Nielk
Senior Member
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Jeanette Burmeister's blog -
http://thoughtsaboutme.com/2013/11/...o-bid-contract-requirements-for-iom-contract/
Please read full article - Here is an excerpt -
"So not only is the IOM not the only responsible source or supplier for DHHS, it is actually not even one of the responsible sources or suppliers because it is, by its own admission, not qualified to conduct the ME/CFS study. DHHS violated the open-competition requirements by awarding a no-bid contract to the IOM without satisfying any of the required exceptions for such award.
Mr. Levinson, this matter warrants the immediate attention by your office given the history of DHHS with ME/CFS. As you might remember, DHHS was in-vestigated by your predecessor, June Brown, as well as the Government Account-ability Office in the 1990s and it was determined that the CDC misappropriated millions of congressionally mandated taxpayer money allocated to the research of ME/CFS. This prior malfeasance of DHHS with respect to ME/CFS merits spe-cial attention to the current matter. Given this alarming history, it is imperative that my request for investigation be treated with the utmost urgency and seri-ousness.
Should scarce taxpayer money be wasted again on a tainted DHHS con-tract, I can assure you that, this time, the ME/CFS community would be eager to take legal action against DHHS for misuse of taxpayer dollars as well as to revisit the misuse of funds by the CDC in the 1990s. Patients are much more educated, better organized, well connected—to each other and to influential members of society—and financially more robust these days. The patient community raised almost $40,000 in just 3 days and over 160,000 in just a few weeks for a docu-mentary about the disease, “Canary in a Coal Mine.” Imagine the outpouring of financial support for widely called-for legal action. In addition, several attorneys have indicated a willingness to assist, on a pro-bono basis, with legal action on behalf of the ME/CFS patient community.
For the reasons set forth in my original letter of November 11, 2013, and supplemented herein, I specifically request that you investigate the IOM Contract and reach a determination that it should be immediately terminated due to (1) the organizational conflicts of interest of the IOM and (2) the failure of DHHS to comply with the open-competition requirements of federal law and regulations and the DHHS Handbook."
http://thoughtsaboutme.com/2013/11/17/supplemental-request-for-investigation-by-oig-did-dhhs-violate-its-no-bid-contract-requirements-for-iom-contract/
http://thoughtsaboutme.com/2013/11/...o-bid-contract-requirements-for-iom-contract/
Please read full article - Here is an excerpt -
"So not only is the IOM not the only responsible source or supplier for DHHS, it is actually not even one of the responsible sources or suppliers because it is, by its own admission, not qualified to conduct the ME/CFS study. DHHS violated the open-competition requirements by awarding a no-bid contract to the IOM without satisfying any of the required exceptions for such award.
Mr. Levinson, this matter warrants the immediate attention by your office given the history of DHHS with ME/CFS. As you might remember, DHHS was in-vestigated by your predecessor, June Brown, as well as the Government Account-ability Office in the 1990s and it was determined that the CDC misappropriated millions of congressionally mandated taxpayer money allocated to the research of ME/CFS. This prior malfeasance of DHHS with respect to ME/CFS merits spe-cial attention to the current matter. Given this alarming history, it is imperative that my request for investigation be treated with the utmost urgency and seri-ousness.
Should scarce taxpayer money be wasted again on a tainted DHHS con-tract, I can assure you that, this time, the ME/CFS community would be eager to take legal action against DHHS for misuse of taxpayer dollars as well as to revisit the misuse of funds by the CDC in the 1990s. Patients are much more educated, better organized, well connected—to each other and to influential members of society—and financially more robust these days. The patient community raised almost $40,000 in just 3 days and over 160,000 in just a few weeks for a docu-mentary about the disease, “Canary in a Coal Mine.” Imagine the outpouring of financial support for widely called-for legal action. In addition, several attorneys have indicated a willingness to assist, on a pro-bono basis, with legal action on behalf of the ME/CFS patient community.
For the reasons set forth in my original letter of November 11, 2013, and supplemented herein, I specifically request that you investigate the IOM Contract and reach a determination that it should be immediately terminated due to (1) the organizational conflicts of interest of the IOM and (2) the failure of DHHS to comply with the open-competition requirements of federal law and regulations and the DHHS Handbook."
http://thoughtsaboutme.com/2013/11/17/supplemental-request-for-investigation-by-oig-did-dhhs-violate-its-no-bid-contract-requirements-for-iom-contract/
.. big thanks for that (I really like how it was pointed out that we could raise the money for legal action if we have too as well as bringing in what ha'pened in the past.. money I dont think we ever got back) but can we really do that?