Federal response to Ebola crisis criticized

By | Last updated: Oct 23, 2014 - 8:52:41 AM

Politicians blame President for ‘mid-level’ breakdown

Final Call Full Coverage on Ebola Crisis

President Barack Obama convenes a meeting with cabinet agencies coordinating the government's Ebola response, in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Oct.15. Photo: Official White House/Pete Souza

WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - In response to the spiraling political crisis surrounding reports of new Ebola cases in this country, President Barack Obama appointed Ron Klain, a former chief of staff for Vice Presidents Al Gore and Joseph Biden, as the nation’s “Ebola Czar” to manage the federal government’s response to the deadly virus as anxiety grew over its possible spread, the White House announced Oct. 17.

Mr. Klain will be responsible for coordinating the government’s overall response to the Ebola epidemic, including efforts to contain the virus in Africa and the response to its arrival in the United States. He served as chief of staff to Mr. Biden from 2009 to 2011, and held the same post from 1995 to 1999 for Mr. Gore.

The move came one day after members of Congress criticized the government’s response to Ebola in the U.S. at a congressional hearing probing efforts to contain the virus, and as some called for a ban on travel from epidemic-stricken West Africa.

The President said Oct. 16 that he continues to oppose a travel ban on people coming from areas affected by the Ebola epidemic, but said he will not rule one out. “It is currently the judgment of all those who have been involved that a flat-out travel ban is not the best way to go,” Mr. Obama said after a round of White House meetings and phone calls with several world leaders and with his own cabinet members, discussing the crisis.

“But we will continue to monitor this. I am asking these questions. And if in fact it turns out that I’m getting different answers, then I will share that with the American people, and we will not hesitate to do what’s necessary in order to maximize the chances that we avoid an outbreak here in the United States.” Mr. Obama cancelled two days of out of town travel plans in order to stay at the White House and manage the U.S. response.

Since March, Ebola has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa, in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea. Authorities insist the virus is only spread through direct contact with bodily fluids from an infected person who is suffering from symptoms of the disease.

Ironically, all of the lapses in Ebola treatment in this country have taken place well below the presidential level—at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas where Thomas Eric Duncan, the first U.S. Ebola victim so-called “Patient Zero” was treated; at the Centers for Disease Control, which gave incorrect information permitting travel, to the nurses who treated Mr. Duncan; at the Federal Aviation Administration; and at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, where one of the infected nurses was transferred.

“It’s really not a federal issue,” Dr. Reggie Stewart, a board certified internal medicine specialist who teaches at William Kerry University of Osteopathic medicine in Hattiesburg, Mississippi told The Final Call.

“The issue is in my opinion more, on an individual teaching level. The one thing I teach, and the way I think the medical schools and post-graduate training institutions should be teaching is standard, meticulous care and preparation when taking care of people who are potentially infected. Back in the old days we called it universal precautions.”

But, he said, universal precautions are clearly not being taken in the care of Ebola patients. “When we meet a person who has a potential infection, we take due diligence to protect ourselves and to protect that patient and the other patients we come in contact with. With this new Ebola outbreak, it’s not much different from the HIV epidemic which was an epidemic in the past, and as everyone should know, is going away. If due diligence were taken at those hospitals, then that wouldn’t have happened. If those nurses had proper equipment, and if they were properly trained, then the incident would not have happened,” Dr. Stewart continued.

“As far as what the President is doing,” he added, “(the Ebola problems in this country are) more of a mid-level decision, that’s on the level of the CDC.”

But if some lawmakers, particularly Republican Congressional and Senatorial candidates are to be believed, the problem is all the fault of the President.

“The administration did not act fast enough in responding in Texas,” Rep. Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) told the Congressional hearing. “We need to look at all the options available to keep our families safe and move quickly and responsibly to make any necessary changes at airports.”

Even journalists have begun to pile on. “The Ebola crisis in the United States has become an anchor threatening to sink the Obama presidency,” Justin Sink, White House correspondent for The Hill posted online, on Oct. 16.

And according to a new Washington Post/ABC News poll, which was carried out before the latest developments, two-thirds of Americans are worried about a widespread Ebola epidemic, and more than four in ten are worried that they or a close family member will catch the virus.

“At least two GOP Senate candidates are, in fact, linking Ebola to the border, and using that double jolt of fear to attack Democratic Senate incumbents,” Greg Sargent reported for The Washington Post. He points to Scott Brown, running against Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.). In an interview with WGIR radio that was captured by the New Hampshire Democratic Party, Mr. Brown was asked whether he favored travel restrictions on some passengers in and out of West Africa.

“We need a comprehensive approach and I think that should be part of it. I think it’s all connected. For example, we have people coming into our country by legal means bringing in diseases and other potential challenges. Yet we have a border that’s so porous that anyone can walk across it. I think it’s naive to think that people aren’t going to be walking through here who have those types of diseases and/or other types of intent, criminal or terrorist. And yet we do nothing to secure our border. It’s dangerous. And that’s the difference. I voted to secure it. Senator Shaheen has not,” Mr. Brown said, according to the news report.

But the problem resulting in the virus spreading in this country goes back to simple race-class values, which restrict the quality of care, such as that received by Mr. Duncan, according to Dr. Stewart. “As far as the treatment of that individual (so-called “Patient Zero”), it is a fact, when someone goes to a facility, and they have a certain kind of insurance, it is a fact that that person may be treated differently.

“That is a fact. In my clinic, race, insurance, gender, doesn’t come into play. The fact of the matter is, that in certain institutions, especially private institutions, people may be treated differently based on their insurance coverage.”

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