http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13374-2004Jun28.html
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From: Larry C. Lyons [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Tuesday, June 29, 2004 8:40 AM
To: CF-Community
Subject: FW: Abortion Foe to Be Reappointed to FDA Panel
Why am I not surprised, I am going to have a heart attack and die from
not surprise. It seems that the Shrubbery want the fundie doctor, W.
David Hager, whose chief form of treatment for gynecological problems
is to have his woman patients read the bible. And this genius is going
to be making decisions on a variety of birth control and other drugs.
Now tell me I should not be worried.
larry
>From the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13192-2004Jun28.html
Abortion Foe to Be Reappointed to FDA Panel
Four Lawmakers Tell Bush That Doctor Has 'Allowed His Personal Views
to Overshadow His Duty'
By Marc Kaufman
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 29, 2004; Page A06
A physician who is an outspoken opponent of abortion will be
reappointed to the Food and Drug Administration's advisory panel on
reproductive drugs despite loud protests from abortion rights
advocates in Congress and the women's health community.
W. David Hager, a Kentucky obstetrician and specialist on infectious
diseases of pregnancy and childbirth, has been informed that the FDA
wants him to serve at least one more year, said FDA spokesman Brad
Stone.
"I'm honored to be considered for reappointment and I do intend to
serve," said Hager, director of an obstetrics and gynecology training
program at Central Baptist Hospital, which is affiliated with the
University of Kentucky. "I believe that I offer the ability to
objectively evaluate data and arrive at sound decisions based on that
information."
The reappointment came as critics charged that Hager has no place on a
science-based panel that advises the FDA because of his opposition to
abortion and concerns about emergency contraception.
In a letter to President Bush, a bipartisan group of representatives
who support abortion rights said Hager should not be reappointed to
the FDA's reproductive health advisory committee because he has
"allowed his personal views to overshadow his duty to both the FDA and
the American people." Hager, an advocate of some forms of religious
healing and a former spokesman for a group that petitioned the FDA to
rescind its approval of the abortion pill RU-486, was appointed in
2002 over similar protests.
"Dr. Hager's blatant opposition to so many safe and legal options
makes him unfit to serve on this key Advisory Committee," said the
letter, signed by Reps. Louise M. Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Diana DeGette
(D-Colo.), Nancy L. Johnson (R-Conn.) and James C. Greenwood (R-Pa.).
The letter also strongly criticized Hager for being one of four panel
members who voted to recommend against approving non-prescription
sales of the emergency contraceptive Plan B. The 24 other panel
members favored over-the-counter sales, but the FDA subsequently
turned down the application.
Hager has been a lightning rod for groups active in national debates
over abortion and emergency contraception because of his opposition to
abortion and his strong Christian beliefs. While he has written
numerous articles for mainstream medical journals and some textbook
chapters on reproductive issues, he has also authored several books
that mix his medical and religious views. This background has made
abortion rights groups sharply critical, but others see him as a hero.
"If I was in David Hager's shoes, I'm not at all sure I'd want to stay
on that committee," said David Stevens, executive director of the
Christian Medical Association, which petitioned the FDA to take RU-486
off the market.
"His character has been assassinated by pro-abortion groups and by the
media," said Stevens, whose online biography says that he "helped
develop an evangelism training program that teaches thousands of
doctors and others how to share their faith" while practicing
medicine.
"I would hope that he is reappointed because he is a man of science
and a man of faith, and that's an important combination to have on one
of these committees. Being an atheist or an agnostic shouldn't be a
requirement to serve," Stevens said.
Hager was first appointed to the FDA's Advisory Committee for
Reproductive Health Drugs as part of an entire restaffing of the
panel. It was reported that the FDA's scientific staff opposed his
appointment and that political appointees in the agency promoted his
candidacy.
FDA advisory panels are influential because the agency generally
follows their recommendations.
The application to make Plan B available over the counter was the
first major recommendation that involved Hager. Despite the
overwhelming vote of the advisory panel in favor of the application,
the FDA decided in May that there was not enough information to
approve it. Abortion rights proponents accused the FDA of allowing
political considerations to overrule scientific assessment.
Scott Spear, national medical committee chairman of the Planned
Parenthood Federation of America, said yesterday that someone with
Hager's viewpoint does not belong on a science-based panel that
advises the FDA.
"Dr. Hager's ideological agenda compromises the scientific integrity
of the FDA," he said. "Americans rely on the FDA as a trusted and
objective safeguard. When science comes second, public health suffers.
President Bush should appoint an unbiased expert who values science
above all."
C 2004 The Washington Post Company
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