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| September 28, 2005 |
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| WASHINGTON, DC - Montana’s Congressman, Denny Rehberg, called for an investigation into the actions of a W.R. Grace medical plan administrator that sent letters to Libby asbestos victims, telling them they may not really be sick. In a letter to U.S. Health & Human Service Secretary Mike Leavitt, Rehberg called the action “insensitive” and “a slap in the face to a community already reeling from the effects of asbestos exposure.” “I was deeply disappointed to learn that HNA/Triveras, W.R. Grace and Company’s medical administrator, informed most of the 870 people under its medical plan for Libby, Montana, that they no longer have asbestos-related diseases,” Rehberg told Leavitt. “On behalf of my constituents in the Libby community, I urge you to become fully and personally engaged in this issue and to launch a full-scale investigation into HNA’s actions. It’s time to do what is right by the people of Libby and make the health of that community a top priority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.” In the 1990’s, officials began associating serious health problems in the Libby community with exposure to vermiculite ore, found to be contaminated with tremolite asbestos. For nearly sixty years, a mine near Libby – most recently operated by W.R. Grace and Company – had produced most of the world’s supply of vermiculite ore. The tremolite contamination left hundreds dead or sickened from asbestos exposure, prompting an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) superfund cleanup and legal action that placed surviving victims in the care of a medical administrator, HNA/Triveras, appointed by Grace. “I have been contacted by numerous constituents from the Libby area who are frightened, angry and frustrated. W.R. Grace and Company’s medical plan has a solemn obligation to assist these good people whose only ‘crime’ was to work for W.R Grace, be a family member of someone who worked at W.R. Grace, or live in that beautiful mountain community where toxic materials from W.R. Grace were spread,” Rehberg, a member of the House Appropriations Committee, wrote.
LETTER:
Mike Leavitt, Secretary U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 200 Independence Avenue SW Washington, DC 20201 Dear Secretary Leavitt: I was deeply disappointed to learn that HNA/Triveras, W.R. Grace and Company’s medical administrator, informed most of the 870 people under its medical plan for Libby, Montana that they no longer have asbestos-related diseases. This insensitive action on the part of HNA is a slap in the face to a community already reeling from the effects of asbestos exposure. I have been contacted by numerous constituents from the Libby area who are frightened, angry and frustrated. W.R. Grace and Company’s medical plan has a solemn obligation to assist these good people whose only “crime” was to work for W.R Grace, be a family member of someone who worked at W.R. Grace, or live in that beautiful mountain community where toxic materials from W.R. Grace were spread. On behalf of my constituents in the Libby community, I urge you to become fully and personally engaged in this issue and to launch a full-scale investigation into HNA’s actions. It’s time to do what is right by the people of Libby and make the health of that community a top priority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Sincerely, DENNY REHBERG Montana’s Congressman DRR/twd Cc: Lincoln County Commissioners Dr. Brad Black, Center for Asbestos Related Disease Montana Department of Public Health & Human Services Dr. Jay Flynn, Health Network of America (HNA) |
