Micronesians say U.S. not treating radiation illnesses
By Tanya Bricking
Advertiser Staff Writer
Merko Route watched her oldest son die of liver problems and diabetes she blames on the effects of radiation from 16 years of U.S. nuclear testing in Micronesia.
Richard Ambo • The Honolulu Advertiser
Five of her children and 12 of her nieces and nephews have suffered the same ills, she said.
Neal Palafox, left, who treats radiation illnesses, knows many of the Micronesia patients, including Kaieko Herry, right, who are protesting the lack of continuing U.S.government care. They and their families were exposed to radiation from years of nuclear testing in Micronesia, and say the government is turning its back on their needs.
The 61-year-old mother from Pohnpei, who moved to Hawai'i eight years ago to find medical treatment for one of her daughters, joined a protest line yesterday with two dozen others who say America is not living up to its promise to ease their suffering.
More than 6,000 Micronesians now call Hawai'i home, and at least a few hundred are here for medical services in the aftermath of the 67 nuclear tests the United States conducted in the Marshall Islands from 1946 to 1962.
But nuclear testing victims and their children are losing eligibility for food stamps and public housing, and they are being denied nonemergency health care at Hawai'i hospitals because there is no one to pay the bills, said Julia Estrella, an advocate for the Micronesian community who helped organize yesterday's demonstration.
Route said she is in Hawai'i because adequate medical treatment for her daughter is unavailable in her homeland. She says the government responsible for the health problems of so many children in her family is turning its back on her. She can't afford to bring the rest of her family here. She is helping them one at a time.
Neal Palafox, a family practice doctor who treats radiation patients, understands her plight.
Palafox, an associate professor at the University of Hawai'i John A. Burns School of Medicine, has led research in the Marshall Islands and found extremely high levels of cancer there. He sees patients here who have trouble qualifying for health insurance, welfare programs, food stamps and public housing.
"The playing field isn't level," he said. "It's one where Micronesians who lived in U.S. military territories and were subject to exposure aren't given the equivalent health care and education they were promised."
Hospital administrators say it's a matter of economics: They will treat emergency cases, but they are losing money to nonemergency charity cases.
Island nations owe Hawai'i hospitals tens of millions of dollars, and that can't keep happening, said Rich Meiers, president and chief executive officer of Healthcare Association of Hawaii, which represents all of the hospitals in the state.
"Somebody has to start paying for the care because hospitals are financially in trouble right now," he said.
At the Queen's Medical Center, a policy adopted in April requires a 50 percent up-front deposit for the cost of nonemergency treatment for patients who have no U.S. health insurance.
The alternative — losing money because bills aren't paid — "jeopardizes the care of Hawai'i residents," said Dan Jessop, Queen's chief executive officer and and executive vice president.
The hospital works with governments of several Pacific Island states and the U.S. federal government to find a solution to growing debt, but the unpaid bills for non-emergency treatment at Queen's alone is $3.3 million, he said.
The financial decisions made at the top are frustrating for doctors trying to give care to people who clearly have problems related to radiation exposure, said Sheldon Riklon, who is just finishing his family practice residency in Hawai'i and will return to the Marshall Islands at the end of the month.
Maria Narruhn, 57, would like to see the United States take responsibility for the medical problems of her two sons, whose bones began to show signs of deterioration when they were teenagers. She came from Chuuk, a Micronesian region 3,262 miles southwest of Hawai'i, in 1991 to find doctors here who could help. Her sons are 27 and 21 years old now, and Narruhn, who lives in Kalihi, still is trying to convince authorities that their illnesses are because of nuclear poisoning.
The governments should find a way to make sure families like hers are still cared for, no matter what it costs, Riklon said.
"There are some hospitals in the state who don't take any of these Micronesian patients because they rack up such high bills," he said. "They deserve to be treated like anybody else."
Staff writer Tanya Bricking can be reached at 525-8026 or at tbricking@honoluluadvertiser.com
