The Sidebar

11/7/18 UPDATE: I live in Georgia's 7th Congressional district, a suburb northeast of Atlanta. In September 2018, as a journalism experiment I began conducting a constituent Q&A with incumbent Rob Woodall (R) and challenger Carolyn Bourdeaux (D), providing both candidates with a weekly opportunity to share their positions on issues of concern to thoughtful voters.

Congressman Woodall's representative Derick Corbett declined to participate and he failed to respond to my subsequent weekly questions. Jake Best, Ms. Bourdeaux's communications director, enthusiastically agree to participate.

After three weeks of posts, Mr. Best missed our agreed-upon deadline and asked to change the frequency from once a week to every other week to which I agreed. He also agreed to respond to my fourth inquiry (dated September 30) requesting Ms. Bourdeaux's position on the Violence Against Women Act.

Despite repeated friendly e-nudges from me, I never received any further correspondence from the Bourdeaux campaign, so I ended my experiment.


This item is the third of the weekly Q&A series I'm conducting with candidates for the 2018 Georgia 7th Congressional District (where I live and vote), incumbent Rep. Rob Woodall (R) and his challenger.for the seat, Carolyn Bourdeaux (D).

Last week Congressman Woodall went first, so this week is Ms. Bourdeaux's turn.

source

Q: Citizens of good will across the political spectrum are concerned about violence involving firearms. Do you consider the problem to be serious and, if so, how serious? What solutions if any would you attempt to implement in order to address the problem?

BOURDEAUX: Gun violence is a major problem across our country, and it is one where I believe we can implement common-sense solutions supported by the vast majority of Americans.

To begin, I grew up around guns. My father owned a gun. My grandmother shot squirrels off her bird-feeder from her upstairs porch with a bb gun. My grandfather passed on to my uncle a wonderful historic gun collection, and many members of my family are hunters. But we were taught from an early age that guns are weapons, and owning a gun is a serious responsibility – it’s time that our country recognize this as well. I have spoken with Democrats, Republicans, and Independents on this issue, and I see common-ground.

Most of us agree that we need to ensure universal, comprehensive background checks with mandatory waiting periods. We need to close the gun show loophole. We must ban bump stocks, restrict civilian access to military-style assault weapons, and restrict access to high capacity magazines.

And most of us agree that schools are not the place for guns – our children’s safety must come first, but adding more weapons in schools in not the solution. Our children deserve to live in a world where their biggest worry is studying for a math test, not whether or not they'll live through the week or watch classmates and teachers die in front of them. These are serious problems, and I believe we can implement these changes and solutions to make our communities safer.

source

In response to my invitation to participate in this project, Congressman Rob Woodall's campaign representative Derick Corbett e-mailed me, "I appreciate the generous offer and your zeal to participate in the race. Unfortunately though, as I consider our bandwith and your offer, we have to say no thank you."

I politely replied that the Bourdeaux campaign had agreed to participate; that in the interests of GA 7th District constituents, I hoped he'd reconsider; and that each Monday I'd send him my questions. (Our correspondence is posted here.)

Re: this week's question, I sent multiple e-mails and a fax with my question (for which I obtained confirmation of receipt) to Congressman Woodall and to Mr. Corbett. For the third week in a row, I didn't receive a reply.

This item is the second of the weekly Q&A series I'm conducting with candidates for the 2018 Georgia 7th Congressional District (where I live and vote), incumbent Rep. Rob Woodall (R) and his challenger.for the seat, Carolyn Bourdeaux (D).

This week's questions are about immigration. Last week Ms. Bourdeaux went first, so this week is Congressman Woodall's turn.

Woodall (source)

In response to my invitation to participate in this project, Congressman Rob Woodall's campaign representative Derick Corbett e-mailed me, "I appreciate the generous offer and your zeal to participate in the race. Unfortunately though, as I consider our bandwith and your offer, we have to say no thank you."

I politely replied that the Bourdeaux campaign had agreed to participate; that in the interests of GA 7th District constituents, I hoped he'd reconsider; and that each Monday I'd send him my questions. (Our correspondence is posted here.)

Re: this week's questions, I sent multiple e-mails and a fax with my questions (for which I obtained confirmation of receipt) to Congressman Woodall and to his campaign representative Derick Corbett. For the second week in a row, I didn't receive a reply.

Bourdeaux (source)

Q: Should comprehensive immigration reform be enacted? If so, what should and/or shouldn't be included? If not, why not?

