Kenda removed from cancer cluster panel Governor takes action after a grieving mom's emotional speech

PORTSMOUTH - Gov. Chris Sununu has removed Steve Kenda from the commission on the Seacoast Cancer Cluster Investigation after Kenda upset many people with his contention "there is no cancer cluster."

Sununu removed Kenda after the commission met for only the second time Tuesday in Concord and Kenda again debated the existence of the Seacoast pediatric cancer cluster.

"As with any commission, members should be free to express their viewpoints, but it is imperative that they do so with the understanding that they must ultimately work together," Sununu said in a statement. "Unfortunately, Steve Kenda's participation in the (commission) has become too much of a distraction, and therefore I have removed him."

Commission member Dr. Tom Sherman chaired the original Seacoast Pediatric Cancer Cluster task force that was formed by Sen. Maggie Hassan when she was governor. Sherman said Tuesday he thought Kenda's involvement in the commission was "going to be a distraction and potentially hold us back on our work."

He pointed to the testimony Tuesday of North Hampton resident Lynne Thomas, whose son Sam died from one of the two pediatric cancers identified in the cancer cluster, as the "straw that broke the camel's back."

"I have worked with many families dealing with cancer but I get choked up talking about it," Sherman said Tuesday afternoon. "I cannot imagine the pain of losing your own child."

Sherman stressed Thomas reminded the commission that "what we do in the public eye has implications to people." He added, "I think she was sharing that in a very meaningful way, a very personal way."

Thomas addressed the entire commission but her comments were aimed directly at Kenda.

"There is a cancer cluster I don't know why you Mr. Kenda can't get that through your brain," Thomas said.

Her son Sam was diagnosed when he was 10 and died four years later after multiple surgeries, radiation treatment and four drug trials, she said.

"He did not get a chance to drive, to have a girlfriend to enjoy his sister, we were in hospitals day after day after day," Thomas said. "You name it, he went through it."

Thomas called the last drug trial her son went through a "Hail Mary," but then added, "It still wasn't enough."

She told Kenda his unwillingness to accept there's a Seacoast pediatric cancer cluster has brought her to her knees.

She pledged that her son will not be forgotten and told the commission that his death "has made me a stronger person."

"Kids are counting on this commission to look at everything and not be negative," Thomas said.

She recalled watching Sam "go through surgery after surgery, going under."

Then when the tumor came back after the fourth drug trial, "we were told after four tries, 'You better take him to Disney,'" she said. "He wanted to go back where it was fun."

She told the commission that her son was "so brave" as he fought cancer.

He said, "I will do it so it can help some other child," she recalled her son saying. "Character is what I saw in my Sam. He is standing right here with me, watching and listening."

Before she finished her testimony, Thomas walked over to Kenda and showed him a picture of Sam.

"This is what he looked like the last four months before his death," she said.

If not for the cancer, Sam would have graduated high school this year.

State Rep. Mindi Messmer, D-Rye, and a commission member, said Tuesday that Sununu "made the right decision pulling him off the commission."

"I hope the next person is better suited to serve," Messmer said.

She called Thomas' comments "very, very brave. ... It was heartbreaking. I could not keep myself from crying, but it needed to be said. I'm totally behind her."

Hassan, when she was governor, formed the task force on the Seacoast pediatric cancer cluster in 2016 after state officials determined there was a small cancer cluster of rhabdomyosarcoma, or RMS, which several area children have died from.

While looking at the RMS cases, the state also identified "a small excess of pediatric lung cancer cases," all of which "were of a single rare type called pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB)."

Many parents believe the cancers could have been triggered by environmental factors.

Portsmouth environmental activist Lindsey Carmichael said Tuesday, "Many of us on the Seacoast have high hopes for the work that will be accomplished by the commission."

She continued: "Based on everything I have heard and read regarding the pediatric cancer cases here on the Seacoast, NH DHHS has been thorough in their analysis concluding that there is a cancer cluster. That being the case, the most productive action we can collectively take is to address the facts using the resources available to the commission, and to continue investigating possible environmental triggers for RMS and PPB with a goal of reducing environmental exposures, and ultimately preventing future illness. It's time to get to work."

Kenda, a North Hampton resident and past Republican candidate for state Senate and governor, was appointed by Sununu. Before he began work on the commission, Kenda spoke out denying its existence in the media.

His position was debunked earlier this month by state health officials and assailed by Seacoast parents whose children died of cancer. Sununu took action Tuesday.

State epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said during a commission meeting Oct. 5 the state Department of Health and Human Services "has called this a cancer cluster and we have been investigating this as a cancer cluster," adding, "We have worked very hard to try to work with families and understand their concerns and try to address them."

Sherman said at the same meeting that cancer cluster is "not a name that somebody came up with. It's a designation that is defined by the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)."