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Scientists Call for
Inquiry into Destruction of Microbes in VA Special Pathogens Laboratory
233 scientists and
physician researchers from 27 countries have collectively expressed
outrage over the destruction of an irreplaceable collection of microbes
numbering in the thousands. The collection included Legionella
bacteria (the cause of Legionnaires’ disease) and many other species of
pathogens causing disease in humans including antibiotic resistant
strains of Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, fungi, etc. The
scientific collection had been accumulated over 25 years from numerous
international studies by Victor L. Yu M.D., Professor of Medicine,
University of Pittsburgh, Janet E. Stout Ph.D., Director, Special
Pathogens Laboratory and scientific researchers throughout the world.
Members of the
infectious disease community have now petitioned congress and the
Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System to conduct an
independent investigation of the Pittsburgh VA administration and its
role in the destruction of these valuable research materials. The
following prominent physicians have headed the petition drive: Dr. David
Snydman, Chief of Infectious Diseases, Tufts University Boston, MA, Dr.
Elias Anaissie, Chief, Division of Cancer Supportive Care, University of
Arkansas Medical Center, Little Rock, AK and Dr. George Sarosi,
Professor of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine and former
Chief of Medicine at the VA Medical Center, Indianapolis, IN. The
signatories of the petition included physicians and researchers from 30
states and 27 countries. Interestingly, the largest single
contingency was 47 VA physicians from 31 VA healthcare facilities.
Some of these VA investigators participated in a recently published
study of hospital-acquired Legionnaires’ disease authored by Drs. Yu and
Stout. As a result of this study, the VA is now revising its policy
regarding the prevention of this waterborne disease. The
Pittsburgh VA administration destroyed all the Legionella
isolates, including those collected from patients and water sources from
this VA-supported study. According to one signatory, this action “is
just appalling ignorance and irresponsibility”. Dr. Anaissie
stated “The destruction of this treasure trove of pathogens is a
scientific disaster. The tragedy is that the actions of
those that gave the order for destruction are completely ignorant about
the seriousness of this breach of trust and the implications for all
patients – including VA patients.”
In a letter to Sen. Arlen Specter, the Pittsburgh VA justified the
action by stating that the specimens were unlabelled, a claim that Drs.
Yu and Stout reject. Dr. Yu noted that “These specimens were shared
with other scientists from around the world, something impossible to do
if they were not meticulously catalogued.” Moreover, the
Pittsburgh VA Research Department was ready to release the collection to
a laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh. Drs. Stout and Yu
were assured that the VA would facilitate the transfer. Only later
was it disclosed that the collection had been destroyed without even
informing Drs. Yu and Stout.
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