BOURDEAUX: Yes, we need to enact comprehensive immigration reform in this country. Georgia’s 7th district is one of the most diverse communities in the entire nation, and I’m proud of that. We need to celebrate our diversity. We are long overdue for comprehensive immigration reform that recognizes the realities of our communities and labor markets. Part of immigration reform is border security, and the security of our border and our country is best served when we focus enforcement resources on criminals who mean us harm. We urgently need a path to citizenship for the DREAMers, who came here as children and are invaluable members of our communities.

Q: On September 7, the Departments of Homeland Security and Health & Human Services issued a proposal that reportedly would allow the government to indefinitely hold minors in detention. The proposed regulations would invalidate the Flores Settlement Agreement, a decree that has stipulated the treatment of detained underage migrants since 1997. As it stands, children can only be detained for up to 20 days. (source)

Do you support the proposal? If so, why? If not, why not?

CB: No, I do not support this proposal. The Trump Administration’s detention of children is wrong and inhumane, and this proposal is unjustifiable.

Q: Some have called for ICE to be reformed or abolished. What's your opinion?

CB: I believe we need to reform how ICE works. I agree that we need to better check ICE and provide oversight, but ICE itself is simply a law-enforcement agency that we need to monitor. ICE plays an integral role at the border, which is an important function. However, I also see that we need to root out any corruption involved in ICE to ensure a fair, transparent organization.

Per my previous item, SNEAK PEEK: My first weekly Q&A with Rep. Rob Woodall (R) & Carolyn Bourdeaux (D), candidates for the Georgia 7th congressional district, today marks the first of a series of what I've called "constituent journalism."

The source of this week's questions is an AARP article published last month. 

Based on last name alphabetical order, this week Ms. Bourdeaux goes first. Next week Rep. Woodall will lead off.

Bourdeaux

Will you promise not to cut Medicaid to pay for tax cuts or other spending?

CB: One of my top priorities in Congress is expanding access to quality, affordable health care, not working to take it away. I oppose the GOP tax bill that passed last year, which gave large handouts to big corporations and the wealthy while eventually hurting the middle class. While I am concerned about our rising deficit, I will not cut Medicaid in favor of tax cuts or other handouts to the rich.

Would you oppose making Medicaid a block grant program?

CB: Yes. Making Medicaid a block grant program would hurt Georgians and make it harder for those on Medicaid to get the health care coverage they need.

Would you support Medicaid guaranteeing long-term care services at home?

CB: Having just struggled with health care for both my and my husband’s aging parents, I am deeply sympathetic to the challenge and financial drain of providing long-term care. Neither my parents nor my in-laws wanted to leave their homes, and we were worried about having to put them in a nursing home. If we can promote in-home care as a low-cost alternative to nursing homes, I would certainly support it, but one of the challenges we found, and we face as a society, is that in-home care at a certain stage becomes extremely expensive. I am open to ideas about how to address this issue.

Should Medicaid recipients be subject to work requirements?

CB: No. Placing work requirements on Medicaid recipients would hurt low-income Georgians. In Georgia, for the most part, only children, pregnant women, new mothers and the aged, blind, and disabled receive Medicaid benefits. Work requirements make no sense. Should Georgia expand Medicaid, I would still oppose this provision because health is often a precondition to being able to work.

Woodall

In response to my invitation to participate in this project, Congressman Rob Woodall's campaign representative Derick Corbett e-mailed me, "I appreciate the generous offer and your zeal to participate in the race. Unfortunately though, as I consider our bandwith and your offer, we have to say no thank you."

I politely replied that the Bourdeaux campaign had agreed to participate; that in the interests of GA 7th District constituents, I hoped he'd reconsider; and that each Monday I'd send him my questions. (The complete correspondence is posted here.)

Re: this week's questions, I sent multiple e-mails and faxed Mr. Corbett (for which I obtained confirmation of receipt), but I didn't receive any further communications. 

Check back next Friday for round 2!

U.S. Rep. Rob Woodall (R) & his congressional challenger Carolyn Bourdeaux (D)

My wife and I live and vote in Georgia's 7th Congressional District which, according to Wikipedia, "includes portions of the northeast Atlanta metropolitan area, including the cities of Peachtree Corners, Norcross, Cumming, Lawrenceville, Duluth, Suwanee, and Buford."

In what I hope will be an informative and lively foray into "constituent journalism," I've decided to use my blog as a once-a-week Q&A forum for the Republican and Democrat candidates vying for that congressional seat in this year's midterm elections.

As a sneak preview, below the hash marks are the questions I'm sending the candidates this morning along with a recap of the ground rules which I previously covered with their campaign representatives.

Full disclosure, as I informed both campaigns, I'm a registered Democrat, but I'll be maintaining a completely non-partisan stance and the questions I submit to the candidates will reflect that.

