A hospital corpsman with the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade teaches a Marine how to insert a needle into a vein as part of a Combat Lifesaver Course here March 24. Marines gain this knowledge so they can support corpsmen in the field in need of assistance. Photo by Cpl. Aaron Rooks

Combating insurgency in Afghanistan is not the only challenge awaiting the Marines and sailors of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

In addition to enemy combatants, Marines deploying to Afghanistan’s Regional Command-South will also face a number of potential health threats.

The Central Asian country has been labeled by the World Health Organization as one of the least developed countries in the world, with 70 percent of the population living in extreme poverty and health vulnerability.

Several food-, water-, animal-, and vector-borne diseases are found commonly throughout the country. The most common of all, according to Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health, is malaria.

More than half of the country’s population, especially women and children, are vulnerable to malaria, according to an April 2008 report from the Integrated Regional Information Networks, the humanitarian news and analysis service of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

The Ministry of Public Health and WHO estimated that up to 1.5 million cases of malaria occur each year throughout Afghanistan, most of which go untreated.

The 2nd MEB Health Services Support Section identified malaria, bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A, rabies, typhoid and paratyphoid fever as the diseases of highest risk in Regional Command-South. The medical staff has also identified tuberculosis, hepatitis E, sand fly fever, typhus, leishmaniasis, west nile fever and anthrax as some of the intermediate risks present in the Marines’ future area of operations.

Navy Petty Officer 3rd Class Matthew Siruchek, a hospital corpsman with 2nd MEB, said preventive medicine is key for Marines and sailors deploying to the region.

The Walden, N.Y., native, who deployed to Afghanistan with the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit from March to October 2008, said malaria was their largest concern.

“Preventive treatment and education made the difference,” he said. “We always preached to them to take their medications once a week and they would be covered.”

Medication includes Mefloquine, a treatment used to combat malaria, which is transmitted primarily by mosquitoes.

The HSSS is taking these precautions and others. Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer Shannon Dittlinger, medical operations chief for the HSSS, said her team of corpsmen and Navy doctors has worked diligently since February to ensure the brigade is medically ready.

The Weirsdale, Fla., native said they have sprayed uniforms and sleeping systems to deter disease-carrying insects, ordered the necessary medications and conducted health, dental and neurological assessments. They have also performed vaccinations to prevent diseases such as yellow fever, anthrax, smallpox, hepatitis A, typhoid and measles.

But Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Jose Gonzalezramos, a hospital corpsman and preventive medicine technician for the brigade, said there’s no preventive medicine offered for Marines to combat some of the diseases found in Afghanistan.

The Maunavo, Puerto Rico native said education plays the largest role in combating these diseases and other medical conditions overseas.

“If Marines listen to what we recommend to them, they will be healthier,” he said. “If there is a shot that can prevent you from contracting diseases, why not get it? If you know a water source is contaminated, why go near it? If Marines or sailors contract any of these diseases, they will be taken out of the fight temporarily or permanently.”

The HSSS team members said they are prepared in case anyone contracts one of the many diseases in the country, which the brigade medical planner, Navy Lt. Diana Loffgren, said is possible. She said there are currently several confirmed cases of malaria in troops serving in Afghanistan, but noted that none of these cases involve U.S. service members.

Despite the threats, the MEB medical personnel remain confident in the deployment being a success.

“I’m 100 percent confident in the corpsmen and doctors who will be taking care of the brigade’s medical issues, whether they are combat casualties or diseases,” Dittlinger said.

USMC
by Cpl. Aaron Rooks

The Los Angeles Times has an exclusive story today suggesting that noted microbiologist Bruce Ivins had become a suspect in the 2001 anthrax murders. It further reports that Ivins has apparently committed suicide.

This comes on the heels of the government’s settlement with another scientist, Steven Hatfill, paying him over the next years $5.82 million for invading his privacy and ruining his career.

The story does not address the FBI investigation into Dr. Kenneth Berry, which we have covered extensively here. Dr. Berry has never been charged, either.

The LA Times story is very short on named sources, exactly the type of media attention that helped win Dr. Hatfill his money. The press’s record for reporting on the murders is full of errors due solely to their reliance upon anonymous sources. We know that most of the information leaked in the first months of the investigation was incorrect. It may be that the reports about Dr. Ivins are, as well.

The sloppiness of the technicians involved with the investigation is already known. At least two people contracted an anthrax infection due to their poor lab procedures while handling samples. Dr. Ivins was investigated for some poor lab practices as well, but that does not equate to his being the murderer. Nor does his apparent suicide equate to guilt. He was a proud man, with his job in doubt and expenses piling up. Understandable depression is not guilt.

The FBI has been using the media to attack people they view as “persons of interest” without regard to the normal protocols of criminal investigation and without regard to the damages caused these people by the leaks. The media, the LA Times, are cooperating in this character assassination with little regard for journalistic ethics or human decency.

Wizbang has some good links for Bruce Ivins, his scholarship and scientific stature.

Steven Hatfill has settled his claims against the Federal Government and the FBI for the sum of $2.825 million, CNN reports.

Hatfill, a former Army bioweapons researcher, has steadfastly denied involvement in the attacks and was never charged in the investigation.

In a statement released Friday afternoon, department officials said Steven Hatfill will receive a one-time payment of $2.825 million and a $150,000 annuity.

For all intents and purposes, this investigation is over. Seven years after the attacks and the FBI is no closer to determining who committed those murders than they were then.

The FBI has let us down. By focusing on Hatfill to the exclusion of other potential suspects, and by excluding state-sponsored terror from the very beginning, they failed to conduct a proper investigation. This was a case that any rookie detective could have followed procedure and process and investigated.

Instead we got leak after leak that was flat out wrong. We got a focus on one person, an abusive and punitive investigation that was leaked at every step to the media. Steven Hatfill was tried by media when the FBI was unable to discover any evidence linking him to the attacks.

