Sen. Kennedy, Rep. Waxman Write HHS Secretary Leavitt Asking For Documents Related To Former Surgeon General Carmona's Tenure
Carmona, a former professor of surgery and public health at the University of Arizona, was nominated by President Bush to serve as surgeon general from 2002 to 2006. Carmona on Tuesday in a hearing with the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform said the Bush administration routinely blocked him from speaking out or issuing reports on human embryonic stem cell research, abstinence-only sex education, emergency contraception and other sensitive public health issues while he was serving in the position.
He also said the administration often edited his speeches for politically controversial content and encouraged him to attend internal political meetings. Carmona did not disclose the names of the administration officials who pressured him to support a political agenda over a scientific one. However, he said the officials included assistant HHS secretaries and top political appointees outside the department (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 7/11).
Waxman, chair of the House government reform committee, asked for documents related to Carmona's tenure by July 25, and Kennedy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, asked for documents by July 27 (Reuters, 7/11).
Kennedy's letter and Waxman's letter are available online. Note: You will need Adobe Acrobat to view Waxman's letter. Editorials
Several newspapers published editorials in reaction to Carmona's comments. Summaries appear below.
New York Times: Carmona's testimony "sounds so ham-handedly partisan that it would be laughable if it weren't so damaging to the public's understanding of important public health issues," a Times editorial says. House and Senate oversight committees "must look for ways to protect" the surgeon general from "future political interference," the Times writes, adding that Congress could give the surgeon general's office its own staff and budget and could "ban any effort to censor or delay the surgeon general's reports and speeches" (New York Times, 7/12).
Philadelphia Inquirer: "What happened to Carmona was a sickening politicization of an appointed post that should be a source of unassailable credibility on public health issues," and it "fits a pattern in the Bush White House of willfully ignoring science when the research clashes with political goals," an Inquirer editorial says. The editorial concludes that Congress should take actions to ensure the surgeon general is "on call for the public, not for a political party" (Philadelphia Inquirer, 7/12).
USA Today: Although it does not "speak well of Carmona that he accepted the muzzling" of the Bush administration, his "forthrightness" is "at least timely" because of confirmation hearings scheduled for his nominated successor, James Holsinger. The editorial concludes that despite difficulties in "bucking" a president's policy, "independent leaders" are needed to protect the public's health (USA Today, 7/12).
Wall Street Journal: Officials of any administration are "expected" to "support the policies of an elected president," and if Carmona "really thinks that the surgeon general should be above politics, 'naive' is not the first adjective that comes to mind," a Journal editorial says. If Carmona "disagreed so profoundly" with Bush's policies, he could have resigned or spoke "up anyway and face[d] the consequences," the editorial says, concluding that either option would have been "more honorable" than his "late hit on the president who appointed him" (Wall Street Journal, 7/12).
"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.
Sen. Kennedy, Rep Waxman scrie HHS secretar Leavitt care solicitã documente legate de fostul chirurg general al Carmona titlu de proprietate - Sen. Kennedy, Rep. Waxman Write HHS Secretary Leavitt Asking For Documents Related To Former Surgeon General Carmona's Tenure - articole medicale engleza - startsanatate