My objective is to provide both candidates with an unedited, open-ended opportunity to express themselves on substantive issues that matter to thoughtful citizens. Rest assured I will fiercely avoid political spin.

Thanks for reading and be sure to check back Friday for their responses!


Rep. Rob Woodall
% Derick Corbett
E-mailed to derick@robwoodall.com
Faxed to (770)232-2909

Carolyn Bourdeaux
% Jake Best
E-mailed to jakebest@carolyn4congress.com & carolyn@carolyn4congress.com

Dear Rep. Woodall & Ms. Bourdeaux:

Per my previous e-mails to Derick Corbett & Jake Best, this is the first of my questions for a weekly Q&A series I'm publishing on my blog, The Sidebar.

To quickly recap, each Monday from today until October 29, I'll be sending you substantive questions re: matters of interest to GA 7th District constituents (of which I'm proud to number myself). You'll have until end of the day Thursday to respond and I'll publish your responses unedited and without comment the next morning (Friday).

For example, for today's questions, your deadline is end of the day Thursday, September 13 and I'll publish your responses the morning of Friday, September 14. Each week I'll alternate whose response is posted first and I plan to forward my items to local mainstream media outlets.

I do not accept posted comments on my blog, but if I receive thoughtful e-mails -- emphasis on thoughtful -- I may publish those on my blog separate from the Q&A items or on my Twitter account. Long story short, I will maintain a fair forum for sound debate.

Okay, on to my questions which are copied verbatim from Midterm Election Winners Could Determine Medicaid’s Future; New lawmakers will decide whether to cut or maintain the safety-net program’s benefits by Dena Bunis, AARP Bulletin, July/August 2018.

1) Will you promise not to cut Medicaid to pay for tax cuts or other spending?

2) Would you oppose making Medicaid a block grant program?

3) Would you support Medicaid guaranteeing long-term care services at home?

4) Should Medicaid recipients be subject to work requirements?

On behalf of GA 7th voters, sincere thanks for your time/consideration and I look forward to receiving and publishing your answers.

Cheers, Peter

Peter M. Heimlich
Peachtree Corners, GA 30096 USA
ph: (208)474-7283
website: http://medfraud.info
blog: http://the-sidebar.com
e-mail: peter.heimlich@gmail.com
Twitter: @medfraud_pmh
bio: http://tinyurl.com/ych7o7dr

cc: Dena Bunis % Veronica Byrd Director, Media Relations, Health Care, Health Policy, Medicare, Medicaid, AARP

source

In a June 16 story published on the PBS NewsHour's website, Howard Markel MD, a prominent professor of medical history at the University of Michigan, claimed Hollywood star Halle Berry was saved from choking by the Heimlich maneuver.

But in an August 14 Hollywood Reporter article, Ms. Berry denied the claim.

source

So on August 20, I e-mailed a corrections request to the NewsHour's managing editor, Judy Woodruff.

My request also asked Ms. Woodruff to address other factual errors in Dr. Markel's story and to review the reporting and editing of his article. (Details via see my August 21 item, What do a prominent medical historian/author, the PBS ombudsman, and actress Halle Berry have in common? My NewsHour corrections request saga!)

Despite multiple courtesy follow-up e-mails (to which I received confirmations of receipt from Ms. Woodruff) and a couple of voice messages I left for her assistant, I've never received a reply to my inquiry.

source

Via PBS's published Editorial Standards and Policies, here's where this gets interesting:

The honesty and integrity of informational content depends heavily upon its factual accuracy. Every effort must be made to assure that content is presented accurately and in context. Programs, Digital Content,and other content containing editorials, analysis, commentary, and points of view must be held to the same standards of factual accuracy as news reports. A commitment to accuracy and transparency requires the correction of inaccuracies and errors in a public and visible manner. These principles also require that PBS, Stations and Producers actively respond to feedback and questions from audiences.

Nice words, but are they voluntary or compulsory?

source

Last week I e-mailed that question to PBS's media relations department and got this response from Jan McNamara, Sr. Director and Sr. Strategist of Corporate Communications at the network:

Can you provide some context for your question?

I'm not sure why context matters, but I appreciated her reply, so I sent Ms. McNamara the detailed e-mail embedded below. (Click here to download a copy.)

Here's what I asked.

Are PBS's Editorial Standards and Policies voluntary or compulsory for PBS employees?

If they're compulsory, what's the name and job title of the employee responsible for enforcing them?

If they're voluntary, this is to request that PBS publish that information in the guidelines and on the network's website.

As I wrote to Ms. McNamara, I take this matter seriously, so I copied PBS Board chairman Donald A. Baer, PBS President/CEO Paula A. Kerger, and, because PBS receives tax dollars -- about $25 million according to the organization's most recent IRS return -- my congressman, Rob Woodall (GA-7th District).