Hatfill is not the only person ruined by the FBI in this botched investigation. Kenneth Berry lost everything and the FBI came up with zilch.

I wonder how the families of the five people murdered in these attack feel tonight? Where is their justice? Can the FBI explain to them why no one is in jail?

PACIFIC OCEAN (March 15, 2008) Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Elena Williams administers Anthrax vaccinations on the mess decks aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). Lincoln is deployed to the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class James R. Evans

Marine Captain Gamal F. Awad was doing pretty well for himself on September 10, 2001. He was married to a fellow officer, had two lovely daughters, and a prestigious job working for the Commandant of the Marine Crops in the Special Projects Directorate.

It all changed shortly after he went to work in his office at the Pentagon on September 11.

Within a week the nightmares had started.

He sought help, and was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder, known as PTSD. The treatment was a handful of pills and weekly group.

Group was out. He couldn’t take time off work.

Things at the Pentagon got even more stressful. The anthrax attacks were in progress. A military base that was already on alert became even more so.

Awad had a four year degree from the University of Maryland when he joined the Marine Corps. He wanted to be in law enforcement but his first choice of working in Prince George’s County, Maryland was not possible due to a hiring freeze. The Marine Corps offered a challenge and a respected uncle had been a senior Marine noncom in Vietnam.

After OCS, Awad won the only slot for flight training in his class. Motion sickness prevented that from happening. He was sent to the Ground Supply Officer’s school in 1992 and began a career in logistics and supply. Over the next several years he served in a number of posts, with work in Europe and throughout the United States.

Sometime in this period a marriage came and went.

He was hand picked for the slot at the Special Projects Directorate. This was a key post for an up and coming young officer and recognition for the quality of his work to that point. He remarried, to a fellow Marine Officer who was a JAG lawyer.

He was promoted to Major effective September 1, 2002. Shortly after this, the DC sniper attacks added another source of stress. The Major determined that it was time to leave Washington.

In August 2003 he transferred to Camp Pendleton, and was deployed to Kuwait in January 2004. He worked in the 1st Marine Logistics Group, Brigade Service Support Group 1 as the officer in charge of container lot operations. As he arrived in country he witnessed a horrific traffic accident where several women and children were killed, yet another stress.

In his position, he was in charge of developing a process for unloading pre-deployed supply containers in a manner that did not result in materials having to be stored awaiting distribution. He spent the months of February and most of March 2004 in Kuwait.

Upon his return he continued to seek treatment.

He was deployed again in September 2004, as Executive Officer and Operations Officer with Supply Company CSSG-15, 1st FSSG, 1MEF Forward. While the base itself was fairly safe from direct attack, they took indirect fire constantly. Major Awad continued to have trouble sleeping, and thoughts of death filled many of his waking moments.

He began volunteering two or three times a week to ride with night supply convoys, a far more dangerous duty and one that his unit had not bee assigned. His commanding officer had to counsel him several times concerning his behavior towards other military officers. Awad told his treating physician about his death wish but did not tell him that he had a plan or intent. In fact, he did. Only a misfire prevented his suicide.

In early January, Awad was discovered in his quarters with a female enlisted Marine. A search revealed contraband.

After a delay of about a month, Major Awad was returned to the States. He was hospitalized in March, and the legal proceedings against him continued.

At a Commanding General’s Non-judicial Punishment, Awad was allowed to plead guilty and after some back and forth was allowed to resign his commission and receive a General (Under Honorable Conditions) discharge. That discharge became final June 30 2006. His wife and he divorced, amicably, and she wrote several memos on his behalf during the legal proceedings.

The discharge allowed him to receive treatment from the Veterans Administration and he has been judged 100% disabled due to PTSD.

Fast forward. Around Labor Day of 2007 an Associated Press story was published in dozens of newspapers nationwide. It was titled “Wounded Vets Also Suffer Financial Woes” and featured Gamal Awad as one of the vets.

Here’s how it described Awad:

In Awad’s case, he needs to think of a reason each morning not to kill himself.

He can’t even look at the framed photograph that shows him accepting a Marine heroism medal for his recovery work at the Pentagon after the terrorist attack.

It might remind him of the burned woman whose skin peeled off in his hands when he tried to comfort her.

He tries not to hear the shrieking rockets of Iraq either, smell the burning fuel, or relive the blast that blew him right out of bed. The memories come steamrolling back anyway.

“Nothing can turn off those things,” he says, voice choked and eyes glistening.

He stews alternately over suicide and finances, his $43,000 in credit-card debt, his $4,330 in federal checks each month. They bring the government’s compensation for total disability from post-traumatic stress disorder. His flashbacks, thoughts of suicide, and anxiety over imagined threats — all documented for six years in his military record — keep him from working.

The disability payments don’t even cover the $5,700-a-month cost of his adjustable home mortgage and equity loans. He owes more on his house than its market value, so he can’t sell it and may soon lose it to the bank.

“I love this house. It makes me feel safe,” he says.

Awad could once afford it. He used to earn $100,000 a year as an experienced Marine with a master’s degree in management who excelled at logistics. Now, he can’t even manage his own life.

He spends much of his days hoisting weights and thwacking a punching bag in the dimness of his garage. He passes nights largely sleepless, a zombie shuffling through the bare rooms of his home in sunny California wine country, not too far from his old base.

Following that publication, I wrote my post “Who Is Major Gamal Awad?” I raised a number of questions about the original story and Awad’s bona fides.

The November 30 2007 edition of ABC’s news magazine 20/20 did a story titled “Part Three of the Series: ‘Coming Home: Soldiers and Drugs’” and again featured Awad. Here’s some of what they had to say:

Gamal Awad, a former major in the U.S. Marine Corps, said he smokes marijuana to help cope with PTSD. Awad was first diagnosed with PTSD by a Marine psychiatrist after the 2001 attack on the Pentagon during which he said he picked severed limbs out of the rubble.

