Tag: Medical Monitoring

CDC in W.Va. Discussing Spill Health Monitoring

Federal health officials are in Charleston this week discussing options for medical monitoring after a January chemical spill contaminated water supplies to 300,000 people.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state health officials say they are a few weeks to a month away from deciding how to track people’s long-term health.

The spill spurred a tap-water ban for four to 10 days.

Hundreds of people went to the emergency room in the two weeks after the spill, many after a tap-water ban was lifted. Some common symptoms were rashes, nausea, vomiting and itching.

The visit follows up on a July commitment that the National Toxicology Program will spend $750,000 to $1.2 million on additional studies. Officials say the animal research will take up to a year to complete.

Medical Tests Now Available in W.Va. C8 Case

Mid-Ohio Valley residents exposed to a chemical used by a DuPont plant in West Virginia can now apply for free medical monitoring.

An attorney for Parkersburg-area plaintiffs, Harry Deitzler, says residents can apply for a free blood test and free medical screening to uncover diseases linked to the chemical C8.

The comprehensive C8 Medical Monitoring Program was created under the terms of a 2005 class-action settlement of a lawsuit that claimed water supplies in Ohio and West Virginia were contaminated with C8.

A separate science panel found probable links between C8 and several health issues, including thyroid disease and testicular and kidney cancers.

DuPont uses C8 at its plant near Parkersburg on the Ohio line but plans to stop making and using the chemical by 2015.

'Recovery' Phase After Spill Includes Collecting Medical Records

State health officials are seeking patient data from physicians who might have treated people affected by the Jan. 9 chemical spill.

The Charleston spill contaminated 300,000 people’s tap water in nine counties.

State Bureau for Public Health commissioner Dr. Letita Tierney says in a news release that the state is reaching out to health care providers to obtain data on any patient who might have been exposed to the contaminated water.
 
Letters have been sent to 865 physicians in the nine-county region asking them to voluntarily submit the data.
 
Tierney says the bureau’s focus has shifted from response to recovery.
 
That recovery phase will also include results of a federal chart review of patients who visited emergency departments between Jan. 9 and Jan. 23.

W.Va. Delegation Urges CDC to Monitor Health Effects of Jan. Spill

West Virginia’s Congressional Delegation has penned a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, urging health officials to conduct further studies on the effects of the January 9 Freedom Industries chemical spill.

Senators Joe Manchin and Jay Rockefeller, along with Representatives Nick Rahall, Shelley Moore Capito and David McKinley sent the letter Thursday.

The letter supports Gov. Tomblin’s request for additional studies and health monitoring of the more than 300,000 West Virginians impacted by the spill in the Kanawha Valley.

You can read that letter here:

Tomblin Unsure How to Pay for Health Monitoring After Spill

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin says he’s not sure about tapping state reserves to monitor people’s long-term health after chemicals spilled into their water supply last month.
 
Senate Majority Leader John Unger has said Tomblin should use $10 million from the state’s rainy day fund for 10 years of health monitoring. Unger said lawmakers could approve the money, but it’d be easier with Tomblin’s support.
 
Tomblin told reporters Tuesday he would make that decision “down the road.”
 
He is awaiting in-home testing results and research on the chemical’s odor threshold and what levels are safe to consume in drinking water. The Jan. 9 spill contaminated 300,000 people’s water for days.
 
West Virginia’s $915 million last-resort fund is one of the nation’s strongest. Tomblin’s proposed budget uses $83.8 million from the fund.
 

W.Va. Senator Says Goverment Should Fund Health Monitoring

A top state senator wants West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin to use $10 million in reserves for health monitoring after chemicals spilled into 300,000 people’s water supply.
 
     Senate Majority John Unger wants the governor to tap into the state’s rainy day fund for the program. The last-resort fund of about $915 million is considered one of the nation’s strongest.
 
     The Berkeley County Democrat says county health officials, such as Dr. Rahul Gupta of Kanawha County, should help administer the monitoring. Gupta has said health tracking is needed after people had contact with the little-known chemical, crude MCHM.
 
     Little toxicity information is available about the chemicals that spilled Jan. 9. They were not considered hazardous by federal standards.
 
     A Tomblin spokeswoman didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment Friday.

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