 

Thomas Frieden MD MPH (source)

Today former IL congressional candidate Tim Bagwell PhD (who now lives in St. Louis) and I asked our congressmen, Reps. Lacy Clay (D-MO) and Rob Woodall (R-GA), to help us get answers regarding an institutional cover-up by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that involves CDC Director Thomas Frieden MD MPH.

Our thoroughly-documented letter requested that Reps. Clay and Woodall ask Dr. Frieden to account for millions of tax dollars the agency awarded to the Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF).

As Sidebar readers know, SALF was a politically-connected Chicago nonprofit that's been the subject of dozens of media exposes and is reportedly under investigation by the Illinois Attorney General for the "possible $9 million misappropriation" of federal and state tax dollars.

Our letter also asked why CDC executive Douglas R. Browne was permitted to moonlight as SALF's corporate treasurer while the agency was funneling millions to the group.


Here's the big question we asked Reps. Clay and Woodall:

Would you please ask Dr. Frieden to provide you with a thorough accounting of how the $3,335,578 awarded to SALF was spent? That should present no difficulty for him since SALF's corporate treasurer Douglas Browne, still a CDC employee, should be able to provide him with the records.

Click here to download a copy of our letter.

Prometheus Books executives: Steven Mitchell, the late Dr. Paul Kurtz, Lynette Nisbet, Jonathan Kurtz (2002)

Also see my item last month, Prometheus Books publishes my father's long-debunked lie that the American Friends Service Committee provided "tens of thousands" of Heimlich chest valves to the North Vietnamese during the war.

March 31, 2014

Jonathan Kurtz
President
Prometheus Books
59 John Glenn Drive
Amherst, NY 14228

Dear Mr. Kurtz:

This is to respectfully request a retraction of the following false information in Heimlich’s Maneuvers: My Seventy Years of Lifesaving Innovation, my father's memoir which your company published last month:

I remember another incident in which I was overcome with emotion. It occurred in February 1993, when I was invited to accompany a team of twenty cardiac and thoracic surgeons to Vietnam, a trip arranged by the citizen ambassadors of People to People International...In Hanoi, our plane was met by a contingent of North Vietnamese cardiac and thoracic surgeons. The head of the Vietnamese delegation introduced each member of our team until he came to me.

“Dr. Heimlich, you need no introduction,” I remember him saying. “Everyone in Vietnam knows your name.” I assumed he was talking about the Heimlich Maneuver, but, in fact, he was referring to the chest drain valve. “Your valve has saved tens of thousands of our people during the war, both civilian and military,” he said. I never knew the North Vietnamese had used the valve during the war. It had been supplied to them by the Quaker organization American Friends Service Committee. The next morning, at a meeting of American and Vietnamese doctors, the chairman opened his session saying, “Dr. Heimlich will live forever in the hearts of the Vietnamese people.” Hearing his words, I cried openly.

Per a November 2005 expose published by Radar Magazine, the story was debunked over eight years ago:

Next, Peter (Heimlich and his wife Karen Shulman) took aim at a lesser-known invention, the "Heimlich chest drain valve," which was used on the battlefield in Vietnam to save soldiers from dying of a collapsed lung caused by a chest wound. According to Heimlich's press statements the invention saved tens of thousands of lives, including among the North Vietnamese, after the American Friends Service Committee shipped valves to both sides in the war. Henry often tells the story of a trip to Vietnam during which he received a hero's welcome because of his valve.

But the Quakers have no record of distributing the valve. Peter contacted the American Friends Service Committee, the Quaker group that provides aid in foreign conflicts. "They checked deep in the archives and contacted several staffers from the '60s," says Peter. "No one had even heard of the Heimlich valve." AFSC spokeswoman Janis Shields says that if the valves had been shipped to North Vietnam, there would have been documents. The AFSC's shipments to North Vietnam consisted primarily of penicillin.

In addition to grossly distorting Vietnamese and U.S. history, my father's false claim suggests that the American Friends Service Committee and Becton, Dickinson and Company (the company that manufactures the Heimlich Chest Drain Valve) may have violated laws governing the transfer of medical supplies during wartime.

It's unclear how your editors failed to catch such an obvious falsehood, but in recent weeks I've made best efforts to address the matter.

In a February 16, 2014 e-mail and multiple follow-ups, I asked my father's publicist, Lori Ames, if my father intended to retract the false claim. He has not done so.

Therefore, in a March 10, 2014 e-mail and a follow-up I asked your company's Senior Publicist, Lisa Michalski, if your company intends to address the matter.