Despite the diagnosis and his ongoing treatment for PTSD, Awad was still deployed to Kuwait and Iraq, which he said made his condition much worse.

“I was having suicidal thoughts…I would go out on convoys with the purpose to die. I just wanted to be hit by an IED or get shot. We’d get hit with, you know, mortar rounds or rockets, I wouldn’t take cover. I would just stand there,” said Awad.

Awad said military doctors prescribed him a range of antidepressants and sleep medication, but he fell into a spiral of depression and misconduct that led to his discharge from the Marines. A civilian doctor then prescribed marijuana, which is legal in California for medicinal use, to treat Awad’s PTSD symptoms.

“It’s the one thing that’s given me some sort of peace, some sort of sleep for more than three or four hours, and it’s medical marijuana,” Awad said.

Internet searches brought several viewers, and Major Awad to my original post. He left contact information and I spent two long phone calls discussing his story with him this week. He also sent me all of the images in this story as well as copies of his medical records and information used at his Marine trial.

Today, Gamal Awad lives with two roommates in the home he had bought for his family. Both are ex-Marines who were homeless. A therapist from the Soldiers’ Project comes by weekly to treat these men at home. He also sees someone at the VA monthly.

I asked him what he does on his good days. His response – “What good days?” He’s tried to run a therapeutic massage business, after becoming certified in 2002. In 2005 he assisted at a wine tasting at a local vinyard.

One of the things that Gamal Awad has lost is his memory, a tragedy for someone who excelled in logistics. He carries a PDA everywhere and writes everything down. He can still work with numbers, but everything else is either a blur or gone.

A lot of bloggers asked about his home. We wondered how a Major could afford a home with such a large mortgage on his salary. Awad points out that he and his then wife bought the home together, and with housing allowances and other military benefits, both were making about $100,000 a year each.

Others have ridiculed the diagnosis of PTSD, telling him to “Suck it up”. Last week, he reports that someone threw a rock at his window.

As a former volunteer firefighter and longtime EMT, I can assure those people that it is possible to see things that no sane and decent person ought to ever see, and that those sights do no just fade away. PTSD is a normal reactions to horrific sights. As with all medical conditions, there are degrees of PTSD, and many sufferers also have other psychological conditions or substance abuse problems that also require treatment.

There is no one treatment. He’s done the treatments his doctors have prescribed, medication by and large. He’s learned which treatments help and which do not. He’s become his own best medical advocate. He’s had to fight the medical presumption that doctors will treat you but on their schedule. Group is always during working hours, for example. Hospitals are not conveniently located and it’s the patient’s responsibility to be on time or else. The VA has a different list of approved medications than the military does.

He asked for help many times. He was given the standard of care for the symptoms that he reported. He did not report all his symptoms, such as the plan for suicide. It is difficult to ask for help when you do not know what to ask for and that is where medicine most failed Awad.

I don’t know how Major Gamal Awad can be helped by others. I do see a different man than that portrayed in the media. He is helping himself. He has taken in two fellow Marines and taken on advocacy for them and for other ex-Marines who are on the street or suffering with PTSD. He is speaking up and speaking out. In that, I see a glimmer of hope for his future, and for others.

The day he was commissioned was the proudest day of his life. His uncle, the former Marine noncom, was there to see it. I asked him if he had not been discharged, would he still be in the Marines?

“I don’t know.”

Washington Post

What was initially described as a near-military-grade biological weapon was ultimately found to have had a more ordinary pedigree, containing no additives and no signs of special processing to make the anthrax bacteria more deadly, law enforcement officials confirmed. In addition, the strain of anthrax used in the attacks has turned out to be more common than was initially believed, the officials said.

As a result, after a very public focus on government scientists as the likely source of the attacks, the FBI is today casting a far wider net, as investigators face the daunting prospect of an almost endless list of possible suspects in scores of countries around the globe.

“There is no significant signature in the powder that points to a domestic source,” said one scientist who has extensively studied the tan, talc-like material that paralyzed much of Washington in the deadliest bioterrorism attack in U.S. history.

Let’s review:

1. Weaponized, in part or in total – NO
2. Obtained domesticly, probably at Fort Detrich – NO
3. Suspects are Hatfill and Berry – Unlikely

Back to square one, it seems, and five years have gone past. Maybe the FBI will devote a little time to the possible Iraqi links.

I think we need some of the CSI’s on TV to tackle the unsolved murders by anthrax from five years ago.

I’ve written about this mess for years and rightly have pestered the FBI for their handling of this case. They have left far too many questions unanswered. Two men, Dr. Hatfill and Dr. Berry have had their professional lives ruined. Millions of dollars have been spent on preventing another such attack, and on thousands and thousands of false alarms.

Here’s what I wrote in 2003.

In addition, the CDC and the FBI have failed to explain the isolated and unrelated anthrax deaths of Kathy T. Nguyen and Ottilie Lundgren. Both ladies had no direct exposure to any of the letters. The best notion that the experts can come up with is that they were exposed by mail that had been exposed to the original letters. Nonsense! The limited number of actual infections due to direct exposure to the letters suggests that the anthrax was not that infectious. To then suggest that two people, and only two people were fatally exposed to infectious levels of anthrax spores through second or third hand exposure is laughable. If there were enough anthrax spores in the general mail to kill these two women, how come no one else got infected? Surely there had to be dozens of immunocompromised individuals, easily infected, exposed to the same quantities of spores as these two ladies. No, there is far more to this story, and the FBI may have thoroughly mucked up the trail, and failed in its investigation.

