Date:   10/29/2005 3:17:33 PM ( 19 y ago)
Hits:   1,218
URL:   https://www.curezone.org/forums/fm.asp?i=588695

why is he being charged? The actual vaccine is not much more effective :)

http://www.bobmantz.com

Published October 29, 2005

The owner of a Houston health care company remains behind bars today after his company issued more than 1,000 fake flu shots to local Exxon Mobil workers during a safety fair last week.

Iyad Abu El Hawa, 35, was arrested Thursday for his role in a scam to defraud Medicare by providing flu vaccinations at company health fairs. His company, Comfort & Caring Home Health, provided approximately 1,000 Exxon Mobil employees and 80 private contractors with shots full of what the FDA said was “some form of purified water” instead of the flu vaccine.

“This is a callous and disturbing crime which put at risk patients - particularly the elderly - who thought they had been inoculated against the flu and were not,” U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg said at a press conference in Houston Friday. “He purposefully put at risk many, many people.”

Authorities said El Hawa’s plan was to administer fake vaccines and bill Medicare for the service of real vaccines. Investigators uncovered records showing that El Hawa also gave fake flu vaccines to 14 residents recently at a senior housing facility in La Porte. The FBI found those resident’s Medicare records in El Hawa’s office.

Preliminary tests indicated the syringes were filled with purified water, but more tests were being performed on the fluid that was injected and the syringes themselves, Rosenberg said. No injuries have been reported.

“There is no cause for concern based on preliminary results,” said Hermina Palacio, head of the Harris County health department. But she advised people who got the shots to get tested for blood-borne pathogens such as HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C.

El Hawa, who was convicted of assaulting a police officer in 1999, was seen throwing syringes into a dumpster across the street from his office when FBI investigators arrived to question him. Investigators seized 32 syringes and are currently performing tests on them.

The efforts of an unidentified contract nurse hired to work at the safety fair Oct. 19 and 20 brought this scam to the attention of the FBI. She told federal investigators that she became concerned when she overheard El Hawa’s employees say they were up all night filling syringes. When those employees showed no knowledge or concept of the vaccination lot numbers, which are used to track vaccinations and the patients who receive them in the event of a problem, she took two syringes prepared with the “vaccine” and brought them to the FBI.

The ensuing investigation uncovered the Medicare scam involving the bogus flu vaccinations. If convicted of Medicare fraud, El Hawa could face 10 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. If any serious injury is caused by his alleged actions, the prison time could increase to 20 years and if someone dies from his alleged actions, he could be sentenced to life in prison.

“We are satisfied that the FBI and other agencies in the investigation progressed to this point, we will continue to support those agencies,” Exxon Mobil spokeswoman Jeanne Miller said. “They are still investigating whether the syringes were reused.”

An additional investigation into a Baytown physician who might have partnered with El Hawa is also still under way. Miller said she did not know the role the local doctor, who is licensed by Texas, and didn’t want to interfere with the investigation by releasing his name. As far as Exxon Mobil’s involvement with the procurement of the vaccine, it stopped with the local doctor.

“We contracted with a local independent state licensed physician’s office to administer the shots and that is the extent of our contract,” Miller said.

Dr. Shariq Rauf, who was not involved with the flu vaccinations and specializes in infectious diseases, said the shots would probably not be harmful because the “vaccine” was not delivered into a vein.

“Most of the time, if it is not into the vein, there would be just localized reaction in the area in which it was injected,” Rauf said. “Apart from that, there wouldn’t be much reaction.” He added, “If the water was contaminated, there is a potential for local infection and sometimes even the infection getting into the blood stream.”

The question of whether the nurses reused needles is probably a more serious concern at this point.

“If they used one needle for more than one person, there could be transmission of blood-borne diseases like Hepatitis or HIV,” Rauf said.

Exxon Mobil officials notified their employees about the issue and recommended they all get tested for “the standard range of blood-borne pathogens,” or germs.

Miller said this is the first time in recent years flu shots have been offered at the company’s safety fair. Previously, the company did offer flu shots to employees, but by privately scheduled on-site office visits. This is also the first time the company has contracted with a third party to offer flu vaccinations. Miller said it was too early to know how or if Exxon Mobil would offer flu vaccinations in the future.

“We will of course look into this type of situation,” Miller said. “But right now our focus has been on getting the test results and communicating with our employees.”

Miller said she was the person responsible for informing employees when the FDA told them that what was actually in the flu shots shouldn’t be harmful.

She didn’t want to speak for all 1,000 employees who received flu shots last week, but in a word she expressed what she thought many of them felt after hearing the news: relief.


http://web.baytownsun.com/story.lasso?wcd=23504
 

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