Meanwhile, if ever there were a time when federal officials needed to speak with one voice regarding nuclear energy, this is it.
US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, especially, needs to watch her tongue.
Asked by a Bay Area TV station if Californians were taking “extreme measures” in rushing to buy the over-the-counter anti-radiation medicine potassium iodide, she replied, “I haven’t heard that, but it is a precaution.”
Benjamin thus contradicted her own boss, President Obama, who explicitly downplayed fears in his own interview Tuesday: “I’ve been assured that . . . any nuclear release dissipates by the time it gets even to Hawaii, much less to the mainland of the United States.”
Not surprisingly, Benjamin’s loose lips exacerbated a run on the drug, precipitating cautionary words from California’s Department of Public Health: “Potassium iodide tablets are not recommended at this time, and can present a danger to people with allergies to iodine, shellfish or who have thyroid problems.”
By Wednesday afternoon, the US Department of Health and Human Services sent out its own clarifying statement:
“[Benjamin] wouldn’t recommend that anyone go out and purchase [potassium iodide] for themselves at this time . . . It’s important for residents who have concerns to listen to state and local health authorities.”
Indeed.
The public would do well to dismiss alarmist rhetoric, no matter its source.
But government officials have a special obligation to take care with their speech.
Shame on Regina Benjamin.