A bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee report released Friday sharply criticized the CIA for its mishandling of the mysterious illness known as “Havana syndrome.” The report highlights major failures in the agency’s care for individuals affected by the condition.
Advertisement
The committee’s findings point to problems like delays in care, unclear policies, and a lack of preparation for future incidents. The report outlines 11 key recommendations aimed at fixing these issues and ensuring better care for CIA employees who report such health concerns.
What Is Havana Syndrome?
Havana syndrome first emerged in late 2016 when U.S. diplomats in Havana, Cuba, began experiencing strange symptoms that seemed similar to brain injuries, like dizziness, headaches, and trouble with memory and concentration.
Since then, cases have been reported in other parts of the world, including Colombia, Austria, and the U.S., affecting diplomats, spies and soldiers. Last year, around 1,500 cases had been reported across 96 countries.
While there’s been a lot of speculation that this could be the result of a targeted attack using some new weapon, U.S. intelligence has found no evidence linking it to a deliberate strike. The cause of the illness is still unclear, and researchers are still working to understand both what’s causing the symptoms and how to treat them.
Failures in Care
The Senate report claims that many individuals who reported Havana syndrome symptoms were not given the care they needed in a timely manner. The report outlines several specific issues, such as delays in getting medical treatment, being denied care, and being forced to participate in research studies before receiving treatment.
Advertisement
For example, the report mentions that some patients had to wait for long periods to access medical help or were told that their treatment would depend on their willingness to join a research study at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
The report outlines:
“…long wait times to access facilitated treatment options; were denied facilitated care by a CIA care adjudication board; perceived that their access to facilitated medical care was contingent on their willingness to participate in a NIH clinical research study.”
Additionally, the report notes that the CIA lacks clear policies or guidelines on how to treat employees who report these health incidents.
CIA’s Response to the Report
In response to the Senate findings, a CIA spokesperson defended the agency’s actions. The spokesperson emphasized that the CIA had been working to both understand the illness and investigate whether foreign adversaries were behind it.
“In that environment, supporting our officers and their families required us to dynamically adapt our programs and processes to changing needs and circumstances. Whether, in hindsight, we could have done better is for others to evaluate, but our commitment to ensuring that our officers and their families had access to the care they needed has never wavered,”
Advertisement
NIH Ends Research Earlier This Year
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), which has been investigating Havana syndrome, announced earlier this year that it would stop its research on the condition. The decision came after an internal review found that individuals had been coerced into participating in the studies.
While the NIH stressed that it was not responsible for the coercion, some who reported Havana syndrome symptoms claimed they were forced to take part in the research before they could access proper medical treatment.
One former CIA officer, Marc Polymeropoulos, who has publicly spoken about his own struggles with Havana syndrome, said that the CIA made participation in research studies a condition for getting care.
He told CNN:
“They wanted us to be a lab rat for a week before we actually got treatment at Walter Reed,”
This kind of forced participation is highly unethical and has sparked anger among those affected.
The NIH’s decision to end its research doesn’t change the fact that the studies did not find a clear cause for Havana syndrome. In one study, researchers found no evidence of brain injury in those affected, and in another, they found no major differences between people with Havana syndrome and a control group of healthy individuals.
Advertisement
Other Reports
Earlier this month, Congressman Rick Crawford (R-AR) released an interim report from the CIA Subcommittee, criticizing how the Intelligence Community (IC) has handled investigations into “Anomalous Health Incidents” (AHIs), a new name for conditions like Havana syndrome.
The report suggests that a foreign adversary may be behind at least some of these incidents, challenging the IC’s prior conclusions and accusing them of not conducting a thorough and honest investigation.
The report states:
“It is increasingly likely a foreign adversary is responsible for some portion of reported AHIs.”
Cawford’s report also claims that the IC attempted to block the subcommittee’s investigation. Rep. Crawford is working on a more detailed, classified report based on new information gathered over the past two years, and the interim report calls for better long-term medical care for affected personnel.
Read More:
Recommendations for Change
In light of these findings, the Senate report made several key recommendations for both the CIA and Congress. For the CIA, the report urges the creation of clearer policies and better preparation for future cases. For Congress, the report suggests changes to the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act to make it easier for affected employees to access care and benefits.
Advertisement
The report also recommends that the intelligence community continue researching potential causes of Havana syndrome, especially looking into the possibility of directed energy weapons being involved. These are technologies that could potentially explain the symptoms experienced by many of those affected.
The condition has left many people suffering without answers, and this mysterious illness continues to puzzle experts. The government has a duty to protect its employees, and the ongoing investigation into Havana syndrome should remain a priority until the truth is uncovered.