Re: U.S. Military Veteran Liver Disease Research and Compensation Issues

As my representative you ought to be aware that liver disease is one of the major killers in America today.

Hepatitis C alone has been called a "silent epidemic" by former surgeon general Everett Koop, MD, and it is estimated that as many as 4 million Americans are infected.

The death rate due to complications from this disease is expected to quadruple in the next 10 years.

There is no known cure and current treatment has an inadequate success rate, even by physician standards (while often causing debilitating side effects).

Hepatitis is the number one cause for liver transplants and those numbers are rising exponentially.

A recent study showed that 19% of veterans using a San Francisco Veterans Administration facility tested positive for Hepatitis C. This is in contrast to 2% of the population at large. There should be more questions asked about how the veterans contracted this disease at ten times the rate of the general population and what the veterans administration is going to do to help.

I am requesting that you investigate this important area of public health and sponsor or co-sponsor legislation to look into the details of this issue.

Thank you for your attention and consideration in regard to this serious matter.

Sincerely,

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