be be a lot more egregious before I would advocate something like
that. Moreover, we don't want MD to get in trouble with the Secret
Service again.
larry
On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 08:51:58 -0400, Sandy Clark <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Time for operation Checkpoint.
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13374-2004Jun28.html
>
> _____
>
> 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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