If you had any doubt that this White House allows politics to intrude upon science, look no further than the hearings to confirm a new U.S. surgeon general.
Dr. Richard Carmona, whose term as surgeon general expired a year ago, last week accused the Bush administration of muzzling him on controversial issues, including embryonic stem-cell research, sex education and prison health.
Whether it’s public health, climate change or air pollution, this administration has distinguished itself with routine squelching of research that doesn’t pass its political litmus test.
Carmona, who served from 2002 to 2006, described several disturbing instances of political micromanaging, including a mandate that he was supposed to invoke President Bush’s name three times on every page of his speeches.
This isn’t the first time administration officials have been accused of such meddling. Last year, high-ranking NASA official James Hansen, who is recognized as an authority on global warming, said administration officials warned him of “dire consequences” for speaking his mind about climate change. Scientists at other public agencies, including the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, had similar experiences. And at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, researchers said Bush appointees rewrote reports that detailed health problems due to soot and mercury.
It is against this backdrop that the Senate last week held confirmation hearings for the Bush administration’s nominee for the surgeon general post, Dr. James W. Holsinger. Speaking before a Senate committee, he said he would resign rather than allow politics to supplant science.
It is incumbent upon federal lawmakers to continue to hold oversight hearings that expose the administration’s efforts to muzzle objective research.
We understand that politics often follow political appointments, but as a nation we expect doctors and scientists to be free to follow the science and to tell the truth, without political filters.
