Bad Brains: Mad Cow Cover-Up?

"The United States did not properly analyze two suspected cases of mad cow disease in 1997," reported Canada's CBC News. The U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarian who investigated the cases, Dr. Masuo Doi (now retired), said he is "haunted by fears that the right tests were not done" and wonders, "How many did we miss?" and "Can you really trust our inspection [system]?" With both potential mad cow (also called BSE) cases, "key areas of the brain where signs of BSE would be most noticeable were never tested." At the time, a USDA scientist called his examination of one case "questionable," because "he couldn't tell what part of the cow's brain he was looking at." Two other current or former USDA staff, Dr. Karl Langheindrich and Lester Friedlander, supported Dr. Doi's claims.