Panel foils attempt to deprive ringworm victims of claims

Knesset c'tee thwarts Finance Ministry attempt to prevent victims of radiation treatments from getting full information on where they were provided.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
ringworm 88 (photo credit: )
ringworm 88
(photo credit: )
An attempt by the Finance Ministry to prevent victims of early state-ordered radiation treatments for ringworm from getting full information on where such treatments were provided has been thwarted by the Knesset Labor, Social Affairs and Health Committee. MK Yitzhak Galanti (Gil Pensioners), who chairs the committee, angrily reacted to a government bill brought to the committee by Treasury official Reuven Kogan, who wanted to bar publishing the protocols of the National Center for the Treatment of Ringworm Victims. Ringworm is a skin disease, mostly on the head, that numerous immigrants who arrived during the early years of statehood brought with them. At the time, the state health authorities demanded that all patients undergo radiation to kill the ringworm - the conventional treatment recommended by doctors. However, this actually caused many cancerous tumors in the victims. In recent years, the government has compensated these victims for their suffering. Eli Shahar, head of the national center, told MKs that the protocols contained a lot of information that would help radiation victims file their claims for compensation, but some people could use this data to "cheat" and claim they'd had ringworm and gotten cancer from the treatment. However, Galanti said ringworm radiation victims were all elderly and sickly people who didn't always remember details about their treatment from decades ago.