encouraged by the new law that was passed, that places a greater emphasis on access to care and the provision of more health care providers and certainly on the prevention of illness — which in the long run is going to solve this for everybody.

cindy.george@chron.com

Link to the story...

By JESSE J. HOLLAND (AP)

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the family of a now-deceased immigrant who was denied medical care for cancer while in custody cannot sue federal medical officials for damages.

The law clearly states that the federal government, not individual federal medical personnel, must be the defendant in lawsuits arising out of claims of harm by federal employees during the course of their official duties, the high court ruled in an unanimous decision.

"We are required ... to read the statute according to its text," said Justice Sonia Sotomayor, writing for a unanimous court.
Salvadoran immigrant Francisco Castaneda was denied a biopsy for a painful penis lesion while in prison in California, despite outside specialists' recommendations.

According to his attorneys, Castaneda was treated with ibuprofen, antihistamines and antibiotics and was given extra boxer shorts for a penis lesion that bled and festered. His penis later was amputated but by then the cancer had spread and he died.

The federal government has admitted liability for medical negligence. But Castaneda and his estate also sued individual U.S. Public Health Service medical officials for damages.
The government says its medical personnel have absolute immunity against lawsuits for their official actions.

Congress in 1970 passed a law gave immunity to Public Health Service doctors who treat immigrants in detention. Under that law, Castaneda's survivors can only sue the federal government under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which bars jury trials and punitive damages and limits economic damages to those allowed under state law.
A federal judge and the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco refused to throw out the lawsuit, however. The high court on Monday reversed that decision.
Castaneda spent eight months in state prison after being convicted in 2005 of possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He complained about the lesion while at the San Diego Correctional Facility, and again when he was transferred to immigration custody in San Pedro, Calif., because he was in the United States illegally.
Castaneda informed Immigration and Customs Enforcement staff in 2006 that a "lesion on his penis was becoming painful and growing," a federal judge said. But a government doctor would not admit him to a hospital, calling a biopsy "an elective outpatient procedure."

After the American Civil Liberties complained in 2007, a doctor performed a biopsy and said Castaneda likely had cancer.
ICE decided to release him 11 days later. Castaneda went to a hospital and was diagnosed with metastatic squamous cell carcinoma. Less than a week later, his penis was amputated.

He died a year later.

The case is Hui v Castaneda, 08-1529.

Copyright © 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Link to the story...

April 7, 2010

Q: Did the new health care law give Obama a Nazi-like "private army" of 6,000 people?

A: No. Contrary to false Internet rumors, the new Ready Reserve Corps of doctors and other health workers will report to the surgeon general and be like the "ready reserves" in other uniformed services. They will be used during health emergencies.


FULL QUESTION
I just received an e-mail concerning a section of the new healthcare bill establishing a "ready reserve health corps" of 6,000. Some, Fox News, are saying this is an attempt to erode our freedoms. Should we run to our bunkers?

"Obama Just Got His Private Army

Were you aware of the fact that the health care bill created a civilian army?

A Ready Reserve Corps for service in time of national emergency.
All commissioned officers shall be citizens of the United States and shall be appointed without regard to the civil-service laws (which means they will not be sworn to uphold the Constitution) and compensated without regard to the Classification Act 2 of 1923, as amended.
Remember when Obama said he wanted a “national security force”? Not the national guard, but a civilian one that has not sworn to uphold the Constitution?
On July 2, 2008 in a speech in Colorado Springs, Barack Obama called for a police state. Remember that first alarming glimpse of what that army might look like? Notice how much these “Hitler youth” type young men talk about health care!
Obama just got his private army… and no one seems to have noticed. It is buried in the Senate revisions to the health care bill.
Subtitle C–Increasing the Supply of the Health Care Workforce
Sec. 5201. Federally supported student loan funds.
Sec. 5202. Nursing student loan program.
Sec. 5203. Health care workforce loan repayment programs.
Sec. 5204. Public health workforce recruitment and retention programs.
Sec. 5205. Allied health workforce recruitment and retention programs.
Sec. 5206. Grants for State and local programs.
Sec. 5207. Funding for National Health Service Corps.
Sec. 5208. Nurse-managed health clinics.
Sec. 5209. Elimination of cap on commissioned corps.
Sec. 5210. Establishing a Ready Reserve Corps.
Subtitle D–Enhancing Health Care Workforce Education and Training
See the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, page 1312:
SEC. 5210. ESTABLISHING A READY RESERVE CORPS.
Section 203 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 204) is amended to read as follows:
SEC. 203. COMMISSIONED CORPS AND READY RESERVE CORPS.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT:
(1) IN GENERAL.–here shall be in the Service a commissioned Regular Corps and a Ready Reserve Corps for service in time of national emergency.
(2) REQUIREMENT.–All commissioned officers shall be citizens of the United States and shall be appointed without regard to the civil-service laws and compensated without regard to the Classification Act 2 of 1923, as amended.
(3) APPOINTMENT.–Commissioned officers of the Ready Reserve Corps shall be appointed by the President and commissioned officers of the Regular Corps shall be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate.
(4) ACTIVE DUTY.–Commissioned officers of the Ready Reserve Corps shall at all times be subject to call to active duty by the Surgeon General, including active duty for the purpose of training.
(5) WARRANT OFFICERS.–Warrant officers may be appointed to the Service for the purpose of providing support to the health and delivery systems maintained by the Service and any warrant officer appointed to the Service shall be considered for purposes of this Act and title 37, United States Code, to be a commissioned officer within the Commissioned Corps of the Service.
(b) ASSIMILATING RESERVE CORP OFFICERS INTO THE REGULAR CORPS: Effective on the date of enactment of the Affordable Health Choices Act, all individuals classified as officers in the Reserve Corps under this section (as such section existed on the day before the date of enactment of such Act) and serving on active duty shall be deemed to be commissioned officers of the Regular Corps. [Note here that those personally appointed by BO -- without the advice and consent of the Senate -- automatically become a part of the Regular Corps. Ed.]
(c) PURPOSE AND USE OF READY RESERVE:
(1) PURPOSE. The purpose of the Ready Reserve Corps is to fulfill the need to have additional Commissioned Corps personnel available on short notice (similar to the uniformed service’s reserve program) to assist regular Commissioned Corps personnel to meet both routine public health and emergency response missions.
(2) USES: The Ready Reserve Corps shall–
(A) participate in routine training to meet the general and specific needs of the Commissioned Corps;
(B) be available and ready for involuntary calls to active duty during national emergencies and public health crises, similar to the uniformed service reserve personnel;
(C) be available for backfilling critical positions left vacant during deployment of active duty Commissioned Corps members, as well as for deployment to respond to public health emergencies, both foreign and domestic; and
(D) be available for service assignment in isolated, hardship, and medically underserved communities (as defined in section 399SS) to improve access to health services.
(d) FUNDING.—For the purpose of carrying out the duties and responsibilities of the Commissioned Corps under this section, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to the Office of the Surgeon General for each of fiscal years 2010 through 2014. Funds appropriated under this subsection shall be used for recruitment and training of Commissioned Corps Officers.
Again, I ask the question: Were you aware of the fact that the health care bill created another army? We can easily imagine what they will be ordered to do, including lethal injections (a.k.a. vaccinations) to "unworthy" people?
Whew, Nazi Germany all over again and it is happening right before our eyes, and right under our noses."