Five people were murdered by whoever did this. I think it’s time for the FBI to make public much of its investigation so that we, their employers, can be assured that every effort has been made to find the killer(s). The many questions around this case need to be answered for us all. Did one of the 9/11 hijackers get treated for anthrax in Florida? Where did the anthrax spores originate and were any of the samples “weaponized”? Why have all foreign sources and sponsors been ruled out? How exactly did Kathy T. Nguyen and Ottilie Lundgren become infected without anyone else becoming ill?

It was 2001. The CIA let us down. The FBI let us down. Is this yet another example of CYA in action?

This guy was the subject of FBI raids last year, and I blogged about him several times.

Wellsville Daily Reporter

n his first interview since the national spotlight was pointed at Wellsville during the August anthrax investigation, Berry talked to The Daily Reporter about his current legal battles and the FBI.

“(The FBI investigation) totally destroyed my life. I lost my reputation, my wife, my family, my son, my job … everything,” he said.

The FBI has not said if it found any traces of anthrax, and it has not charged Berry in connection with anthrax. The FBI was in and out of Wellsville in one day.

However, his wife, Tana, from whom he is now separated, said she was not surprised the FBI showed up at the door that Thursday morning.

“He knew he was being investigated, he knew it would happen sooner or later, he knew a search warrant was coming,” said Tana.

When asked if the FBI investigation was a waste of time, she said, “That’s not obvious, not to me anyway.”

When asked to further explain, Tana said “no comment.” [snip]

“The most important thing is child custody of my son,” he said. “Basically, my wife is trying to deny I am the father of my son. He is (my son). I am her husband.”

Both parties agree on one thing, Tana was married to someone else during the pregnancy. However, the accusations start to fly after that.

Berry claims labor and delivery records along with birth certificates are missing from Jones Memorial Hospital in Wellsville, where he was the emergency room doctor from December of 1996 to October of 2001. Hospital officials did not return calls seeking comment.

“She had this whole thing set up four years ago including falsification of the birth certificates,” claims Berry. “I remember when the baby was born, the date, the time and the nurse.”

Tana countered, “That’s news to me and totally ludicrous.”

Berry has worked at a hospital in Pittsburgh, commuting by plane while living in Wellsville. He was married and had seven children from two relationships.

WGRZ Channel 2

Sources from within the law enforcement community tell Channel 2 News that federal authorities are “not excited” about what they found while searching the home of Dr. Kenneth Berry in the Village of Wellsville as well as his parents summer home in New Jersey.

The information does not give a concrete idea of what investigators found (or did not find) but it strongly reinforces what Channel 2 News has been hearing since the searches last Thursday — that Dr. Berry is, by no means, a prime suspect in the deadly anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001.

Times Herald

There are indications that Dr. Berry did things somewhat differently. His primary residence is Wellsville yet he has not had privileges at Jones Memorial Hospital since 2001 ‘ he has commuted to work at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in McKeesport, Pa. His past includes a criminal forgery case in which he pleaded to a lesser charge and there is a hint of self-promotion in materials touting his background as an expert in responding to large-scale medical emergencies, such as a biological attack.

Nevertheless, assuming we are still operating under the premise that all are innocent until proven guilty, one could question the treatment he and his family received at the hands of federal authorities the past few days. Rather than quietly search the properties, agents swooped into Wellsville and created a public spectacle, a spectacle that only an idiot wouldn’t have been able to anticipate.

If investigators had anything solid on Dr. Berry or anyone else in relation to the anthrax letters, one assumes they would have been charged. So far, all we have is a heavy-handed display which could be interpreted by some as cheap theatrics.

Hornell Evening Tribune

Helms does not see how Berry can go back to work at any hospital or work in his chosen field of counter terrorism.

“The FBI owes him an apology, big-time,” said Helms. “They harmed him and it looks like they harmed his family. I like both the agents who are primaries in this area – they also questioned me, because I am a webmaster for Preempt.org.” Helms said the web site has not been updated in a while. Not many people in Wellsville have said they were close friends with Berry, and many neighbors really didn’t know him. But Helms said that is not unusual.

“He worked at the hospital, he worked in counter terrorism. He didn’t have time to make a lot of friends, but the ones he did make are very loyal,” said Helms. “You won’t find a lot of (people who were) friends with Ken Berry … and ones he work with call him an S.O.B., but they call me that, too! Anyone who has anyone who worked for someone will have something bad said about them.”

Helms said Berry cold not be tied to mailing out anthrax letters in 2001. “Want a practical reason? He was getting ready to get married!” Helms says emphatically.

Helms also defends Berry’s character. “I think they have damaged his reputation to the point the United States has lost a wonderful asset,” said Helms. “He was a true American asset, if not a national treasure. “He’s a little unusual but most brilliant people are different. And he’s different,” Helms continued. “You get underneath that and he’s got a heart the size of Texas for an American.”

The head scratching continues about this “person of interest” [my term] for the FBI. A medical doctor has e-mailed me with his thoughts, and please note his final comment:

This guy is a zero. The American Univ of the Caribbean is a fifth pathway school — guys from the East Coast go there when they can’t get into a US medical school, and they then try to transfer to an American med school (the “fifth pathway”) prior to graduation. Used to work some (the Carter administration tried to make it mandatory for US med schools to accept fifth pathway transfers, but the med schools told them to shove it). But in the last decade or so transfers are almost completely shut down.

So our bright boy graduates from AUC. He is NOT going to get a good residency in the states in any specialty. St. Joseph’s Med Ctr — which St. Joe’s, there are a number of them. He did a community hospital residency in family medicine, probably a free-standing residency not affiliated with a university. Ick. Training is mediocre, more like an apprenticeship, with (mostly) a non-dedicated teaching staff and relatively few opportunities to distinguish himself.

Regardless, he gets a certification in family medicine. I’d like to know what the 2nd residency was all about. The AMA page doesn’t specify the order of residencies done, so I don’t know if the surgery residency was first (and he asked to leave) or second. But he’s not a certified surgeon, so he obviously didn’t complete it. And “Wilson Memorial Regional Medical Center” isn’t a stellar residency, either (Googled it to Johnston City, NY).

