Release more information about epidemics, Iowa lawmaker says

An Iowa lawmaker wants public health officials to release more details about people who die in epidemics.

Sen. Amanda Ragan, a Mason City Democrat, has introduced a bill to ease restrictions on information that the Department of Public Health can release during outbreaks, such as the H1N1 flu.

Ragan, who chairs the Senate Human Resources Committee, says she shares health officials' desire to protect the identify of disease victims, but Iowans might take outbreaks more seriously if they knew more details about the victims.

Department of Public Health Director Tom Newton says his agency doesn't see the value in telling Iowans exactly where flu victims lived, how old they were or what their other health problems were.

-- Associated Press