Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona testified before a House Committee yesterday about how the Bush administration pressured him to put politics over science. Issues such as stem cell research, second hand smoke, the prison health system and sex education were to be downplayed. This doesn’t really come as a surprise to me but perhaps it does to the rest of the country. I am very happy to see him speaking out about it, although doing so while he was Surgeon General may have proven more fruitful. While the New York Times’ picture byline makes you think all three of the former Surgeon Generals who testified felt equal political pressure while in office, in actuality, Carmona’s was more intense. The article notes, Carmona “eventually consulted six previous surgeons general, Republican and Democratic, and all agreed, he said, that he faced more political interference than they had.” Of course, he did! This administration is a machine. Tow the line or you are out. Screw the public who is getting faulty medical information from the “nation’s doctor.”
I think what just may piss me off the most is finding out that Carmona knew abstinence only education was bad science, our prison health system was in disrepair and second hand smoke kills people, yet he still spread the gospel. Conversely, Dr. C. Everett Koop was told by the Reagan administration not to discuss the AIDS crisis, but he still did it. It seems to me that if you are a physician, it is imperative to protect people's health. Perhaps I am wrong.
Well, there goes my last piece of respect for the system. Thank you, “nation’s doctor!”
Read more about the administration’s continuing disregard for science (registration required).
3 comments:
right on, magda! just another day of playing politics...
First, I LOVE that picture. And this is pretty cool, mr. science speaking out, finally. But, your point is well taken. He is a physician, politics should not trump his oath. But, of course this is the Bush administration where the rules don't matter. It began in November, 2000 and it will not end until Jan, 2009, unless Cindy Sheehan forces Pelosi to go for impeachment.
It is purely despicable. They have infiltrated every part of American life and politicized it ALL for their own personal gain and the gain of their political party. Their myopia is poisoning not only the health and welfare of the American people, but the democratic process as a whole. And all the while, every time a Dem Senator or Congressperson attempts to provide a check on this overreaching executive, they are accused as playing “politics as usual.” This is beyond, well beyond, anything any president has ever thought of doing – even Nixon.
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