Rex is correct, there is no specialty training in WMD per se. Physicians with expertise in biologicals generally would be infectious disease specialists. For any, the Emergency Medicine docs would be expected to have good, basic knowledge in triage and treatment, but they wouldn’t be expected to have in-depth knowledge as to pathophysiology, research, etc.

Rex is also correct in noting that, especially for small hospitals in rural America, a family medicine doc who wanted to be an ER “specialist” could be one. Emergency Medicine as a specialty is a new idea, but their residency programs are cranking out graduates. Those new docs tend to cluster in better-supported, more desirable places to live. But if he wanted to be an ER doc in Wellsville, he could do it.[snip]

There is no “Board of Certification of Emergency Medicine.” There IS an American Board of Emergency Medicine, a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties. The ABMS certifies doctors in their specialties after training, and the ABEM would do the certifying of emergency medicine docs.

Go here for a description of their Board of Directors. It seems that one of the requirements is that you’re EM certified, which Dr. Berry apparently isn’t. He’s also not a graduate of an ACGME-certified (ACGME = American Council of Graduate Medical Education, which certifies the training programs) EM program, according to his bio.[snip]

I ran Dr. Berry’s name through PubMed, the interface for the National Library of Medicine, a premier search engine for health care. It lists and indexes every single article published in every medical and biological sciences journal that is indexed, and that’s a big list. “Berry KM” brings up 2 listings, neither of which is our guy.

In simple terms, Chuck: I think this guy stinks to high heaven.

Here’s where we stand.

• Dr. Berry’s public CV has some inaccurate names for groups that he should know the correct names of.
• He is not published in any manner that we can discover.
• His CV lists nothing that would qualify him to be an expert on WMD.
• Dr. Berry’s CV lists nothing that would have allowed him access to anthrax spores.
• His CV lists nothing that would make him in any way expert enough to be a part of the Flight 800 crash investigation, other than in a very minor role.

Let’s keep in mind that the FBI and the Postal Inspectors investigate a variety of crimes other than terrorism, and that the anthrax murders could involve other crimes. Is it possible that crimes such as mail fraud, extortion, or filing a false instrument might occur in the context of these murders? On the other hand, the problems with Dr. Berry’s past might all resolve if we postulate that he spent some time as a government employee which he cannot list on his CV for some odd reason.

Dr. Berry has not, as far as I know, been charged with a federal crime. And there may be very satisfactory answers to our questions about his CV. And… yes, he did not graduate for a prestigious medical school but that does not make him a bad doctor. So, he still remains a mystery to us.

Here’s a guy who, out of no where, springs up as an expert on WMD. Nearly all we know about him is on his own web site. There are no cites on-line for publications or conferences or speeches other than on his site.

His bio is just a little off. Organizations that he belongs to have names that yield no web site but are similar to actual credentialling groups. There is no listing in his bio of where he did his internship or any residencies, things that very often appear in a medical doctor’s bio.

I quote an e-mail that I received:

I notice that his is not board certified in Emergency Medicine on his CV which, at least, which would raise questions about his being a member of the board of Emergency Medicine Certification.

Two people who know him well describe him as “different”. That’s a term that bodes ill.

PREEMPT, the group he founded, appears to have only been active for three years or so and the only cites are at his web site.

Ed Lake, who has investigated the anthrax murders extensively, discovered that Dr. Berry filed for U.S. Patent 6,710,711 on September 28, 2001. This is for

A surveillance system and method for identifying chemical, biological or nuclear attacks or hazards occurring within a large area which combines data derived from a modeling and simulation operation with a surveillance data input. The modeling and simulation operation involves continuous periodic runs of multiple scenarios for various biological, chemical and nuclear agents in various concentrations for a given location. Using real time weather data for each location, a model is made in a database of the effect various concentrations of agents would have at that location and this simulated model is processed. The surveillance data input monitors actual human signs and symptoms for the modeled area. This data with real time weather data is compared with the results of modeling and simulation data for the area to determine if a pattern matching that for any modeled agent is present.

There is no reason for a person’s life to be all over the Internet. Most Americans are as invisible as Dr. Berry. It is just curious that a man who presents himself as an expert in a widely studied area, WMD, and as a published author, is invisible. There is about a decade that is not available to us yet. He would have gotten his M.D. around 1984-1986, and he went to work in Wellsville in 1996. He says that he had several medical student clerkships, primarily at Yale, which I assume was before he got his M.D.

Where did he study WMD? Where did he work before Wellsville? How did he become involved with the July 1996 TWA flight 800 crash in Long Island, NY investigation, and what were his credentials to do so?

This is all speculation. There are, undoubtedly, good answers to all my questions. There is nothing on the public record to suggest Dr. Berry’s involvement with the anthrax murders.

The FBI appears to have turned its investigation of the anthrax murders away from Dr. Steven Hatfill. The searches in Wellsville today appear to be focused on Kenneth Berry, M.D. He is the founder of a group called PREEMPT.

WOKR-TV says

(Wellsville, NY) 08/05/04 – A home in Wellsville was searched by the FBI and the US Postal Inspection Service Thursday.

Police said it is part of an investigation into the 2001 anthrax cases.

The home belongs to the founder of an organization that trains medical professionals to respond to chemical and biological attacks.

It’s not known what prompted the search or what they were looking for.

PREEMPT also advocated the mass inoculation of all American civilians for anthrax. The organization does not appear to currently be in operation.

Dr. Berry is specifically identified in this report from WHEC-TV

WELLSVILLE, N.Y. (AP) – Federal agents investigating the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks on Thursday searched homes belonging to the founder of an anti-terrorism organization that trains medical professionals to respond to chemical and biological attacks. More than three dozen agents, some in protective suits, combed through two homes in this Allegany County village in western New York. Property records list the homes as the past and present addresses of Dr. Kenneth Berry, 48, who founded PREEMPT Medical Counter-Terrorism, Inc. in 1997.

