Former Surgeon General Carmona Says Bush Administration Blocked Him From Speaking About Stem Cell Research, Sex Education, EC

Main Category: Stem Cell Research
Also Included In: Sexual Health / STDs;  Women's Health / Gynecology;  HIV / AIDS
Article Date: 13 Jul 2007 - 3:00 PDT

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Former Surgeon General Richard 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, the Washington Post reports. 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 (Lee, Washington Post, 7/11).

He said the administration often edited his speeches for politically controversial content and encouraged him to attend internal "political pep rallies," the Wall Street Journal reports (Meckler, Wall Street Journal, 7/11). In addition, Carmona said he was required to mention Bush three times on every page of his speeches and was asked to make speeches to promote Republican political candidates, the New York Times reports. 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 (Harris, New York Times, 7/11).

"Anything that doesn't fit into the political appointees' ideological, theological or political agenda is often ignored, marginalized or simply buried," Carmona said. "The problem with this approach is that in public health, as in a democracy, there is nothing worse than ignoring science or marginalizing the voice of science for reasons driven by changing political winds," he added.

According to the Post, two other former surgeons general testified at the hearing that politics had interfered when they served in the position. David Satcher, who served from 1998 to 2002, said that under former President Clinton he was blocked from releasing a report on sexuality and public health, in part because of issues related to Monica Lewinsky. Former President Reagan received pressure to fire his surgeon general, C. Everett Koop, after Koop spoke out about AIDS, but the president refused to comply, Koop said (Washington Post, 7/11). Carmona said that he initially had little idea how inappropriate the administration's actions were. He said that he consulted six previous surgeons general and that all agreed he experienced more political interference than they had, according to the Times.

The hearing comes two days before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is scheduled to hold confirmation hearings for Bush's nominee to be the next surgeon general, James Holsinger (New York Times, 7/11).

Embryonic Stem Cell Research
Carmona said the Bush administration told him not to speak about the national debate over whether the federal government should fund embryonic stem cell research (Washington Post, 7/11). Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research currently is allowed only for research using embryonic stem cell lines created on or before Aug. 9, 2001, under a policy announced by Bush on that date. Bush last month vetoed a bill (S 5) -- called the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 -- that would have allowed federal funding for research using stem cells derived from human embryos originally created for fertility treatments and willingly donated by patients (Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 6/22).

"Much of the discussion was being driven by theology, ideology (and) preconceived beliefs that were scientifically incorrect," Carmona said, adding, "I thought, 'This is a perfect example of the surgeon general being able to step forward, educate the American public.' ... I was blocked at every turn. I was told the decision had already been made -- 'Stand down. Don't talk about it.' That information was removed from my speeches."

Sex Education, EC
Carmona also said that when the Bush administration was promoting federal funding for abstinence-only sex education, he was blocked from talking about research on the effectiveness of teaching both condoms and abstinence in sex education courses.

"There was already a policy in place that did not want to hear the science but wanted to just preach abstinence, which I felt was scientifically incorrect," Carmona said (Washington Post, 7/11). He also said he was told not to talk about Barr Laboratories' emergency contraceptive Plan B (Carey, CQ HealthBeat, 7/10).

Reaction
HHS spokesperson Bill Hall disputed Carmona's claims, saying, "It has always been this administration's position that public health policy should be rooted in sound science" (New York Times, 7/11). White House spokesperson Tony Fratto said, "As surgeon general, Dr. Carmona was given the authority and had the obligation to be the leading voice for the health of all Americans." He added, "It's disappointing to us if he failed to use his position to the fullest extent in advocating for policies he thought were in the best interests of the nation."

House Government Oversight Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) called on lawmakers to take steps to insulate the surgeon general's office from political interference, the Post reports. "We shouldn't allow the surgeon general to be politicized," he said, adding, "It is the doctor to the nation. That person needs to have credibility, independence and to speak about science" (Washington Post, 7/11). Waxman said, "The public expects that a surgeon general will be immune from political pressure and be allowed to express his or her professional views based on the best available science" (Dunham, Reuters, 7/10).

Broadcast Coverage
Several broadcast programs on Tuesday reported on Carmona's testimony. Summaries appear below.

• ABC's "World News": The segment includes comments from Carmona, Satcher and Koop (Stark, "World News," ABC, 7/10). Video of the segment is available online.
  
  
• CBS' "Evening News": The segment includes comments from Carmona and former government scientist James Hansen (Attkisson, "Evening News," CBS, 7/10). Video of the segment and expanded CBS News coverage are available online.
  
  
• CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360°": The segment includes a discussion with Carmona (Cooper, "Anderson Cooper 360°," CNN, 7/10). A transcript of the complete program is available online.
  
  
• NBC's "Nightly News": The segment includes comments from Carmona and Michael Jacobson of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (Reid, "Nightly News," NBC, 7/10). Video of the segment is available online.
  
  
• NPR's "All Things Considered": The segment includes comments from Carmona and Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) (Rovner, "All Things Considered," NPR, 7/10). Audio and a partial transcript of the segment are available online.
  
  
• PBS' "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer": The segment includes a discussion with Carmona (Woodruff, "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," PBS, 7/10). Audio and a transcript of the segment are available online. Video of the segment will be available Wednesday afternoon.

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