ky Ab “rst Two Columyws ™ ne a . e , we Sndtndet mettinnal bel ant, The U.S. medical program in th radiation-linked illnesses, has come under ‘ _ recent attack from various groups. Since 7 -,° TN eee foes 1957, a yearly medical surveillance program for the Rongelap people and a tnyearly medical evaluation of the people of Utirik have been carried out by scien- & ny y» Sw eee “, a: wa? ‘ cher.*,SPREE Fut*."ee!tones wee ele net eens AeMENS : nr “ -tists and physicians of the Brookhaven ieee National Laboratory, under the direction © . of Robert Conard, M.D. Many feel the medical program, sponsored by ERDA, is --woefully inadequate. Oneof those who disagrees with the ‘program is Konrad P. Kotrady, M.D.,who served as resident physician for Brookha— LE OT sanaSBOE RL gee Ftnere = 5 . .t ‘see oe Gye weeraoe Saewin : WETS NENT ia aes A Mapes to 4 tam wae f “ * “a4 Noe ReINYT wreak tBRgh.oresa sae erga m:enGPRS utefiepote Beem = Cr Tete ote i ven’s medical program between June "1975 and September 1976. In a report . critical of the program, Kotrady wrote: ‘“The philosophy of Dr. Conard .and “ERDA is that the Brookhaven research et Tee se negates e ute Mae Se SHATPUMA Wate ‘program should not be concerned with esa rsa ansclings4 Penge et 2 neeetnMehaleieeen ware Sew Sen ot ‘the general health care needs of the peo. ple execpt to assist local government programs. The general health care needs are said by both parties to be the full responsibility of the Trust Territory and Depart- fot SF satavis ecbe rst ‘oe 2 _* : BL: eeewm, a Cee War oiwma i ~ s+ oF ou r Er teatlee lee are»saps rs a . oat Pe asio4 ene oo ae. This photo of “Mike,” code nome for america's firstt hydrogen bemaé, wos token at 12, 000 feet and 50 miles from Elugelap islund in Enewetok atoll, the site of detonation. “Mike,” detonated in 1952, caused the greatest destruction ever from ony single explosive device. pre island of Elugelap completely disappeared os a result of the explosion. (U.S. Air Force photo} & Soilberemoved from areas surround‘Ling food plantings and be replaced by soil from less radioactive islands. AA Ground surrounding houses be “ covered with coral and sand taken from less radioactive areas. AA Material for slabs, walls and porches Zand cisterns for water come from uncontaminated islands and reefs. eee ay my For example, the AEC recommend- ed that: ment of Interior, despite knowledge that neither has a workable plan for delivering . health care to any of the outer islands . “such as Rongelap and Utirik.” they may not have passed on their conIn the same report Doctor Kotrady cerns as emphatically as they should have. ‘assesses the Trust Territory’s health care: in any case, the resettlement of e ‘“The delivery of health care in the MarBikini Island: proceeded on a piecemeal . . shall Islands, particularly that provided to basis, without additional funding from the outer islands, is sporadic at best. the U.S. Congress and against the advice . Health care is concentrated at Majuro, the of experts. Followup studies by the U.S. District Center, and Ebeye, where a sub government have not been reassuring. hospital is located. Both hospitals are unSamples of blood and pooled urine from . derstaffed and suffer from a Jack of proBikini residents showed they were absorbperly trained personnel, lack of medicaing radiation, including plutonium, 1.‘. . tions and inadequate facilities. The outer although scientists disagree on whether 5 islands, such as Rongelap and Utirik, are. - tory administration. 1 _ served by a health aide on eachisland. He is inadequately trained and lacks proper “or sufficient medications. A Trust Terti- tory physician rarely gets to visit the out- 3 eedoleaeirattetatadawokTeticoaEOMide2hale BoePReeeiedtaeereOe ere AEC officials were concerned over the possibility of radionuclides such as strontium 90, cesium 137 and plutonium 239 and 240 - - - all known cancer-causing agents--- petting into the water supply and cultivated food on Bikini. The AEC’s cautions, for the most part, were ignored. - “People read the first line, of the recommendation that said the people could go back,” said Tom F. McGraw, a health protection specialist with ERDA. “I don’t think there was too much recog- nition of or understanding of the rest of the advice.” Other ERDA officials admit 20 the amounts found were significant. A study published earlier this year by the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory under a contract with ERDA found that well water on Bikini Island exceeded federal limits for strontium 90. The Liver- “er islands. Discussions with physicians in ee pete. Saar eng . ’ _ Majuro indicated that a physician accompanying a field tip has not occurred in over two years.” Kotrady attacks the Brookhaven ; program for its self-limiting “research” Status. “It is the research profile of the program,” continues Kotrady, “that has created other misunderstandings with the more Lab also found that personsliving } ° people. Several years ago the charge was in houses recently built on the island’: made by many Marshallese that the peowould receive doses of external radiation :: ple examined in the program were being amounting to about 70% of ¢ the federal *4 used as guinea pigs in an experiment on t . guidance limit. me radiation effects. This charge touched ? ' “This leaves little margin for.addi- «. ‘off a bitter controversy and vigorous detional radiation doses that may be poten- - nials on the part of the program directors. tially received by intake of radionuclides EO,aRcdeeikcl eaadett eeeeee emma Ochigia3 tera reas “It is clear... that residents in houses built . within the interior of Bikini Island will re-° ceive 30-year external doses exceeding theguide value.” Ane epee Lpete e eoLereg . Borahleitteee cebagakecakeAd2Seieae tegebeliePeekeoeede PeteeeeeeTeOne Peetre ee eee - eadott Rahat eh a de aed ka eh a ama ATeee Marshalls, organized to monitor and treat . ¥ ate . : take cathlina3,. bi sth, eh Met oe soem age erat a gumpses