I haven't received a reply, hence this outreach to you.

I'm hopeful that you share my interest in correcting the record. With that in mind, I look forward to your reply.

If you have any questions or require additional information, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Sincerely,

Peter M. Heimlich
(Street address redacted)
Duluth, GA 30096

ph: (208)474-7283
website: http://medfraud.info
blog: http://the-sidebar.com
e-mail: peter.heimlich@gmail.com

cc:

The Hon. Nguyen Quoc Cuong, Ambassador, The Socialist Republic of Vietnam to the United States
The Hon. David B. Shear, U.S. Ambassador to The Socialist Republic of Vietnam
The Hon. Rob Woodall, U.S. House of Representatives (GA-7th District)
Alexis Moore, Media Director, American Friends Service Committee (Philadelphia, PA)
Alyssa Zeff, Director, Becton, Dickinson and Company Worldwide Public Relations (Franklin Lakes, NJ)

Click here to view my letter via Scribd. Click here to download a copy.

Two and a half years ago, the office of Health and Human Services Inspector General Dan Levinson instructed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to investigate what happened to millions of tax dollars the agency awarded to a tainted Chicago nonprofit and the role of a career CDC employee who moonlighted as the group's Corporate Treasurer.

As Sidebar readers know, the nonprofit was the Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF), a politically-connected, high-profile, now-defunct FEMA member organization that since November 2006 has been the subject of dozens of exposes and reportedly is under investigation by the Illinois Attorney General for the possible misappropriation of $9 million in federal and state funds.

And the Dubuque Telegraph Herald recently reported that in June 2007, SALF was anticipating $10 million in funding sponsored by a former U.S. Senator named Barack Obama. 

So what kind of investigation did the CDC conduct?

The agency ignored my questions, but thanks to my congressman Rob Woodall, the public may get an answer to that question.

Per an October 11, 2010 article in The Hill, Levinson was asked to investigate $3.3 million the CDC handed SALF -- click here for the breakdown -- and "the relationship between the nonprofit and CDC Deputy Director Douglas Browne, who served as the nonprofit's corporate treasurer from 2004 to 2009."

Via the minutes of the January 26, 2007 meeting of SALF's corporate board -- note that the meeting took place after ABC7 Chicago had aired three scorching I-Team exposes of SALF:

 

"Mullins" is Rita Mullins, former mayor of Palatine, IL and SALF's second-in-command. "Spizzirri" is SALF founder/president Carol J. Spizzirri, reportedly now living in a trailer park near Carlsbad, CA. (Click here for a bunch of photos of the two SALF gals hanging out with prominent public officials.)

In a November 8, 2010 letter, Levinson's office punted the SALF mess "to CDC for further review, and appropriate administrative action as this matter appears to be more appropriately addressed through CDC's administrative review process."

A couple of years later, I tried to find out what kind of "administrative review" the CDC had conducted.

Sherri A. Berger MPHS (via her CDC bio)

In a June 5, 2012 one-paragraph letter, here's what CDC Chief Operating Officer Sherri A. Berger wrote me:

At this time, the agency has completed its review of this matter and intends no further action.

I wrote back and asked for specifics, but never received a reply.


In recent years, my congressman Rob Woodall (GA-7th District) has helped me to obtain related information from CDC director Thomas Frieden MD, who, like Ms. Berger, has expressed zero interest in what happened to the millions of tax dollars his agency awarded to SALF and Browne's role as the group's treasurer -- click here and here.

So last month I asked legislative aide Chase Murray in Rep. Woodall's office if the congressman would ask Ms. Berger to provide details about the alleged investigation.

Here's the result, including copies of the correspondence discussed above -- click here to download a pdf.

So will the CDC give straight answers to a member of Congress? To find out, keep reading The Sidebar.

source

Also see my May 28, 2013 item, What's the U.S. Surgeon General's recommendation for treating choking victims? I can't get an answer, so my congressman Rob Woodall is trying to find out.







Note: After posting, I changed the headline of this item -- PMH

Source

Via a September 30, 1985 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services press release:

Surgeon General C. Everett Koop today endorsed the Heimlich manuever, not as the preferred, but as the only method that should be used for the treatment of choking from foreign body airway obstruction.

Dr. Koop also urged the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association to teach only the Heimlich Manuever in their first aid classes. Dr. Koop urged both organizations to withdraw from circulation manuals, posters and other materials that recommend treating choking victims with back slaps and blows to the chest.

..."The best rescue technique in any choking situation," Dr. Koop said, "is the Heimlich Manuever."

After about 20 years of teaching only the Heimlich maneuver for choking children and adults, the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association now recommended back slaps and chest thrusts as effective treatments.