UPDATE:

Dr. Berry is frustrating me. Google is no help at all. Other than the PREEMPT references, there is nothing. In his bio he mentions being president of the American Academy of Emergency Physicians and member of the board and special counsel to the chair of the Board of Certification in Emergency Medicine. Google does not show any reference to those exact organizations. Searches of sites with similar names do not turn up any reference to Dr. Berry. In another bio, he is stated to be multi-instrument rated as a commercial pilot, and is an aviation medical examiner with the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA says that he has a private pilot’s license..

I am just not finding information that ought to be there. The man’s bio has groups that have no web sites? Or, he somehow got the name wrong for a group that he was president of? Other than his statements that he is an expert in WMD on the PREEMPT site, I can find no sign that he exists in the community of scholars. His schedule listed on the site ends in 2000. He is not listed on the web sites of either Jones Memorial Hospital or St. James Mercy Hospital, the only hospitals in the area.

Who is this guy?

UPDATE 8-6-2004 a.m.:

Dr. Berry was arrested by local police in New Jersey after a family altercation. The NY Post has this and other info from the New Jersey searches.

The Wellsville Daily Reporter has an article up. Some highlights:

Berry is not originally from Wellsville, but he was charged by New York State Police with felony forgery in 1999.[sic] On March 17, 1999, he entered a guilty plea to a violation, a misdemeanor. He was accused of signing a fake will of the late Dr. Andrew Colletta, who died in May of 1998 at the age of 46.

At the time, Allegany County District Attorney Terry Parker, who prosecuted the case, said, “Ideally, if he were any other individual who had done this, I would have insisted on a misdemeanor. However, any criminal conviction would have resulted in him losing his medical license and never practicing again. As far as society was concerned, that would not be appropriate … he does a lot of good for society with what he does.”

Last week, the Wellsville Code Enforcement Office sent a violation to Dr. Berry for having two junk cars on his property. Village officials in Wellsville said Berry called and said the vehicles belonged to his daughter’s boyfriend and they were going to be removed.

Former Jones Memorial Hospital Chief Operation Officer William DiBerardino said he saw Dr. Berry last week.

“I don’t know what to think, this is hard to believe,” said DiBerardino. “I talked to him a couple weeks ago at Music on the Lawn, we talked about flying. Most of our conversations seemed to end up about flying because I love flying and he has been flying for years.

“He was different. He was a decent doctor by all accounts, so, how do you explain different?” DiBerardino added.

Dr. Berry’s next door neighbor, Bob Kosciewicz said “I last saw him last week … this is a shock. This is surprising. He’s a very quiet person.

“I don’t picture him as a terrorist or anything like that,” said Kosciewicz. “I understand he has a plane and he flies to where ever. He was on one of those rent-a-doctor deals, and he flew all over the place. I punched up his resume and saw his credentials, it was pretty impressive.”

“I don’t see him too often because he works other places so often,” Kosciewicz continued. “They lived next door for about three years. The family left for vacation, and I thought he had some work in Pittsburgh. But I don’t know where he works exactly … he was different, but I always liked him.”

More when I learn it.

WNBC

The FBI and Postal Inspection Service on Thursday searched locations in Newark and Wellsville, N.Y., in connection with the deadly 2001 anthrax attacks, the FBI said.

The searches began and would probably be completed on Thursday, said Ed Cogswell, an FBI spokesman in Washington. He said he did not know what sort of locations were being searched, and said the supporting information for the search warrants was sealed.

No arrests have been made, he said. He declined to provide further details about the searches. “It’s part of the investigative effort. I can’t go beyond that,” Cogswell said.

Anthrax mailings killed five people and sickened 17 in autumn 2001. Some of the anthrax-tainted letters were processed at a postal facility in Hamilton. There were five confirmed anthrax infections and two suspected cases in New Jersey, but no fatalities.

New Jersey State Police were providing support to federal authorities in a search in New Jersey, Trooper Stephen Jones said, but declined to say where. “There is no present danger to public health or safety,” said Joe Parris, an FBI supervisory special agent in Washington.

Wellsville is in Allegany County in western New York State.

I lived for twelve years just over the hill from Wellsville. I wonder if any of the loveable wackos I know are involved???

UPDATE:

Over 30 FBI agents friom Buffalo, Maryland and Pennsylvania closed down two streets in Wellsville because of what they call an “anthrax investigation incident.” They are searching the Pearl Street home of a Wellsville resident and his old apartment on Maple Avenue. Agents have removed boxes and bags from the apartment and were searching through the resident’s home with white glove. More updates to follow on www.wellsvilledaily.com.

Wellsville Daily Reporter

The Real Threat of Terrorism

On September 11, 2001 nearly 3,000 people were murdered by terrorists in the largest single attack upon the United States by terrorists in modern times. When people think of terrorism, they think of this attack, the bombing in Oklahoma City, the first attack on the World Trade Center. The news media fails to point out the terrorist attacks that occur nearly monthly, much smaller, but much more frequent.

The events of September 11 caused the American people to react, to demand that their government act in its primary duty, to protect and defend the United States. It has done so, at home and abroad. My intention in this essay is to point out my concerns with those activities here at home. My premise is this: The United States is preparing to fight a non-existent foe while constant and recurring terrorism goes undefeated and unprepared for.

The cornucopia that is our Federal government has opened up and wealth is pouring out of Washington to the states and localities to prepare for terrorism and terrorist attacks. So, what are the attacks that the government thinks will happen?

