The earlier reviews were focused on whether scientific evidence existed that suggested PB was likely to be associated with health problems, while the recent RAND review focused on whether PB could be excluded as a possible cause of health problems. As you know, the RAND author discussed seven hypotheses relating to how a brief exposure to PB during the Gulf War might affect the health of Gulf War veterans today. We are fortunate that all of those hypotheses were also considered by the prior reviews. In fact, each of the seven hypotheses is currently being addressed by one or more of the 26 Federally sponsored research studies. The following table lists the seven hypotheses raised by the RAND investigator and the number of studies that address each.
Some studies address more than one hypothesis.
The RAND report is only the latest in an ongoing, intensive effort to improve our understanding of Gulf War health issues. This ongoing effort will provide a comprehensive review and analysis of the scientific and medical literature on health effects associated with known Gulf War exposures. This report is scheduled to be completed in August 2000. To summarize, since 1992 VA has implemented a comprehensive, coordinated set of programs to address Gulf War veterans health problems. In doing so, we have objectively assessed the available published scientific and operational information concerning exposures during Gulf War service and sought the advice of numerous experts.