So does the Surgeon General's office continue to stand by Dr. Koop's statment?

Since February, that's what I've been trying to find out.

Click here to view a string of inquiries I've sent to a string of employees in the office of Surgeon General Regina Benjamin.

Surgeon General Regina Benjamin (source)

I never received a reply so last month I wrote to Dr. Benjamin.

No reply from her either, so last week I asked my congressman, Rob Woodall (GA-7th District), to assist.


Here's his response (which included a copy of my inquiry to Dr. Benjamin):

For more about the letters exchanged by the office of my congressman Rob Woodall and CDC Director Thomas Frieden, see my item yesterday. Also see my related item, IL Attorney General's letter inadvertently provides a blueprint for nonprofits on how to rip off taxpayers. 

The documents referenced in the letter are included in the embedded Scribd window below.

May 30, 2012

Brent D. Stratton
Chief Deputy Attorney General
Office of the Illinois Attorney General
100 W. Randolph Street, 12th Floor
Chicago, Illinois 60601

Dear Mr. Stratton:

Please click the following link to download a 24-page pdf file which includes all the documents referenced below: http://db.tt/Yqz5C7uv

In your March 2, 2012 letter to Illinois Sen. Tim Bivins regarding your office's ongoing investigation of the Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF), you stated (emphasis added):

(SALF) was registered as an Illinois charitable organization with this Office from 1994 through 2009, during which period it filed complete annual reports accompanied by audits when required by law. In September 2009, SALF filed articles of dissolution with the Secretary of State. It then filed a final report with this Office in April 2010.

According to instructions on your agency's website for filing an AG990-IL, the annual report form to be filed by charitable organizations registered with the Illinois Attorney General's office:

SIGNATURES: The Form AG 990-IL must be signed by two different officers (president or other authorized officer and the chief fiscal officer) or by two trustees.

As chief fiscal officer/trustee, Douglas R. Browne's name and purported signatures appear on six AG990-IL reports submitted by SALF for the period January 1, 2003 through June 30, 2009.

As you're aware, during those six and a half years, millions of Illinois tax dollars were awarded to SALF, including a $25,000 grant from your office.

A May 9, 2012 letter from Congressman Rob Woodall's office to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) attempted to verify whether Mr. Browne, a CDC employee, signed the six reports. From a May 21, 2012 reply from CDC Director Dr. Thomas Frieden:

Mr. Browne reviewed the documents and verified that they look familiar to him, and that the signature on page six of the documents, dated December 30, 2005, appears to be his writing. Mr. Browne cannot confirm with certainty that he signed the other pages, because he's unable to verify the signatures.

Therefore, until Mr. Browne positively confirms that he signed all six reports, presumably your agency must consider them to be incomplete.

This is to request that your agency attempt to verify whether or not Mr. Browne signed the six reports. In the event that your agency chooses to do so, you'll recall that in a January 18, 2012 letter to Attorney General Lisa Madigan, Sen. Bivins provided her with a Doraville, GA address for Mr. Browne.

Sincerely,

Peter M. Heimlich
(street address redacted)
Duluth, GA 30096

ph: (208)474-7283
website: Medfraud
blog: The Sidebar

cc:

The Hon. Rob Woodall, US House of Representatives % Chase Murray
Thomas R. Frieden MD, MPH, Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Hon. Tim Bivins, IL House of Representatives
Lisa Madigan, IL Attorney General
Jack Lavin, Chief of Staff, Office of IL Governor Pat Quinn

May 29, 2012

Thomas R. Frieden M.D., M.P.H.
Director Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
1600 Clifton Road
Atlanta, Georgia 30333
Dear Dr. Frieden:

I'm responding to a letter you sent last week to my Congressman, Rob Woodall (GA, 7th District).

Your letter was in reply to a May 9, 2012 inquiry sent on my behalf by Rep. Woodall's office to CDC Chief Operating Officer Sheri Berger. That inquiry asked Ms. Berger to verify whether or not CDC employee Douglas R. Browne signed six sworn AG990-IL financial reports filed with the Illinois Attorney General's Charitable Trust Bureau by the Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF), a Chicago-area nonprofit.



I asked Congressman Woodall's office to help me obtain the information because there are serious legal matters regarding the reports that I wish to bring to the attention of federal and Illinois state officials.

In your May 21, 2012 reply, you wrote to Congressman Woodall:

Mr. Browne reviewed the documents and verified that they look familiar to him, and that the signature on page six of the documents, dated December 30, 2005, appears to be his writing. Mr. Browne cannot confirm with certainty that he signed the other pages, because he's unable to verify the signatures.

