Cape Cod Reps/Senator Hide Tuberculosis Results
WXTK HOST ED LAMBERT BLASTS SECRECY/DECEPTION
by Kristen Brissette
Barnstable Broadside
The illegal immigrants on Cape Cod have brought with them what Cape Codders have feared: tuberculosis. Since the arrival of illegal immigrants, there were rumors of tuberculosis on Cape Cod. The community is worried about a health risk, but no one will give truthful information.
Heidi Nelson, CEO of Duffy Health Center in Hyannis, sent an emergency alert email at 6:48 p.m. Saturday evening, December 2, to four Cape Cod elected officials regarding health screenings of illegal immigrants. The email was addressed to State Representative Kip Diggs, State Representative Christopher Flanagan, State Representative Steven Xiarhos, with a copy sent to Senator Julian Cyr. The email documents Nelson’s alert to the four elected officials, but all four officials refuse to make the contents of the email available to the public.
In the email, sources say Nelson detailed the number of illegal immigrants who were tested and the number of illegal immigrants who were not tested for their health. She also detailed some number of cases of tuberculosis discovered, but specifics about the unknown number of non-tested individuals, which could total thousands of illegals, have been withheld.
WXTK’s Ed Lambert has the email and wanted to read it on his radio show, but CEO Nelson refuses to allow the email to be made public. On air, Lambert asked the four elected officials about the email. Only Rep. Xiarhos responded to Lambert’s request by calling into the show. He refused to allow Lambert to read the email on air citing legal issues.
Rep. Xiarhos repeatedly cautioned legal repercussions if someone were to release the information contained in the email from Nelson. Lambert asked Rep. Xiarhos to read it since it was addressed to him, but Rep. Xiarhos explained that a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, which is a public record request, must be filed before he is allowed to share the contents of the email. Lambert countered that the information in the emergency alert email is statistical in nature and does not divulge nor break any medical Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) laws. At this time, iHeart Media, owner of the radio station, has prevented Lambert to divulge the contents of the email (apparently due to the threat of lawsuits against the company).
For more than two weeks, this email has been in the hands of our elected officials before Rep. Xiarhos finally responded to repeated requests to call into Lambert’s show on December 18. A FOIA request was sent to Rep. Xiarhos’ office in Boston by certified mail on December 9, more than one week before his phone call to Lambert. Rep. Xiarhos said it must be in the mailroom at the State House.
Rep. Xiarhos is the only elected official on Cape Cod who speaks publicly of his disapproval of
the illegal immigrant issue on Cape Cod, but he and three other officials are withholding public health information.
Why would the head of a health organization send an email on a Saturday evening to top elected officials about something that is not important? If there is no health risk to the public, why are four elected officials withholding critical health information from the public? If there is a health risk, why are four elected officials withholding critical information from the public?
What happened to transparency/accountability? Those catchy campaign terms used to get them elected? The illegal immigrants came to Cape Cod quietly. Is tuberculosis being spread in the same manner?
Note: At the time this article was printed, the December 2 email had not been released to the public. ♦
