by Kerry Kennedy
from www.nola.com

More than a year after a private company operating in public waters retched 170 million gallons of crude and 2 million gallons of toxic dispersants into the Gulf of Mexico, creating one of the world's largest environmental catastrophes, we still lack thorough and reliable statistics on the BP oil disaster's impact on the health of residents.

Along with Stephen Bradberry, who is the executive director of the New Orleans-based Alliance Institute and the recipient of the 2005 RFK Human Rights Award, I recently joined a delegation traveling across the Gulf Coast region, speaking with fishermen, oystermen, shrimpers, restaurant workers and neighbors about the illnesses they have suffered in the wake of this calamity.

I couldn't help but think of the trip that my father, Robert Kennedy, made to the Mississippi Delta in 1967. He was horrified by the poverty, the children whose bellies were "swollen with hunger." He believed we had a duty, as a nation, to relieve their suffering and soothe their pain.

Today, the children and grandchildren of those very same families continue to suffer from systemic governmental neglect, the debilitating heritage of communities marginalized by skin color, religion, education level, income or access to power. It is long past time for federal action.

In Biloxi, Miss., a fisherman named Kwan told us he was on a cleanup crew for BP, and he and his fellow fishermen have had rashes across their bodies, which itch until they bleed, ever since. In that city, the health care facility is so over-booked, it takes up to three months for a doctor's appointment.

Catfish Miller, another fisherman, also worked on the cleanup crew for BP. He was denied gloves, a respirator, eyewear or any form of protective gear. He suffered searing headaches, ear infections and sores in his nose and throat for months on end. He said no doctor he went to would tie his ailments to toxic poisoning.

We heard dozens of people across the region talk about similar health problems and obstacles to care, including long travel distances to health facilities and the need for cash outlay among those in cash-strapped communities. There are many other reasons.

Local doctors generally lack access to the expertise, training and equipment to diagnose toxic poisoning. They don't want to be called as expert witnesses in lawsuits with BP. They are afraid of malpractice suits and will not treat patients unless they have specialty training, adding to the disincentives to diagnose. And, with most patients self-employed and uninsured, few can afford the expensive tests and medicines necessary to show causation and obtain proper care.

Last year, President Obama pledged that Gulf residents would be "made whole." To honor that pledge, Congress must ensure that health care is adequate, affordable, proximate and available; that health care workers are trained to diagnose, track and treat toxic poisoning; and that the people of the Gulf are treated with respect, no matter what their background.

There is a solution. The late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy signed the first federal law providing community health care centers to people in need. Today, 23 million Americans depend on those centers for care. Under legislation passed last year, the centers would expand to include 40 million Americans, many of them along the Gulf Coast.

If Republicans in Congress don't make good on their threat to decimate the progress that's already been made, the people of the Gulf might stand a chance.

First responders to the 9/11 tragedy did not have to prove causation in order to get treatment, they only had to show they were in the vicinity of the terrorist attack. Similarly, the 150,000-strong cleanup crew who sacrificed themselves, and their families and neighbors who live along the Gulf Coast, should not have to prove that their symptoms are caused by BP's catastrophe, only that they were there.

It's time for us to provide the families of the Gulf Coast with the health care they deserve.

••••••••

Kerry Kennedy is president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights.

KERRY KENNEDY TO LEAD DELEGATION TO GULF COAST TO ASSESS HEALTHCARE CRISIS SINCE BP DRILLING DISASTER

Kerry Kennedy, president of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights, will lead a delegation to the Gulf Coast region July 24 to 26, 2011, to assess the scope of the emerging healthcare crisis in the wake of the BP drilling disaster. The delegation will be hosted by Gulf Coast organizer Stephen Bradberry, the 2005 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award Laureate and Executive Director of the New Orleans-based Alliance Institute.

Coastal communities continue to experience adverse health consequences resulting from chemical exposure associated with the April 2010 BP oil disaster. The delegation will speak with constituents about the physical and mental health impacts, challenges to accessing medical care, and low-cost initiatives to provide treatment to these communities. The delegation will tour Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

On July 26, the delegation will visit a soon-to-be established site for medical treatment in Jean Lafitte, Louisiana, the result of a collaboration by the Jefferson Community Health Care Centers, the Alliance Institute, the Louisiana Bayoukeeper, and Mayor Timothy Kerner. The new site, to be established in honor of Robert Kennedy, is a low-cost model to provide medical treatment to coastal communities with little or no access to  healthcare services. 

The delegation will conclude with a briefing and reception in Washington, DC, on July 27. This event will provide a unique opportunity to receive current and first-hand information on the lack of access to healthcare among groups in the Gulf impacted by the disaster (minorities, rural, low-income, elderly, as well as workers from relevant industries).

The RFK Center first responded to the BP oil rig explosion with a delegation in June 2010 to assess the immediate impact in the Gulf Coast region. Since then, the RFK Center has continued to partner with Stephen Bradberry to promote civic works programs and address the long-term human impact of the BP drilling disaster.