New at Reason

July 23, 2007

Radley Balko applauds Surgeon General Richard Carmona for calling out the Bush administration's politicization of science.

Now if only Carmona would take a look in the mirror.

Comments

|7.23.07 @ 12:12PM|#

That's the oddest spelling of "surgeon general" I've ever seen.

|7.23.07 @ 12:16PM|#

Radley:
You are right on the money with Carmona. Funny how he made these outrageous second hand smoke claims, that are now being used by anti tobacco groups, with no actual findings in his own study to support them.
Afterwhich, he went to go run a fat farm in AZ.

|7.23.07 @ 12:34PM|#

AOBA

|7.23.07 @ 1:26PM|#

If the fed. gov was run properly this office would be one of the first the to go.

|7.23.07 @ 2:02PM|#

Ron Paul for Surgeon General!!

|7.23.07 @ 2:30PM|#

Carmona if he had any dignity, would have called for the abolishment of this office when he resigned. Especially since its "become politialized". He is not a doctor but a quack.

Another job for the Libertarian militia.

|7.23.07 @ 2:39PM|#

"Especially since its "become politialized". He is not a doctor but a quack."

Now in my very best duck impression voice:

"A FLACK!!"

|7.23.07 @ 6:18PM|#

From a PBS interview:

JUDY WOODRUFF: The job of the U.S. surgeon general is, broadly speaking, to be the chief public health educator for the United States. What does that really mean?

DR. RICHARD CARMONA: Well, it's one of the job descriptions, but really the surgeon general's job is to protect, promote and advance the health, safety and security of the nation.

snip

JUDY WOODRUFF: And yet you chose to stay the entire four-year term. Why? Some would say, if you were running into this kind of an adverse reaction, why did you stay?

DR. RICHARD CARMONA: Well, my -- let me put it this way, Judy. My experience wasn't a lot different than Surgeon General Koop and Surgeon General Satcher and the other surgeon generals who spoke today. The fact is, they all had their challenges.

And every one of us commiserating with one another said, "There were days that I wanted to quit. There were days I wanted to go home." But we recognized that our responsibility as surgeon general was not to a political party; it was to the American public to be the doctor of the nation.

And so we fought for that position, because the dignity and integrity of that office of the surgeon general is what we represented. And it has never been tarnished. It is one of the most shining examples of a great America globally when we travel, that people say, "Wow, surgeon general. Our country should have something like that."

So we recognize the importance, the preeminence of what we had. And we all decided to stay in spite of the challenges, because we felt we could move the agenda forward incrementally. And, you know, look at what happened with Surgeon General Koop and Surgeon General Satcher, even risking their own security and safety and their jobs, by Koop coming out on AIDS, for instance.

From the HHS website
Duties of the Surgeon General

* To protect and advance the health of the Nation through educating the public; advocating for effective disease prevention and health promotion programs and activities; and, provide a highly recognized symbol of national commitment to protecting and improving the public's health;
* To articulate scientifically based health policy analysis and advice to the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the full range of critical public health, medical, and health system issues facing the Nation;
* To provide leadership in promoting special Departmental health initiatives, e.g., tobacco and HIV prevention efforts, with other governmental and non-governmental entities, both domestically and internationally;
* To administer the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS) Commissioned Corps, which is a uniquely expert, diverse, flexible, and committed career force of public health professionals who can respond to both current and long-term health needs of the Nation;
* To provide leadership and management oversight for PHS Commissioned Corps involvement in Departmental emergency preparedness and response activities;
* To elevate the quality of public health practice in the professional disciplines through the advancement of appropriate standards and research priorities; and
* To fulfill statutory and customary Departmental representational functions on a wide variety of Federal boards and governing bodies of non-Federal health organizations, including the Board of Regents of the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the National Library of Medicine, the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, the Association of Military Surgeons of the United States, and the American Medical Association.