[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 162 (2016), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6995]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                 NEW ENGLAND COMPOUNDING CENTER TRAGEDY

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Michigan (Mr. Bishop) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. BISHOP of Michigan. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call attention 
to a public health atrocity that is being ignored by the current 
administration and the current administration's continued failure to 
ensure justice for American citizens.
  As many Members in this body will recall, in 2012, the New England 
Compounding Center manufactured and distributed nonsterilized 
injections to clinics and hospitals around the Nation. After receiving 
those injections, more than 750 people nationwide developed fungal 
meningitis. To date, 76 people have died as a result.
  As you can see by the illustration to my left, this is a nationwide 
issue. The epicenter, however, of the outbreak was in Michigan's Eighth 
District, which I proudly represent. More than 200 people became sick, 
and 15 people died after receiving the tainted injection from a clinic 
in our district.
  Because of the reckless disregard for the health and safety of the 
recipients of these drugs, the Department of Justice secured 131 
convictions against 14 individuals, including 25 counts of second 
degree murder against the two main defendants for the deaths occurring 
in seven States.
  Although this outbreak happened almost 4 years ago, the consequences 
are still very real today. Just the other week I was approached by a 
gentleman whose wife had died as a result of a lethal injection she 
received. It was, of course, heart-wrenching to hear the agony he went 
through and continues to deal with after losing his best friend and 
wife to this terrible tragedy.
  Whether it is someone who has lost a loved one or a victim now living 
with chronic pain and sickness or a family member caring for an ill 
victim, this is a national tragedy, and the people need to be heard.
  Not only have the day-to-day lives of these victims been 
irretrievably altered, they have also been financially ruined. Just to 
give you an idea, copays on some of the drugs for the treatments 
required for this illness are up to $5,000 per month, and despite 
multiple bipartisan requests from Members of both this body and the 
Senate, the Department of Health and Human Services has rejected all 
requests to waive rights to collect on Medicare liens they have placed 
on the settlement issued last year. That means that victims will get 
very little from their compensation funds. In fact, to this date, they 
have received not a dime.
  Not only that, Mr. Speaker, but now the Obama administration, through 
the Office of Management and Budget, has blocked the ability of victims 
to get compensation from the Antiterrorism and Emergency Assistance 
Program, otherwise known as the AEAP for short. The AEAP was created 
utilizing funds from the Federal crime victims fund, a fund 
specifically set aside to compensate victims of crimes. The fund gets 
its resources from not taxpayer dollars, but through a special 
assessment on convicted criminals. They get it through criminal fines, 
penalties, and forfeited bail bonds.
  Without any explanation, a bureaucrat at the Office of Management and 
Budget has blocked the decision of a Senate-confirmed Assistant 
Attorney General to compensate victims of this act which the Department 
of Justice has recognized as criminal.
  These are innocent Americans whose lives have been destroyed by 
criminals who will never meet them, will never feel their pain, hear 
the pain in their voices, will never see the irreversible damage they 
have caused. But, Mr. Speaker, I see it, and the 17 other colleagues of 
mine who have signed this bipartisan letter to the Office of Management 
and Budget see it, too.
  Justice must be served. If the Attorney General won't speak up to 
advocate for justice, as secured by the hardworking Assistant Attorneys 
General on this case, and the administration won't reverse its 
decision, then the citizens of this country and the victims and their 
families deserve to know why they have been denied justice.
  As a former prosecutor myself for my local community, I understand 
full well that victims of crimes need an advocate to stand up for them. 
Nothing--and I mean nothing--will reverse the harm that has been caused 
by this act. But at the very least, we must ensure justice for the 
people, and we must hold those responsible accountable for their 
actions. I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort.

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