FAN Bulletin 836

July 11, 2007

Dear All,

If ever a phrase summed up the 60 disgusting years of promotion of fluoridation by agencies that should be protecting our health not threatening it, it has to be this quote taken from a piece in the Washington Post today:

“Public health is only effective when it is honest…When public health leaders don’t tell the truth, they lose credibility, and in the long run, we all pay the price.”

The article (as well as the a second piece form the AP) deals with Congressional testimony from the former US Surgeon General (the titular head of the US Public Health Services, a uniformed branch of government) that White house politics controlled what he could or could not say about certain health issues.

Whether he was forced to or not, Carmona like all the previous 16 Surgeon Generals before him, has “officially” endorsed and waxed lyrical about the “safety and effectiveness” of fluoridation. Elsewhere, I have suggested that such statements be viewed in the same way as Michael Jordan promoting Nike shoes. It goes with the contract.

Now Carmona confirms this. On several health issues, Carmona claims that politics rules over science. Policy is king. In the case of the issues raised by Carmona, the White House is king. In the case of fluoridation, the policy of the Oral Health Division (an adjunct of the ADA) is the emperor. But any one who has read the literature knows that this Emperor has no clothes. But until someone in Congress has the guts to point this out, we will all pay the price.

As Carol Kopf points out “This admission by a former Surgeon General shows that their “medical” opinions don’t mean anything because they aren’t really making a scientific judgment, but a political one. We already know that in regard to water fluoridation which they all endorsed and then get widely quoted by the fluoridationists.”

And while we are talking about former US Surgeon Generals don’t forget how many times Everett Koop has been wheeled out to endorse fluoridation during closely fought referenda. Those who treat this man’s word as though it was the gospel are probably unaware that he just forgot to tell a Congressional hearing that the company for which he offered testimony (a manufacturer of latex gloves) had paid him $1 million in consultancy fees ( to be fare, not on the latex gloves issue itself)!

Paul Connett

Ex-Surgeon General Says White House Hushed Him

By Christopher Lee
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 11, 2007; Page A01

Former surgeon general Richard H. Carmona yesterday accused the Bush administration of muzzling him on sensitive public health issues, becoming the most prominent voice among several current and former federal science officials who have complained of political interference.

Carmona, a Bush nominee who served from 2002 to 2006, told the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that political appointees in the administration routinely scrubbed his speeches for politically sensitive content and blocked him from speaking out on public health matters such as stem cell research, abstinence-only sex education and the emergency contraceptive Plan B.

“Anything that doesn’t fit into the political appointees’ ideological, theological or political agenda is often ignored, marginalized or simply buried,” he 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.”

In one such case, Carmona, a former professor of surgery and public health at the University of Arizona, said he was told not to speak out during the national debate over whether the federal government should fund embryonic stem cell research, which President Bush opposes.

“Much of the discussion was being driven by theology, ideology, [and] preconceived beliefs that were scientifically incorrect,” said Carmona, one of three former surgeons general who testified at yesterday’s hearing. “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.”

White House spokesman Tony Fratto rejected claims of political interference, saying Carmona had all the support he needed to carry out his mission. “As surgeon general, Dr. Carmona was given the authority and had the obligation to be the leading voice for the health of all Americans,” Fratto said. “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.”

Carmona said that when the administration touted funding for abstinence-only education, he was prevented from discussing research on the effectiveness of teaching about condoms as well as abstinence. “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.

Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), the House panel’s chairman, called for Congress to take steps to insulate the office from political influence. “We shouldn’t allow the surgeon general to be politicized,” he said. “It is the doctor to the nation. That person needs to have credibility, independence and to speak about science.”

Carmona, a former deputy sheriff in Arizona with expertise in emergency preparedness, came to the administration’s attention because of his work helping local governments plan their response to terrorist attacks. A high school dropout and former Army Special Forces medic, Carmona eventually received undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of California at San Francisco.

He is the latest in a string of government employees to complain that ideology is trumping science in the Bush administration.

In January, the leader of the National Institutes of Health’s task force on stem cells, Story Landis, said that because of the Bush policy — which aims to protect three-day-old embryos — the nation is “missing out on possible breakthroughs.” And in March, NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni called the Bush policy “shortsighted.”

