LAS VEGAS -- A letter sent to Nevada Sen. Harry Reid from former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop forced authorities to temporarily shut down Reid’s Washington office, several newspapers reported Wednesday.

Koop’s letter, discussing health care legislation, was hand-delivered without a stamp and with “C. Everett Koop” written in the upper-left corner, sources said. That was enough to cause alarm from staffers, who reported it to Capitol Police.

Reached at home, Koop told the newspaper, The Hill.

“There’s no law about how to deliver a letter. I can appreciate all of the security that surrounds the leader, but this all could have been settled in a few minutes,” he was quoted saying.

Koop did not say what he wrote in the letter.