McCaskill Asks About H1N1 Tracking and Fraud, Makes Clear Pork Products Are Safe

Press Release

With the chiefs of three top government agencies testifying on the H1N1 influenza strain in front of a Senate committee today, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill had an opportunity to ask about tracking and awareness efforts related to H1N1 flu and how consumers are being protected from fraud. Additionally, with Missouri pork producers feeling the impact of consumer concerns about H1N1 flu, which has been mistakenly coined "swine flu", McCaskill had a chance to put one top official on the record confirming that the illness cannot be spread by eating pork products.

"There are thousands of hard-working Missourians who make their living raising hogs in Missouri and this is a difficult time for them in this economy. Can we state for the record definitively, it can't be said often enough, that no one can contract H1N1 from eating pork?," McCaskill asked pointedly in the hearing before the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebilius responded, "No one can contract H1N1 from eating pork."

As the exchange about pork safety took on a more humorous tone, McCaskill said, "Pork is delicious. You can go bacon if you're not on a diet. You can go lean -- the other white meat -- if you are on a diet. Pork rules. There is no reason to avoid pork….unless it's an earmark."

McCaskill also asked about HHS tracking information about H1N1 flu in order to closely follow patterns with the spread of the strain as well as efforts to combat the illness and raise awareness. Based on the information, McCaskill suggested the rise in visits to physician offices as not necessarily a sign that the rate of H1N1 flu occurrences were increasing, but rather a credit to the awareness in local communities to take symptoms seriously in order to avoid further spread of the disease. Sebelius concurred.

"So in some ways this chart is good news, because it means that people are more likely to go to the doctor right now because of flu-like symptoms than they were this time last year," McCaskill said.

With raised awareness on prevention and safety surrounding H1N1 flu, consumers are eager to protect their families through whatever means possible, which becomes a breeding ground for fraudulent marketing schemes.

"The good news is we have a lot more people going to the doctor because of heightened awareness. We have a lot more people getting the regular flu vaccination because of the heightened awareness. I think everyone is paying attention, which is terrific, but there are also hoaxes out there. There are people advertising fake drugs, going on the internet and saying click here and we can save you from H1N1."

McCaskill continued, "Can someone address for me the fraud issue and what you all are doing to protect consumers in the country from scumbag con men, and women?"

Napolitano quipped that "with respect to our scumbag initiative," DHS was fighting various examples of fraud by going after counterfeit narcotics, through undercover investigations of physical sales and mail sales, through coordinated border inspections and by working with state attorneys general. Sebelius was also aware of fraudulent activity related to H1N1 and cited a position within HHS tasked specifically with addressing fraud and consumer awareness.

"I think with the heightened awareness out there and the media interest in this, the sooner you guys can put somebody in handcuffs on TV for doing this kind of thing, the better off we're all going be because it would get a great deal of attention right now, and that would have a kind of deterrent effect," McCaskill said.

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