Last year, NASA scientist James E. Hansen and other federal climate researchers said the Bush administration had made it hard for them to speak in a forthright manner about global warming. In 2005, Susan F. Wood, an assistant FDA commissioner and director of the agency’s Office of Women’s Health, resigned her post, citing her frustration with political interference that was delaying approval of over-the-counter sales of Plan B.

“Public health is only effective when it is honest,” said David Michaels, director of the Project on Scientific Knowledge and Public Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health. “When public health leaders don’t tell the truth, they lose credibility, and in the long run, we all pay the price.”

Two other former surgeons general, David Satcher and C. Everett Koop, said at the hearing that political interference appears to have grown worse under Bush, although they noted that this administration has not been the only one to take a political approach toward the office.

Satcher, Carmona’s predecessor, who served from 1998 to 2002, said that under President Bill Clinton he could not release a report on sexuality and public health, in part because of sensitivities triggered by the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

Clinton also forced out Joycelyn Elders as surgeon general in 1994 after her controversial remarks that public schools should consider teaching about masturbation.

Koop, who served as surgeon general under President Ronald Reagan, spoke out on AIDS, despite political pressure not to do so. He said Reagan was pressured to fire him every day — but he did not.

“If he had not been the kind of person he was, I would not be here today,” Koop said.

Staff writer Rick Weiss contributed to this report.
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Carmona Says Administration Muzzled Him

Tuesday July 10, 2007

By KEVIN FREKING, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush’s most recent surgeon general accused the administration Tuesday of muzzling him for political reasons on hot-button health issues such as emergency contraception and abstinence-only education.

Dr. Richard Carmona, the nation’s 17th surgeon general, told lawmakers that all surgeons general have had to deal with politics but none more so than he.

For example, he said he wasn’t allowed to make a speech at the Special Olympics because it was viewed as benefiting a political opponent. However, he said was asked to speak at events designed to benefit Republican lawmakers.

“The reality is that the nation’s doctor has been marginalized and relegated to a position with no independent budget, and with supervisors who are political appointees with partisan agendas,'’ said Carmona, who served from 2002 to 2006.

Responding, the White House said Carmona was given the authority and had the obligation to be the leading voice for the health of all Americans.

“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,'’ said Deputy Press Secretary Tony Fratto. “We believe Dr. Carmona received the support necessary to carry out his mission.'’

Confirmation hearings are scheduled to be held Thursday for Dr. James. Holsinger Jr., the Kentucky cardiologist Bush nominated as the nation’s 18th surgeon general. The nomination has been criticized by gay rights groups.

Carmona testified Tuesday at a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Also appearing were Drs. C. Everett Koop, who served as surgeon general from 1981-1889, and David Satcher, who served from 1998-2001.

“Political interference with the work of the surgeon general appears to have reached a new level in this administration,'’ said committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif.

Koop is probably the most recognized former surgeon general. He talked about AIDS as a public health issue rather than a moral issue, which won him many admirers and some critics. He said President Reagan was pressed to fire him every day, but Reagan would not interfere.

Koop said that after he left office he had more access to the secretary of Health and Human Services than his successor, Satcher, and that embarrassed him. “Dr. Carmona was treated with even less respect than Dr. Satcher,'’ Koop said.

A report condemning secondhand smoke was a hallmark of Carmona’s tenure.

Another report, on global health challenges, was never released after the administration demanded changes that he refused to make, Carmona said.

“I was told this would be a political document or you’re not going to release it.'’ Carmona said. “I said it can’t be a political document because the surgeon general never releases political documents. I release scientific documents that will help our elected officials and the citizens understand the complex world we live in and what their responsibilities are.'’

He refused to identify the officials who sought the changes.

Carmona said he believed the surgeon general should show leadership on health issues. But his speeches were edited by political appointees, and he was told not to talk about certain issues. For example, he supported comprehensive sex education that would include abstinence in the curriculum, rather than focusing solely on abstinence.

“However, there was already a policy in place that didn’t want to hear the science, but wanted to quote, unquote preach abstinence, which I felt was scientifically incorrect,'’ Carmona said.