Unlicensed Outfits Providing Silicosis Finding

WASHINGTON–Four companies in Mississippi and seven in Texas X-rayed citizens in their states for potential silicosis without being licensed to do so, according to witnesses appearing before a House subcommittee.

The testimony came during a hearing titled “The Silicosis Story: Mass Tort Screening and the Public Health,” being conducted by the Oversight Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Giving testimony were officials of the Departments of Health of Mississippi and Texas, in the third hearing on the issue conducted by the panel and its chairman, Rep. Ed Whitfield, R-Ky.

In a prior hearing, a doctor credited with 3,600 diagnoses of silicosis said he never meant to diagnose anyone, and in fact did not know the criteria for diagnosing silicosis.

In another case, a screening panel testified that it was paid only when it produced positive diagnoses of silicosis for one law firm. Also at a prior hearing, three doctors credited with a combined total of 1,800 diagnoses of silicosis did not answer and invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when asked if their diagnoses were accurate and made pursuant to medical practices, standards and ethics.

The hearing was held against the background of another hearing scheduled for Wednesday on proposed asbestos legislation introduced last week by Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Pat Leahy, D-Vt., chairman and ranking minority member, respectively, of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

At that hearing, Ted Kelly, chairman and chief executive officer of Liberty Mutual, is expected to testify in opposition to the new bill.

At today's House hearing, Robert Goff, of the Mississippi Department of Health, testified that the department has probed four companies with mobile X-ray units for conducting health screenings without agency approval.

Three of the four companies terminated their activities within Mississippi after being investigated, while the fourth submitted a screening program later approved by the state, Mr. Goff said.

As a result of the probe, the state has substantively tightened its licensing procedures for health screening programs, he noted.

Richard Ratliff, a radiation program officer for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said that since 1999, his agency has investigated seven companies for unauthorized X-rays of individuals for possible asbestosis or silicosis.

Only one of the seven had licensed physicians providing the individuals with an individual prescription, “and thus was not screening X-rays as defined by rule.” Five of the other six companies were not authorized to perform X-ray screenings.

Five of the seven companies that were probed were from outside Texas, Mr. Ratliff said. One company paid a $10,000 fine for violations of agency rules, and three others were issued notices of violation.

Currently, none of the seven companies are still performing X-ray screenings in Texas, and only two medical facilities throughout the state are still performing X-ray procedures in the state, Mr. Ratliff testified. In addition, the agency has adopted a rule requiring all out-of-state X-ray registrants to notify the agency each time they do X-ray exams in Texas “to assure compliance with all regulatory requirements,” Mr. Ratliff testified.