The Worst-Case Scenario

Is America Ready For A Nuclear Terrorist Attack?

(CBS) 
Even though the Department of Health & Human Services hasn’t committed to buy Hollis-Eden’s drug, the Pentagon continues to endorse it.

Furthermore, the Pentagon’s chief radiologist wrote 60 Minutes that: "One of the most desirable features of Neumune" is that it "could be self-administered without physician supervision in a disaster scenario."

The drug could be in a cartridge with a needle. You could inject it in your thigh.

Marsella says having a drug that people can administer themselves was the whole idea.

"We need something that’s safe enough that we can distribute to people even in their homes," he says.

Assistant Secretary Simonson seems to be going in a different direction. He wrote a letter to Congress emphasizing that nuclear victims bleeding to death could be treated in hospitals.

Asked if he thinks hospitals would be able to handle the load of patients in such an event, Simonson’s deputy, Raub, says, "There would be hospital capacity that would be able to treat a substantial portion of that load. By no means would there be the ability to treat all of it, and therefore that’s what makes it a catastrophe."

"I talked to one of the top hematologists in this country this morning, and he said that he thought his facility, his hospital, would be able to handle maybe dozens of people, that’s it," says Bradley. "And I think if you’re looking at radiation exposure, you’re looking at more than dozens of people, you’re talking about hundreds of thousands in a place like New York or Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles."

"But no one has ever claimed a perfect response here," says Raub.

Relying on hospitals is far from a perfect solution according to the Pentagon. They wrote to 60 Minutes: "In the event of a radiation disaster the overwhelming majority of radiation victims will not have access to medical personnel."
But Raub says people can be evacuated to hospitals in the surrounding area.

"Do you imagine what it would be like evacuate New York City?" Bradley asks.

"Yes, I understand that. But, also, this is a catastrophe and I think people would do their very best on under those circumstances," Raub replies.

"Whose going to drive the buses?" asks Marsella. "If you have 450,000 people that are in a radioactively contaminated area possibly with acute radiation syndrome, how are you possibly going to deal with that many people when you just saw in Katrina that we had a hard time getting people food and water?"

Hollis-Eden’s executives believe Bioshield has been managed so badly they’ve decided to do what companies who have to deal with the government almost never do: publicly criticize the very same officials on whom their future depends.

"It is now four years after 9/11, why is this drug not a top priority to be deployed to protect the American public," Hollis said during testimony.

"I’ve personally testified five times now in front of various committees indicating the fact that if it’s not implemented properly with the right leadership that this very important piece of legislation, in my opinion, was going to fail," says Hollis.

Hollis-Eden’s executives say that if the government had done its part, their drug could have been ready for market this year. Instead, they’re now struggling to keep their company going.

"It’s just so frustrating because you’ve got nothing but duck and cover, and duct tape and plastic in the past 60 years," says Marsella. "And then you try to come out with a countermeasure that the Department of Defense is supporting. And HHS tells you, 'Well, we don’t really need it. We’re just going to put everyone in the hospital.' "

Without a government contract, their drug to treat acute radiation sickness may never see the light of day.

What happens to companies like Hollis-Eden if the government fails to recognize it, and they don’t get those incentives?

"What happens is that they fold up," says Rep. Davis.

But it’s not Hollis-Eden’s future that most concerns Davis. He says that HHS is playing a dangerous game.

"Ultimately, you’re betting that we don’t have a terrorist attack and that we’ll be able to catch up by that time. That’s the gamble," Davis says.

How far behind are we?

"I think years from where we ought to be," he says.

"What I want to see is a president of the United States and a secretary of HHS saying 'This is my No. 1 priority," says Lee Hamilton. "The No. 1 threat to the safety and security of the American people is the possibility of a nuclear attack of some kind, and it should be at the top of my priorities. That’s what I want to hear."

And he doesn't see that today?

"I do not see that," Hamilton says.