All due respect, I believe a more definitive response is required.

As you may be aware, in recent years SALF has been the subject of scores of critical media reports. For example, from a November 2006 ABC7 Chicago expose:

One of Illinois' highest profile charities teaches the Heimlich maneuver to children while maneuvering the truth to get money from government and big business.

It's called the Save-A-Life Foundation and is known across Illinois as an organization that teaches schoolchildren how to respond in emergencies. For the past few years, Save-A-Life has received millions of dollars in government funds and corporate donations. An ABC7 I-Team investigation has uncovered a series of misleading claims and deceptive credentials that raise doubts about Save-A-Life's integrity, funding and training.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, $3,335,578 of those funds were awarded to SALF by your agency.

In a November 10, 2010 reply to a complaint of misconduct filed with the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services, that office responded:

In your letter, you allege potential misconduct on the part of Douglas Browne, an employee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Specifically you state that CDC may have improperly approved Browne's outside activities with the Save-A-Life-Foundation, and that Browne may have exceeded the scope of the approval which he received from CDC management.

...HHS/OIG/OI/SIB has referred this matter to CDC for further review, and appropriate administrative action as this matter appears to be more appropriately addressed through CDC's administrative review process.

According to a numerous records (embedded below this paragraph), Mr. Browne served on SALF's Executive Board as the organization's Treasurer. According to the six AG990-IL reports, he appears to have started the job on January 1, 2003 although tax returns filed by SALF with the Internal Revenue Service indicate he started on January 1, 2004. According to the minutes of a January 26, 2007 meeting of SALF's board, he was voted a $40,000 salary and retirement plan. Apparently his job ended on September 17, 2009 when, after a vote by the corporation's directors - presumably including Mr. Browne - SALF filed Articles of Dissolution with the Illinois Secretary of State.



Regarding Mr. Browne's memory lapse about whether or not he signed the six AG990-IL reports, your letter didn't indicate if you asked him to produce copies. Since he was the organization's Treasurer, he presumably retained those. If not, he can certainly request unredacted copies from the Illinois Attorney General's office, from other former SALF executives, and from the Certified Public Accountants who co-signed the six reports.

Undoubtedly you share my interest in bringing any potential legal concerns to the attention of governmental oversight agencies. Therefore, would you please ask Mr. Browne to provide you with definite answers as to which if any of the six reports he signed and that you provide me with that information?

Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to your reply so that I may know how to proceed.

Peter M. Heimlich
(street address redacted)
Duluth, GA 30096

ph: (208)474-7283
e-mail: pmh@medfraud.info
website: Medfraud
blog: The Sidebar

cc:

The Hon. Rob Woodall, US House of Representatives % Chase Murray
Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services
Sherri Berger, Chief Operating Officer, CDC
The Hon. Tim Bivins, IL State Legislature
Brent Stratton, Chief Deputy IL Attorney General


my 5/29/12 inquiry to CDC Director Thomas Frieden re: whether CDC employee Douglas R. Browne signed six swo...

At a meeting last Friday in Wilmington, DE, US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan called for longer school days.

Why?

I'm not necessarily saying teachers have to work twelve hours a day, but what do we do with nonprofits and the Boys and Girls Clubs and the YMCAs that come into the schools and provide a, y'know, a whole set of extracurricular activities that so many of our children need?

Words, y'know, fail me.

Almost.

This from by a guy who, when he was running the Chicago Public Schools, personally facilitated a $174,000 rip-off by the Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF), a tainted nonprofit that's reportedly under investigation by the Illinois Attorney General and by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) here in Atlanta.

As Sidebar readers know, Duncan's been hiding from questions about that money and his relationship to SALF.

I don't know if he's in denial or out to lunch, but it won't matter if this catches up to him.

Will it? 

Well, since November 2006, the SALF mess has been the subject of dozens of broadcast and print exposes and continues to generate fresh ink.

Also, my congressman, Rob Woodall (R-GA, 7th District), and Illinois state senator Tim Bivins (R-Dixon) are asking questions about what happened to millions of US and state tax dollars awarded to SALF, an organization that Duncan was close to and promoted for at least four years.

F'rinstance, here's Duncan appearing as a cartoon pitchman enthusiastically hyping SALF:


In my opinion, as soon as a political opponent or a reporter asks him about the $174,000 payday he arranged for SALF, Duncan won't be quite as enthusiastic about extracurricular school programs run by nonprofits.

Rep. Rob Woodall (holding copies of SALF documents I handed to him), Town Hall, Suwanee, GA, 11/5/11

A freshman Republican congressman from Georgia is asking questions about a developing Illinois scandal that involves two of the biggest players in the national Democratic party.

