White House Wants to OK Any Public Health Alert

Jan. 13, 2004

The White House Office of Management and Budget has tabled a proposal to gain final control over release of emergency declarations from the federal agencies responsible for public health, safety and the environment, according to a report in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Under a controversial new proposal, the White House would decide what and when the public would be told about outbreaks of contagions such as mad cow disease, an anthrax release by terrorists, a nuclear plant accident – or any other public health crisis.

Additionally, reports the Post-Dispatch, the OMB wants to manage scientific and technical evaluations, also known as peer reviews, of all major government rules, plans, proposed regulations and pronouncements.

The various federal agencies presently control such emergency notifications and peer reviews.

Last week, 20 former top agency officials sent a joint letter to the OMB asking the White House watchdog agency to withdraw its proposal, arguing it "could damage the federal system for protecting public health and the environment."

David Michaels, one of the drafters of the letter, said, "It goes beyond just having the White House involved in picking industry favorites to evaluate government science. Under this proposal, the carefully crafted process used by the government to notify the public of an imminent danger is going to first have to be signed off by someone weighing the political hazards."

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