How many people have to remove their shoes at airports these days? One guy, a half demented convert to Islam was caught with a bomb in his shoe. Richard Reid was subdued by airline personnel and passengers on board a flight from Paris to Miami on December 22, 2001. He has been tried, convicted and sent to prison. He is the only person ever found with a bomb in his shoe on an airline. Since the date he was arrested, hundreds of millions of airline passengers have had to remove their shoes for inspection. I personally know a woman who was wearing open toed sandals who underwent this inspection. I submit that the likelihood of a shoebomber is vanishingly small, and that the time, money and effort devoted to these inspections is a complete waste when compared against the potential threat.

A young man was recently arrested for placing box cutters and other materials on several planes that he had access to at a hub airport, where cleaning and maintenance is performed. The young man wrote the authorities to tell them his plans, then carried out the actions. Nathaniel Heatwole has been arrested, and will face Federal prosecution for his scheme. His case illustrates two thing. First, all the precautions taken for passengers and crew do not matter if the ground crews and support personnel are not also inspected. Secondly, the Federal Government is willing to spend millions of dollars and thousands of man hours to prevent box cutters from getting on aircraft. Is there anyone flying on a plane today who honestly believes that it could be hijacked by someone with a box cutter? The planes hijacked on September 11 were able to be used as tools for the murders solely because the crews were instructed to cooperate with the hijackers. That the hijackers had box cutters was incidental to the reality. Box cutters aren’t much of a weapon against forty, eighty, a hundred angry airline passengers and crew. The September 11 hijackings succeeded because the crew and passengers cooperated with their murderers in three of the four cases. Eliminate that cooperation, as I believe the new instructions state, and the potential for another similar scenario become markedly reduced. The hunt for box cutters is a waste of effort.

The Transportation Security Agency is devoting much time and effort to preventing past actions such as box cutter hijackings and shoe bombs. In fact, the likelihood of either ever being reenacted is slim, and other threats are not being addressed. The Customs Service, for example, has raided a number of airports and arrested hundreds of illegal aliens working in areas where they have almost unlimited access to planes. The arrest of Nathaniel Heatwole illustrates the vulnerabilities of that area. Yet a wholesale program to correct these security issues has not been undertaken by the TSA.

The TSA issues press releases detailing the quantities of “weapons” that it has confiscated from airline passengers, including at least one rotary saw. Yet, all this illustrates is how lax security was before September 11, not that there was any threat. Airline hijackings in the United States were nearly non-existent for the decade prior to 2001, despite the demonstrable evidence that loads of weapons and potential weapons were being carried by passengers unknown to the government and the airlines. I have to ask: Is the threat from hijacking reduced by all this money expended, all the hassle of passengers, and all the man-hours by law enforcement? The only two measures that would have prevented September 11 involved telling airline crews to stop cooperating with hijackers (cost=$0), and new cockpit doors (cost < $1,500 per plane). Everything else is a false pursuit of non-existent issues and false security.

Moving on from the airlines, we come to Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), or as I call them Weapons of Mass Governmental Hysteria.

Bigger brains than I are devoting tons of governmental money, man hours, effort, etc. to preparing us for a WMD attack. And, little old me has gotten nearly tossed out of more than one training class and government sponsored seminar for suggesting that the risks are far less than they are being portrayed.

Let us begin by assessing the realism of the threat. When we look at the terrorist campaigns around the world, the Intifada in Israel for example, we find the near complete lack of use by terrorist of anything remotely resembling what we call WMD. From a terrorist’s point of view, it is far cheaper and easier to use low tech methods of attack, like ramming a jet into a building, or loading a truck with fertilizer and diesel fuel and blowing it up. Over and over and over again, that’s what terrorists do.

The few recorded instances of WMD attack in the United States (and, yes, they do exist) involve small cult-like groups and very limited success. A cult in Oregon a few years ago used botulism at a salad bar to attempt to influence a local election. Several “white power” groups have been caught with the limited fixings for poison type WMD. These are the rare exceptions to the terrorism that occurs world-wide and in the United States all the time.

One arrest has been made in a series of actions designed to damage or bring down high tension electric lines in the Northwest. The ALF / ELF has conducted a number of actions, releasing captive animals, arsons and threatened bombings. The fringer Right-to-Life people have engaged in bombings and assassinations. These happen far more frequently than any alleged WMD threat.

The anthrax attack from the Fall of 2001 are a perfect example of why WMD is less of a threat than many experts maintain. Anthrax is not contagious. To kill thousands, thousands have to be exposed to the high levels of the spores required for infection. In the twenty or so known cases, about 30% were fatal. The CDC feels that another 50 total cases were prevented by the use of antibiotics. Hardly a catastrophe for America though very serious for those that died. Disease is a poor choice as a way to kill modern man. Biowar scenarios have always postulated a contagious illness, usually airborne, and hardy (able to survive in the varied climates of this country). There may be such an illness, hidden away in some military vault. This type of illness does not exist in nature. It has to be made, and that requires some serious laboratory work. It’s not something you do in your basement. It’s expensive, dangerous for those conducting the work, difficult to transport safely and effectively, and not very easy to spread.

The FBI, to date, has failed to determine who conducted the anthrax attack. They have pursued, single mindedly, Richard Hatfill. There exists some evidence that this could be related to an overseas source, but the FBI ruled out any possibility of a foreign connection nearly from the beginning. Other than irradiating mail, nothing has been done that would prevent a second such attack.

In addition, the CDC and the FBI have failed to explain the isolated and unrelated anthrax deaths of Kathy T. Nguyen and Ottilie Lundgren. Both ladies had no direct exposure to any of the letters. The best notion that the experts can come up with is that they were exposed by mail that had been exposed to the original letters. Nonsense! The limited number of actual infections due to direct exposure to the letters suggests that the anthrax was not that infectious. To then suggest that two people, and only two people were fatally exposed to infectious levels of anthrax spores through second or third hand exposure is laughable. If there were enough anthrax spores in the general mail to kill these two women, how come no one else got infected? Surely there had to be dozens of immunocompromised individuals, easily infected, exposed to the same quantities of spores as these two ladies. No, there is far more to this story, and the FBI may have thoroughly mucked up the trail, and failed in its investigation.

