News Release

    213-629-5329 PE EA NEDC—Los Brgeles TEL. 2 a Lm pe ; a 

Neos Release 

  

1) Cc Natural Resources 
Defense Council 

  

FROM: NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL 
Joel Reynolds (213) 892-1500 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATTONAIL FUND Dan Fleshler (212) 219-1900 

ADVISORY 

A LAWSUIT CHARGING THAT THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IS IGNORING 

A SERIOUS HEALTH HAZARD TO TENS OF THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN BY 

FAILING TO IMPLEMENT A FEDERALLY REQUIRED LEAD POISONING TESTING 

AND TREATMENT PROGRAM, WILL BE THE SUBJECT OF A NEWS CONFERENCE 

ON THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 10:00 A.M., AT THE OFFICES OF THE NAACP 

LEGAL, DEFENSE FUND, 315 WEST 9TH STREET, SUITE 208, LOS ANGELES. 

A COALITION OF HEALTH, ENVIRONMENTAI, AND CIVIL RIGHTS GROUPS 

BRINGING THE LAWSUIT WILL CITE THE STATE'S FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH 

FEDERAL LAW --~ THUS SENTENCING THOUSANDS OF POOR AND MINORITY 

CALIFORNIA CHILDREN TO SLOW, SILENT CONTAMINATION. 

A 

DATE: THURSDAY, DECEMBER 20, 1890 

TIVE: . 10:00 A.YM, 

PLACE: NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE FUND 
31% WEST 9TH STREET, SUITE 208 
LOS ANGELES 

 



BAA MEDC-Los Angeles 16. 213-639-5307 

NRK. News Release 
1- Natural Resources 

Defense Council 

EMBARGOED FOR RELEASE UNTIL 
Thursday, December 20, 1990, 9:00 a.m. PST 

  

FROM: NATURAL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL 
Joel Reynolds (213) 892-1500 

NATIONAL HEALTH LAW PROGRAM 
Jane Perkins (213) 204-6010 

NAACP LEGAL DEFENSE AND EDUCATIONAL FUND 
Connie Rice (213) 624-2405 

AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION 
Mark Rosenbaum (213) 487-1720 

LEGAL AID SQCIETY OF ALAMEDA COUNTY 
Susan Spelletich (415) 451-9261 

LANDMARK LAWSUIT CHARGES CALIFORNIA LACKS REQUIRED PROGRAM 
TO SCREEN AND TREAT THOUSANDS OF CHILDREN AFFLICTED 

WITH LEAD POISONING 

Los Angeles, Thursday, December 20 -- A landmark lawsuit 

filed in federal court today charges that the State of California 

is violating federal law by failing to implement a program to 

screen and treat thousands of poor children who may be victims of 

lead poisoning. 

This lawsuit marks the first time that a state has been sued 

to compel it to comply with 1989 amendments to the federal 

Medicaid Act, which require states to provide lead blood 

screening as part of early and periodic screening, diagnosis and 

treatment for eligible children. 

This class action lawsuit against Dr. Kenneth Kizer, 

Director of the California Department of Health Services, was 

brought by the Natural Resources Defense Council {(HRDCY, the 

National Health law Program (NHeLP), the NAACP Legal Defense and  



  

‘o@ 12:48 PARE MRDC—Loz Angeles TEL 213-629-5359 F. 

Educational Fund (LDF), the Legal Aid Soclety of Alameda County 

and the ACLU Foundations of Southern and Northern California, on 

behalf of People United for a Better Oakland, Erika and Jalisa 

Mathews and all others similarly situated. 

Joel R. Reynolds, Senior Attorney for the NRDC, said: "This 

is a case in which environmental, poverty, and civil rights 

interests lead inescapably to one conclusion: The State 

Department of Health Services cannot continue to ignore the slow 

poisoning of our children by lead contamination. Congress has 

clearly given states the duty to test and treat the thousands of 

children who may be victims of lead poisoning. That duty must 

now be enforced by the courts." 

In 1989, over 570,000 California children age five and under 

were eligible for mandatory lead screening. There is a total of 

more than a million eligible California youth under age 21. The 

California Department of Health Services itself has estimated 

that 50,000 children annually could be found to have toxic blood 

levels if all children at risk in California were tested. 

Jane Perkins, an attorney for NHelLP, said: "By failing to 

implement the mandatory federal lead testing program, the 

Department 1s ignoring a ticking time bomb. In most parts of 

California, lead testing is not only haphazard, it is non- 

existent. As a result, only a tiny fraction of the thousands of 

cases predicted by the State are ever detected. This is 

particularly tragic since, once detected, lead poiscning and 

reiated health defects can be treated and, in many cases, 

measures can be undertaken to detect and eliminate the source of 

exposure.” 

Nn
 

 



  

aE 12:49 PEGE MRDC-Los Angeles TEL 213-625-5353 Pp, 

Experts estimate that over three million children nationwide 

-- approximately one in six -- suffer from lead poisoning and 

that more than two~thirds of black inner city children are 

affected. 

Connie Rice of the NAACP legal Defense Fund, said: 

"Minorities and the poor bear the brunt of this problem and 

they're being needlessly contaminated while the State twiddles 

its thumbs, This problem is not just limited to California, and 

we hope this suit will be a national model for others who seek to 

compel states to meet the desperate health care needs of their 

inner city children." 

The lawsuit charges that while the Medi-Cal program does 

provide early and periodic screening, diagnosis and treatment 

(EPSDT) through the Child Health and Disability Prevention 

Program, lead blood assessments are not a mandatory part of the 

screening provided. This is a clear violation of the Department's 

statutory mandate, and the plaintiffs are asking the court to 

require the State to provide such screening and treatment. 

Lead is contained in many commonly used products, such as 

paint, gasoline, water pipes, inks and pigments used in toys, 

fertilizers and some food cans. ILead's short and long-term 

effects may include decreased intelligence, loss of short-term 

memory, underachievement in reading and spelling, impairment of 

visual-motor functioning, impotence, sterility, spontaneous 

abortion, anemia, convulsions, hypertension, kidney disease and 

cancer. Children and fetuses are especially vulnerable to these 

effects because their neurologic systems are developing. 

IN