Sidebar regulars know that the Save-A-Life Foundation (SALF) was a high-flying nonprofit that, according to the Chicago Tribune, was awarded nearly $9 million in federal and state funds to provide first aid training classes to millions of students.

Among other problems, records of any training classes are hard to come by.

IL State Sen. Tim Bivins

Last week an Illinois daily reported that State Senator Tim Bivins (R-Dixon) and State Board of Education chairman Gery Chico want "investigations and audits of (SALF)":

“Where’s our money going?” Bivins said. “Where’s our tax dollars going? Where did it go?... As taxpayers, we have a right to know where the money’s going.”

...Chico agreed.

"I think if there’s probable cause for wrongdoing, especially if it involves public money, there ought to be an investigation, sure,” Chico said.

That prospect doesn't seem to appeal to this pair of officials who helped SALF obtain big bucks: Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin. Click their names and you'll see what I mean.

Back in the day, both spared no praise or support for the organization and its founder/president, Carol J. Spizzirri. Duncan called her "one of my heroes." Durbin told a CNN reporter, "I would do everything I could to help her."

Spizzirri, reportedly a twice-convicted shoplifter whose teenage daughter filed a protective order against her mother, is also prone to exaggeration. For instance, per this eye-popping 2006 I-Team report by ABC Chicago, she claimed nonexistent medical credentials, a bogus college degree, and even fabricated stories about her own child's death to gin up funds for her organization.


After dozens more media exposes, you'd think the elected officials who handed SALF millions of public dollars might want to assure taxpayers that their money didn't go down the you-know-where.

Think again. Despite his calls for oversight, Bivins wrote me, "There is little or no interest in pursuing an investigation of SALF in Illinois."

Such incuriousity may be attributable to SALF's connections to scores of public officials up and down the Prairie State's political food chain.

Click here for pages of photos of some of those worthies posing with SALF founder/president Carol Spizzirri and her second-in-command, Rita Mullins, former 20-year mayor of Palatine, IL.

Here are the gal pals of SALF enjoying themselves at a wedding shower last year for Spizzirri's daughter, Ciprina. Since then, Mama Spizzirri has reportedly relocated from Grayslake, IL, to a mobile home park in San Marcos, California.

SALF's Carol J. Spizzirri & Rita Mullins

As Sen. Bivins wrote me, "It's going to take someone from outside Illinois to expose the SALF scandal."

That someone may turn out to be my congressman, Rob Woodall, (R-GA, 7th District).

This week, Rep. Woodall wrote me that since July he's been asking the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about $3.33 million that agency awarded to SALF.

According to sworn grant applications and financial reports SALF submitted to the CDC (which I obtained via FOIA), a good chunk of that dough was supposed to be used by SALF to provide first aid training classes for many thousands of students in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and other districts.

During most of those years, Arne Duncan was in charge of CPS and had a close relationship with Spizzirri and her operation. He even appeared as a cartoon character on SALF's website:



Here's one problem. In response to a federal court subpoena and public records requests, CPS can't locate any training records.

So where'd the CDC money go?

In addition to Duncan, one person who should know the answer to that question is Douglas Browne who, according to an October article in The Hill, "served as (SALF's) corporate treasurer from 2004 to 2009."

Per The Hill, during those same years Browne was also - can you say conflict of interest? - a Deputy Director at the CDC. From SALF's 2006-07 Annual Report:


Via The Hill:

(Congressional candidate Tim)Bagwell sent an 8-page letter to Health and Human Services Inspector General Daniel Levinson on Monday requesting that the office "review and determine" whether $3.3 million awarded to the Save-A-Life Foundation were "properly administered."

...Bagwell also wants the inspector general to review the relationship between the nonprofit and CDC Deputy Director Douglas Browne, who served as the nonprofit's corporate treasurer from 2004 to 2009.

That resulted in this:



At the beginning of the summer, I spent a frustrating month trying to get answers from the CDC about the status of the IG's request "for further review and appropriate administrative action" about Browne's role.

CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, MD MPH

After being sandbagged by three CDC departments, including the office of Director Tom Frieden, I wrote congressman Woodall and requested his assistance.

Last Saturday Rep. Woodall hosted a local Town Hall meeting at which I took the opportunity to reiterate my concerns. A few days later, he sent me this. (To download a copy, click here.)



Per the congressman's letter, there's more to come, so keep reading The Sidebar for updates.

Rep. Rob Woodall

In the meantime, I encourage readers to write your own congressional representative, share a link to this item, and request that s/he send a letter of support to Rep. Woodall for his willingness to take a closer look at this rat's nest.

If you do, feel free to e-mail copies to me.