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mercifulserpentMoveOn.Org Warns HHS Official Unqualified to Deal with Flu Pandemic
By Melanie Hunter
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
October 12, 2005
(CNSNews.com) - In an email titled "Flu Pandemic: Our lives are in this man's hands," the MoveOn.org Political Action Team issued a warning Wednesday predicting that the Bush administration would be ill-prepared to deal with an outbreak of the avian flu virus in the United States, because the point man responsible for dealing with a flu pandemic is not qualified.
The liberal advocacy group accused Stewart Simonson, assistant secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness for the Health and Human Services Department, of having "no experience related to his job - he's a political appointee."
"And a botched response could affect millions of Americans," the group wrote, urging the public to sign a petition to replace Simonson.
"Stewart Simonson is the Bush administration's point man for a flu pandemic but he has no public health management experience. He got his job because he is a close associate of former Health & Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson," wrote MoveOn.org.
The group said prior to working in the Health and Human Services Department, Simonson worked as corporate secretary and counsel for Amtrak when Thompson was chief of the rail service. Prior to that, Simonson was staff lawyer for Thompson when Thompson served as governor of Wisconsin, the group added.
"In short, he is not qualified for a public health job that hundreds of millions of people are counting on," said MoveOn.org. "This isn't just a case of resume inflation. Simonson doesn't seem to have a grasp on the very important work he is supposed to be doing right now."
The group pointed to a House hearing in July where Simonson said he had all the money necessary to buy influenza vaccine and antiviral medication.
"The very next day, his office submitted a funding request to Congress seeking an additional $150 million for flu vaccine and antiviral medication," MoveOn.org said. "Last month the Congress gave another $4 billion for the effort."
The group's plan is to pressure HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt to force Simonson's ouster.
"The Department of Health and Human Services is about to announce a new influenza plan. They need a highly qualified and respected professional at the helm when implementation of the plan begins. That is why it is urgent that Leavitt replace Simonson immediately," wrote MoveOn.org.
The group said they plan to target Simonson through Leavitt because Leavitt "will be more responsive than President Bush or even Congress," because "he wants a scandal-free campaign to prepare for a flu pandemic."
The 'next Michael Brown'
Simonson's "lack of experience," according to MoveOn.org, "couldn't come at a more challenging time." The group noted the New York Times reported recently that the U.S. is "gravely unprepared for a flu pandemic" after the paper viewed a draft of the department's influenza plan.
"We have only 2 percent of the courses of antiviral treatments we'll need. The plan predicts a worst-case scenario in which nearly 2 million Americans would die and 8.5 million would be hospitalized. Costs would exceed $450 billion. Finally, the report says we need to expand vaccine manufacturing capacity by more than ten fold," MoveOn.org wrote.
The group compared Simonson to former FEMA director Michael Brown who resigned following the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe, during which the agency was widely criticized for not responding quickly enough to the disaster.
"Many people are calling Simonson the 'next Michael Brown' in reference to the lack of experience of the former FEMA director who botched the federal response to Hurricane Katrina," MoveOn.org wrote. Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) "released a fact sheet about cronyism in the Bush administration that blew the whistle on Simonson."
The liberal advocacy group warned of the seriousness of a flu pandemic. "The 1918 flu pandemic is estimated to have killed 50 million people-the largest numbers dying in just weeks. In the 1950s and 1960s smaller flu pandemics in the United States killed tens of thousands," the group wrote. "Our government needs a serious response to this serious threat."
To Simonson's credit, the Boston Herald quoted Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, as saying he is "one of the most competent, capable people to work with."
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=%5CNation%5Carchive%5C200510%5CNAT20051012a.html
By Melanie Hunter
CNSNews.com Senior Editor
October 12, 2005
(CNSNews.com) - In an email titled "Flu Pandemic: Our lives are in this man's hands," the MoveOn.org Political Action Team issued a warning Wednesday predicting that the Bush administration would be ill-prepared to deal with an outbreak of the avian flu virus in the United States, because the point man responsible for dealing with a flu pandemic is not qualified.
The liberal advocacy group accused Stewart Simonson, assistant secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness for the Health and Human Services Department, of having "no experience related to his job - he's a political appointee."
"And a botched response could affect millions of Americans," the group wrote, urging the public to sign a petition to replace Simonson.
"Stewart Simonson is the Bush administration's point man for a flu pandemic but he has no public health management experience. He got his job because he is a close associate of former Health & Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson," wrote MoveOn.org.
The group said prior to working in the Health and Human Services Department, Simonson worked as corporate secretary and counsel for Amtrak when Thompson was chief of the rail service. Prior to that, Simonson was staff lawyer for Thompson when Thompson served as governor of Wisconsin, the group added.
"In short, he is not qualified for a public health job that hundreds of millions of people are counting on," said MoveOn.org. "This isn't just a case of resume inflation. Simonson doesn't seem to have a grasp on the very important work he is supposed to be doing right now."
The group pointed to a House hearing in July where Simonson said he had all the money necessary to buy influenza vaccine and antiviral medication.
"The very next day, his office submitted a funding request to Congress seeking an additional $150 million for flu vaccine and antiviral medication," MoveOn.org said. "Last month the Congress gave another $4 billion for the effort."
The group's plan is to pressure HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt to force Simonson's ouster.
"The Department of Health and Human Services is about to announce a new influenza plan. They need a highly qualified and respected professional at the helm when implementation of the plan begins. That is why it is urgent that Leavitt replace Simonson immediately," wrote MoveOn.org.
The group said they plan to target Simonson through Leavitt because Leavitt "will be more responsive than President Bush or even Congress," because "he wants a scandal-free campaign to prepare for a flu pandemic."
The 'next Michael Brown'
Simonson's "lack of experience," according to MoveOn.org, "couldn't come at a more challenging time." The group noted the New York Times reported recently that the U.S. is "gravely unprepared for a flu pandemic" after the paper viewed a draft of the department's influenza plan.
"We have only 2 percent of the courses of antiviral treatments we'll need. The plan predicts a worst-case scenario in which nearly 2 million Americans would die and 8.5 million would be hospitalized. Costs would exceed $450 billion. Finally, the report says we need to expand vaccine manufacturing capacity by more than ten fold," MoveOn.org wrote.
The group compared Simonson to former FEMA director Michael Brown who resigned following the Hurricane Katrina catastrophe, during which the agency was widely criticized for not responding quickly enough to the disaster.
"Many people are calling Simonson the 'next Michael Brown' in reference to the lack of experience of the former FEMA director who botched the federal response to Hurricane Katrina," MoveOn.org wrote. Congressman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) "released a fact sheet about cronyism in the Bush administration that blew the whistle on Simonson."
The liberal advocacy group warned of the seriousness of a flu pandemic. "The 1918 flu pandemic is estimated to have killed 50 million people-the largest numbers dying in just weeks. In the 1950s and 1960s smaller flu pandemics in the United States killed tens of thousands," the group wrote. "Our government needs a serious response to this serious threat."
To Simonson's credit, the Boston Herald quoted Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, as saying he is "one of the most competent, capable people to work with."
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/viewstory.asp?Page=%5CNation%5Carchive%5C200510%5CNAT20051012a.html
