USDA's key mad cow witness keeps silent

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USDA's key mad cow witness keeps silent

 

By Steve Mitchell

United Press International

Published 3/4/2004 5:18 PM

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WASHINGTON, March 4 (UPI) -- A key witness in the criminal investigation

announced by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Inspector General

Wednesday likely will be the agency veterinarian who inspected the cow

infected with mad cow disease in Washington last December.

 

The veterinarian, Rodney Thompson, is the only witness the USDA has who

says the cow in Washington was a downer, meaning it was unable to stand

or walk. Three other witnesses who saw the cow the day it was

slaughtered -- on Dec. 9 at Vern's Moses Lake Meat Co. in Moses Lake,

Wash. -- have said the cow was walking.

 

So far, Thompson has not publicly divulged his side of the story and it

is uncertain whether under questioning he will maintain the cow was a

downer. USDA spokespeople have kept Thompson sequestered from the press

and have refused to provide information about him.

 

Dave Louthan, the Vern's Moses Lake employee who slaughtered the cow in

question, alleges Thompson changed his inspection sheet under duress

from USDA management to indicate the animal was a downer after it tested

positive for mad cow disease. The alteration was done, Louthan contends,

to support the agency's official position that their detection of the

infected cow shows their surveillance program -- which is based

primarily on testing downer animals -- is effective.

 

The USDA Office of Inspector General launched an investigation into the

matter in early February, and Inspector General Phyllis K. Fong told a

House appropriations subcommittee Wednesday the investigation was

focused on " possible alteration of official records. "

 

Thompson has not spoken publicly about the issue, but USDA officers have

distributed to reporters the Dec. 9 inspection sheet he filled out. It

indicates the cow was a downer, although Thompson's signature on the

sheet is blacked out.

 

OIG spokesman Austin Chadwick told United Press International the

investigation was spurred by a Feb. 3 New York Times article, in which

Louthan said the cow was not a downer and alleged the inspection sheet

had been changed.

 

" The USDA made (Thompson) do it, " Louthan told UPI, emphasizing Thompson

was " a good and honorable man " who would never forge records on his own.

 

If the cow was not a downer, it would raise the larger issue of whether

USDA's mad cow surveillance program is based on faulty premises. Fong

said her office had launched a separate investigation that will involve

" an audit to review various aspects of USDA's response to the discovery

of BSE, including the BSE response and surveillance plans. "

 

The USDA's mad cow surveillance program has been in question since the

mad cow was first reported Dec. 23, 2003. The agency tests so few

animals -- only about 20,000 out of the 35 million slaughtered each year

-- some critics have said it is unlikely it could detect mad cow even if

it was prevalent in the U.S. herd.

 

UPI reported in January that mad cow testing records for the past two

years, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, reveal the agency

had not tested any animals in Washington state for the first seven

months of 2003.

 

If the three eyewitnesses -- Louthan, the driver of the trailer that

delivered the cow and the co-manager of Vern's -- are correct and the

cow was walking, it raises the possibility that other seemingly healthy

but infected cows went undetected and were approved for human

consumption. This is theoretically possible because hundreds of cows in

Europe have tested positive but showed no apparent symptoms of the disease.

 

Thompson's inspection sheet shows he did not conduct two screening tests

-- body temperature and illegal antibiotic residue -- that, according to

USDA regulations, are considered mandatory for all downers, as

previously reported by UPI.

 

Former USDA veterinarians -- including Lester Friedlander, who acted as

a chief inspector at Taylor Packing in Wyalusing, Pa. -- said this

indicates the cow was either not a downer or Thompson failed to follow

proper protocol. The veterinarians added they thought the latter

possibility was unlikely because they never had encountered a situation

where they could not get a body temperature and antibiotic residue test

on a downer.

 

In addition, USDA regulations stipulate the cow carcass should have been

retained since a mad cow test was being conducted. However, the carcass

was processed and sent out to grocery stores more than a week before the

positive test results came back.

 

Louthan said he knew Thompson well and often worked " less than a foot

away " from him during his four-and-a-half years at Vern's.

 

" He's a really good veterinarian. I really liked him, " said Louthan, who

was laid off from Vern's shortly after telling reporters the cow in

question was not a downer -- contrary to Secretary Veneman's statements

at the time.

 

" If Doc Thompson made a mistake, he's the kind of person who would step

up and admit to it, " he said.

 

That is the reason the USDA has not allowed him to talk to the press --

because he would be honest and tell the truth -- Louthan contended. " If

he's the same Rodney I've always known, he's going to admit to it and

say 'Yeah, I forged the paperwork,' " he said.

 

Thompson did not respond to e-mails sent by UPI two weeks ago, and

attempts to reach him by phone last week at Vern's were unsuccessful.

 

Although plant management said Thompson was on the job last Friday, a

meat inspector, who later was identified as Donald West, answered the

phone line reserved for USDA officials at the plant and told UPI that

Thompson had left for the day. West declined to identify himself or

comment on the case and abruptly ended the conversation.

 

Louthan said West previously had told him Thompson was given a promotion

and bumped up three pay grades in an effort to keep him silent.

 

UPI has been unable to verify any of Louthan's allegations, in part

because the USDA has refused to give out any information on Thompson. In

fact, agency officials will not even verify if Thompson is still a USDA

employee, saying they cannot comment on an ongoing investigation.

 

Asked about the promotion and pay-raise allegations, USDA spokeswoman

Alisa Harrison said, " I haven't heard of that at all ...I'm sure that's

part of what the (Inspector General) is taking a look at. "

 

Asked whether USDA officials pressured Thompson to alter documents,

Harrison replied: " I cannot fathom that would happen ... I would assure

you that's not something Secretary Veneman would do. "

 

Harrison declined to comment on the actions that would be taken if the

OIG investigation found records had been forged. " I'm not going to

speculate or answer any hypothetical questions, " she said. " It's

important to let the investigation proceed. "

 

Thompson may soon have to give his account of the mad cow case whether

USDA officials want him to or not. The House Government Reform Committee

has opened its own investigation into the matter and requested in a Feb.

17 letter to Veneman that she " make available for interviews with our

staff the USDA officials who are familiar with the operations at

Vern's, " which presumably would include Thompson.

 

Harrison said the agency would comply with the committee's request and

make Thompson available.

 

" We intend to fully cooperate with information requests made by the

committee, " she said.

 

A source close to the committee's investigation who requested they not

be identified, told UPI: " There haven't been any new interviews to date,

but the investigation is definitely still ongoing and we're still

interested in talking to people. "

 

The source added that Thompson is " certainly an interesting part of the

investigation. "

 

--

 

Steve Mitchell is UPI's Medical Correspondent. E-mail sciencemail

 

2001-2004 United Press International

 

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