In Japan, the Aum Cult carried out nearly ten attempts to release WMD, including several attempts to disburse anthrax. Other than the final instance, all were unsuccessful. The Aum Cult carried out a Sarin Gas attack in the Tokyo subway in March 1995. 12 people dies and about 5,000 were injured. Most of the injuries and deaths were due to the complete lack of preventive measures by Japanese police and EMS. No attempt was made to contain the situation, and hundreds were contaminated by people allowed to flee uncontrolled from the scene. Despite the clear evidence that a hazardous material was involve, EMS workers failed to use any sort of protection and several died. This was, at its heart, a hazardous material incident, such as Tokyo sees several times daily. The disaster was caused by the response, not the attack.

Chemical terrorism… it conjures up photos of the villages of southern Iraq where Saddam gassed thousands of his own people, or the men from WW I who were gassed at the front. Poison gases, including nerve gases, may not be all that hard to create. They are hard to handle and hard to store in quantity. You risk gassing yourself long before you get to use it in an act of terrorism. The delivery of poison gas that we have seen historically was with artillery or specially modified aircraft. You can be sure that a group of Middle Eastern men dragging a howitzer into a park WILL be noticed. And crop dusters are not good delivery vehicles for most gasses, not without killing the pilot before he even gets off the ground.

Right now, the potential of a chemical or biological attack on the United States exists. It has already occurred and may again. Yet the facts show that all such attacks were small, and not nearly as deadly or effective as the experts would suggest.

Nuclear weapons could be a threat. Right now, we know who has them. An atomic bomb, if set off, would leave enough of a signature that we could determine the origin of the bomb. And that nation would cease to exist. Period. Opportunity exist to smuggle such a weapon into the United States, and that fact has been repeatedly pointed out. As far as I can determine, the inspection of cargo and shipping into the United States remains a low priority. As it should, because, here again, other terrorist acts are actually being carried out because they are easier, cheaper, and safer to perform.

I discussed the “dirty” bomb in this blog post on February 14. My conclusion: If you’re not blown up by the bomb, take a shower. It’s not that dangerous.

I’d like to talk about smallpox. The way the Federal Government has approached this issue defines precisely my disagreements with many of the experts on WMD.

Where did the money go?

Last spring, the Bush administration distributed $918 million to state health departments for homeland security, money it says could defray smallpox vaccination costs.

“We’re absolutely committed to working with the states to make this work efficiently and safely, said Tom Skinner, spokesman for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “There are a lot of dollar figures out there, some of which I believe do not take into account the infrastructure that’s been put in place.”

But that infusion of cash came with extensive demands, said Michael Richardson, acting health director for the District of Columbia. To qualify for the money, states and large cities such as the District submitted detailed plans for improving computer systems, training medical workers and adding emergency hospital beds.

“The word smallpox wasn’t even mentioned,” he said. The $10 million given to the city was spent stockpiling medications, hiring epidemiologists and other bioterrorism experts and upgrading the public health laboratory. Richardson said he does not know where the District will find the $3.6 million needed to inoculate 10,000 to 20,000 emergency personnel over and above the first group of 3,000 health care workers.

The money was used to add to existing bureaucracies, add personnel, new equipment, and to enlarge the little kingdoms of bureaucrats everywhere. Meanwhile, the EMT’s, Emergency Department docs and nurses, firefighters, and police, as well as the family physicians and their employees, who would see the cases BEFORE anyone else, got bumped to the bottom of the list for vaccinations, and now the list has been torn up.

Smallpox is no longer the “cause du jour” and support for prevention efforts has disappeared.

Is it still a threat? Remotely. Was the threat addressed? Not at all.

As I have pointed out to public health officials, if there is a major epidemic, and smallpox is a good example, they won’t need new computers or equipment. All of their existing resources will be devoted to the epidemic. All the folks handling VD notifications, or teen pregnancy prevention, or gun violence, will now have the epidemic as job one. Guess what? You don’t need to expand your kingdom for that.

On the other hand, if public health is just about VD notification, teen pregnancy prevention and gun violence, as well as bigger and better everything, then you’ve done well for yourselves.

West Nile virus is an epidemic in this country. Hawaii suffers from a dengue fever epidemic. Every year influenza kills tens of thousands, and costs the economy hundreds of millions of dollars in lost productivity. Do you feel safer because your public health department bought a new computer? I don’t.

SARS is coming back. Will the new office furniture help prevent deaths from that illness?

So, here’s my summation. The government is spending its resources trying to prevent the last attack, or to prevent attacks that will never occur. Terrorism occurs frequently within the United States and little is being done to address the existing acts of terrorism. I maintain that our focus and our resources are poorly committed to fight the things that are now happening, that are killing Americans today, that are costing Americans hundreds of thousands of dollars yearly.

The facts about WMD attacks that have occurred suggest that such attack kill far fewer than the experts would suggest, are much more difficult to conduct, and are very, very rare when compared to the vast numbers of terrorist attacks as a whole. We should spend far more time worrying about the stolen LP gas truck, or the Piper Cherokee left with its keys in it at a private flying club that the chance that al Qaeda will set of an atomic bomb on Manhattan.

Let’s be cold and calculating for a moment. Every Israeli knows someone killed or hurt in a terrorist incident. In order for that to be the case here, we would have had perhaps 1.5 million killed or injured in the last thirty years, and we are far from that figure. The truth is that we have had little to fear and we continue to have little to fear. And let us remember, that as Americans, we are as safe as we were on September 10, and as free. And… if we want to beat Bin Laden and all his evil kind, we must stay free, and free of fear. They can hurt us, but they cannot beat us. We were here before them, and we will be here after they lie in cold, unmarked graves.