The Disabled American Veterans will host a national summit on POW/MIA issues on Thursday, September 20, 2001, in Washington, D.C. I have been asked to help plan and coordinate this important event, which would include briefings and panel discussions on a variety of related topics.

The summit will focus on issues surrounding Americans taken prisoner or listed as missing in action from World War II, the Korean War, the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and the Persian Gulf War. One of the summit's aims is to assess the current status of efforts to achieve the possible accounting of these missing Americans, including those who might still be alive. Another is to provide a broad perspective on salient issues as a way of informing and influencing our nation's POW/MIA - related public policy, both current and future.

As someone interested in POW/MIA issues, I wanted to inform you of the upcoming national forum and to solicit your comments and any suggestions you might have to help us make this a successful summit the foremost event of its kind.

A DRUG TO COMBAT CHRONIC HEPATITIS C

It is a known fact that Chronic HEPATITIS C is one of the most prevalent and serious public health problems in the U.S. So says Richard W. Zahn, President of Schering Laboratories, the U.S. prescription pharmaceutical marketing arm of Schering-Plough Corporation, the company that recently announced FDA approval of PEG-INTRON (TM) powder, a new drug for the treatment of Chronic HEPATITIS C.

PEG-INTRON is administered subcutaneously once weekly for one year. The dose should be administered on the same day of each week and may be self-administered by patients who have not previously been treated with Alpha Interferon and who have compensated liver disease and are at least 18 years of age. The product it is said should be available nationwide beginning in early February.

The safety and efficacy of PEG-INTRON has been demonstrated in a randomized, controlled clinical study involving 1,219 adult patients with chronic hepatitis C who were not previously treated with alpha interferon.

It should be noted that Nearly all study patients experienced one or more adverse events. The incidence of serious adverse events was similar (about 12 percent) in all treatment groups. The most common adverse events associated with PEG-INTRON were ``flu-like'' symptoms, which occurred in approximately 50 percent of patients; injection site irritation or inflammation, seen in 47 percent of patients; and depression, seen in 29 percent of patients.

Furthermore, Alpha interferons, including PEG-INTRON, cause or aggravate fatal or life-threatening neuropsychiatric, autoimmune, ischemic, and infectious disorders. Patients should be monitored closely with periodic clinical and laboratory evaluations. Patients with persistently severe or worsening signs or symptoms of these conditions should be withdrawn from therapy. In many but not all cases these disorders resolve after stopping PEG-INTRON therapy.

Nevertheless, the importance of this new treatment and future versions or alternates to it cannot be over emphasized. Check these numbers. Some 4 million Americans are infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) and approximately 70 percent of infected patients go on to develop chronic liver disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Hepatitis C infection contributes to the deaths of an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 Americans each year. This toll is expected to triple by the year 2010 and exceed the number of annual deaths due to AIDS, according to the CDC. The CDC has reported that HCV-associated end-stage liver disease is the most frequent indication for liver transplantation among adults.

A BILL TO PAY ANNUITY TO PURPLE HEART RECIPIENTS
David H. Wilson, PDC, Legislative Committee Chairman

We are informed by State Senator Malcolm A. Smith, 10th District, that he has introduced Senate Bill 1995 that would create an annual annuity of $1,000 for Purple Heart Recipients. In Senator Malcolm's own words, "As the Ranking Minority Member of the Veterans and Military Affairs Committee, I am deeply concerned with Veterans' issues and the well-being of Veterans in New York. I wanted to make you aware of this bill so that you, and the people you represent, can see how the interests of veterans are being represented in the New York State Senate. Thank you for your time and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions."

If passed, Senate Bill 1995 would amend Section 232 of the Executive law, which until now provides the $1,000 annuity only to blind persons, by adding NYS veterans who are "recipients of the Purple Heart" as eligible for the annual $1,000 annuity. However, the annuity would terminate if the veteran ceased to be a NYS resident.

A further provision in the bill would make the unremarried NYS resident's widow eligible to receive the annuity following the death of the veteran.

Folks, you like the bill? You know what to do! Tell Senator Malcolm Smith and all of the other cosponsors of the Senate Bill 1995 (Senators Brown, Hassell-Thompson, Krueger, Lachman, Markowitz, Mendez, Montgomery, Onorato, Sampson, Stachowski). The time honored rule prevails, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease!"