Government's Failure to Fufil Promise to Sick Nuclear Workers

The Rocky Mountain News has a special investigative report on the government's system for compensating Cold War-era nuclear workers who are now sick because of exposure to toxins on the job.  The report is chilling in its description of the callousness of the government--including the Department of Labor, which has recently had another public airing of its failure to enforce the law.  A very brief  list of some of the paper's findings:

• Only one in four sick workers or their survivors has been compensated, according to the labor department's own statistics. Some 165,000 claims have been filed, but fewer than 43,000 have been paid — and even then, it has taken an average three years to qualify.
• The labor department delayed awards to some claimants until they died. One in 17 sick workers or survivors with valid claims — more than 1,200 people nationwide — died before they received their benefits. Even some of the claims that by law should be compensated automatically are being inexplicably delayed or denied.
• Millions of dollars have been spent redoing technical work that was faulty, while top labor department officials directing the program have collected tens of thousands of dollars each in bonus money. Officials refused to explain why the bonuses have been paid. Meanwhile, two out of every three claims sent for scientific analysis — at the National Institute for Occupation Safety and Health — have had to be re-examined or redone.
• Program officials ignored the law and their own rules. They changed rules midstream so claimants who had been told they would receive compensation were instead denied.
• Claimants who publicly criticized the program experienced perplexing delays, with evidence suggesting that their activism was held against them.
• Claims were manipulated and claims examiners were encouraged to deny claims.

The report contains numerous examples of some of these problems, including one former employee whose work on an organization set up to help claimants was cited by DOL as evidence that she wasn't really that sick (the DOL has very recently backtracked on this).  The problem appears to be coming from higher officials, who place a lot more emphasis on catching potential fraud (despite not have a single verified case of fraud in the seven years its run the program).  These efforts include discussions about whether to conduct surveillance to see whether one claimant was fishing and another discussion about whether to send in someone undercover to spy on a claimant's meeting with his health care provider. 

Because of the proximity of Oak Ridge, I've been well aware that there were problems with this program.  However, the extent of the problems were shocking.

I strongly encourage you to read the full report--although the information and some of the pictures are really disturbing.

-JH