WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tom Udall (D-N.M) , vice chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, led a bipartisan group of nine senators – members of the Indian Affairs Committee – in requesting the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigate potential misuse of employee transfers, duty reassignments, and administrative leave at federally-operated Indian Health Service (IHS) facilities to cover up misconduct that endangers patients, other employees, and Tribal communities. The letter specifically addresses the case of a former IHS pediatrician, Dr. Stanley Patrick Weber, who abused children living on reservations where the IHS assigned him to work.
In addition to Udall, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), and Steve Daines (R-Mont.).
“ We fully condemn Mr. Weber’s abhorrent criminal behavior and expect him to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But, as the Committee with oversight jurisdiction of the IHS, we are also deeply concerned by these reports of IHS management actions throughout Mr. Weber’s tenure ,” said the senators. “ These concerns grew as the Committee learned that IHS management not only failed to intervene and address reports of Mr. Weber’s misconduct once they became aware of it, but they also knowingly allowed him to transfer to a different IHS facility – exposing children on the Pine Ridge Reservation to a child predator.”
Udall has pressed IHS officials numerous times about evidence IHS management ignored reports that a former IHS pediatrician, Dr. Stanley Patrick Weber, abused children living on reservations where the IHS assigned him to work.
A copy of the letter can be found here .
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