FULL ANSWER

This e-mail features a prominent reference to something we’ve dealt with before: A July 2, 2008, speech in Colorado Springs by then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. Obama talked there about building up "a civilian national security force that’s just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as our military force. But the doomsayers left out the context: Obama was proposing strengthening the Peace Corps, Americorps, the USA Freedom Corps and the ranks of the State Department’s foreign service officers.

Despite our efforts, though, some people have been on the lookout for signs of Obama’s "national security force" ever since, and they think they have found it in section 5210 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the health care overhaul recently signed into law by the president. The blogosphere has been ablaze with postings, which, like the e-mail above, often contain references to Hitler, brownshirts, Nazism and the like.

The truth about the new Ready Reserve Corps is a lot less interesting than the conspiracy theories. Before the law was passed, the Public Health Service, unlike other elements of the government’s seven uniformed services, didn’t have a "ready reserve" – a cadre of individuals who could be called up involuntarily in times of need. What it had was a regular, full-time corps of 2,800 doctors, nurses, scientists and other medical professionals, which was the limit under law. It also had a reserve corps. But most of the individuals in the reserve corps, which was larger than the regular corps, were on extended active duty for the duration of their careers; in other words, they worked full-time, just like the regular corps, because they were needed, but the statutory cap prevented the service from bringing them into the regular corps.

The new law eliminates the personnel cap and brings the members of what used to be the reserve corps into the regular corps, which as a result now numbers about 6,600, according to an official at the Public Health Service who spoke to us on background.

And the law creates the ready reserve of individuals who can be called up for service by the U.S. surgeon general in times of need; the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is often used as an example of an incident that might trigger a call-up.

Officials at the PHS are in the process of developing regulations that will determine how the Ready Reserve Corps is populated, but the person we spoke to said there will be limits on how long individuals could serve on active duty. Those who are activated will be paid for the duration of their service, and the bill provides $12.5 million per year through 2014 for the Ready Reserve.

It’s unclear at this point how large the Ready Reserve will be, but a number in the neighborhood of several thousand has been mentioned. The PHS had been hoping to create the new team for several years, for reasons that may have been best described in a 2008 report, Blueprint for a Healthier America, published by a nonprofit group called the Trust for America’s Health to help guide the next administration and Congress:

Blueprint for a Healthier America: There are not sufficient numbers of public health professionals to respond during major health emergencies, and when Corps members are called away to respond to emergencies, it means their ongoing functions are often neglected. If a “Ready Reserve” program was created, retired members of the Corps could become reservists who could be deployed on short notice during emergencies, or could fill in at federal agencies when active members are needed during emergencies, to ensure ongoing functions are carried out. Reservists would be required to participate in an appropriate number of drills and training throughout the year. Members of the reserve could also help fill in to provide services for underserved communities where health problems are the greatest.

Jerry Farrell, executive director of the Commissioned Officers Association, told us that the Ready Reserve can help the PHS avoid situations such as what happened after Katrina, when so many members of the regular and reserve corps were dispatched to New Orleans and other areas hit by the 2005 hurricane that "the corps discovered, for instance, that they had deployed a whole surgical clinic of the Indian Health Service."

Needless to say (we hope), there is absolutely no support for this chain e-mail’s speculation that uniformed members of the Public Health Service would be ordered to give "lethal injections (a.k.a. vaccinations) to ‘unworthy people.’ " –Viveca Novak

Sources

Hamburg, Richard. Deputy Director, Trust for America’s Health. Interview with FactCheck.org. 6 April 2010.
Trust for America’s Health. "Blueprint for a Healthier America." October 2008.
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Pub. L. No. 111-148. Enacted 23 March 2010.
Farrell, Jerry. Executive Director, Commissioned Officers Association. Interview with FactCheck.org. 6 April 2010.
Posted by Viveca Novak on Wednesday, April 7, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Filed under Ask FactCheck · Tagged with Army, Barack Obama, chain e-mail, health care, health care reform, ready reserve