tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post9107658658151266800..comments2024-02-18T13:53:30.168-08:00Comments on Surgeonsblog: Surgeon GeneralSid Schwabhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-64774398853924734202007-07-17T22:17:00.000-07:002007-07-17T22:17:00.000-07:00Yeah, well, I'll put Carmona up there with all the...Yeah, well, I'll put Carmona up there with all the other folks in the "that would have been nice to know three or four YEARS AGO" category.shadowfaxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11648279307230813762noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-30684169154494157232007-07-15T12:23:00.000-07:002007-07-15T12:23:00.000-07:00Oh, this is something I will have to come back to ...Oh, this is something I will have to come back to later. This situation is truly disturbing but I want to think what I say through so you and your readers won't think I am walking around in my tin foil hat again!Pursey Tuttweilerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17850369845704358928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-40345658765323550302007-07-15T06:46:00.000-07:002007-07-15T06:46:00.000-07:00You want an example going back years?Hepatitis C. ...You want an example going back years?<BR/><BR/>Hepatitis C. We are all at risk as surgeons.<BR/><BR/>Troops are coming home from Iraq with strains never before seen in the USA. Heard this at Brooks Army in San Antonio.<BR/><BR/>Someone has been watching and documenting. Check out the blog at www.hcop.org. (Not an pharma "astroturf org") A bona fide frassroots advocacy org. They presented by invitation to the NIH Consensus Conference on this.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, an excellent read, and the links are incredibly revealing.<BR/><BR/>RosieUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12018264780309782152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-90825801321361792802007-07-14T09:14:00.000-07:002007-07-14T09:14:00.000-07:00Interesting post. I left a lengthy post put have ...Interesting post. I left a lengthy post put have put it over to my word program for now.SeaSprayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07906503090688697222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-89559531180012764942007-07-13T11:20:00.000-07:002007-07-13T11:20:00.000-07:00anon: If you are arguing that what happened to Car...anon: If you are arguing that what happened to Carmona was the prevention of him speaking his political views, the mind reels. It's as much the opposite of that as it could be. One problem with the current administration is that it considers its political views/beliefs to take precedence over facts; especially -- but hardly limited to -- scientific/medical ones. It politicizes everything. A supporting argument for them, if anything, must aver that politics trumps everything; perhaps that's a fair argument. But I'm of the mind that we could do with a bit more reason, on both sides of the aisle. <BR/><BR/>And: it's hardly "ad hominem" to state factually the restraints under which he was ordered to operate. It's like Harry Truman said. "I don't give 'em hell. I just tell the truth, and they think it's hell." For many in the current administration -- and their supporters -- facts are a hell of a problem.Sid Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-55719223615181971112007-07-13T10:14:00.000-07:002007-07-13T10:14:00.000-07:00"The job of surgeon general is to be the doctor of..."The job of surgeon general is to be the doctor of the nation, not the doctor of a political party,"<BR/><BR/>And he is an employee of the government. He should not allow _his_ politics to interfere in his job.<BR/><BR/>It is something to consider that a public employee takes a whine because he is not allowed free reign to air his political views under the penumbra of his office. -- And then goes ad hominem in the response to his behavior.<BR/><BR/>Care is needed in interpreting these cases, especially when they get close, as in an acquaintance or a closely held ideological position.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-42205939034271048942007-07-12T19:15:00.000-07:002007-07-12T19:15:00.000-07:00Carmona is just another casualty of this administr...Carmona is just another casualty of this administration who seriously owes the evangelical Right. (I won't go off on Bush, because 1) I don't have enough space and time, and 2) that walking protoplasmic disaster speaks for itself.) I do agree that the SG *is* a political position--the very term "Nation's Doctor" has that component built-in--but to be actively censored is unconscionable. It's not even "Is this guided by science?"--the discussion was never able to take place!<BR/><BR/>As far as Elders is concerned, she was awesome. <B>But</B>, as the representative for the nation as a whole, I do think she did herself a disservice by refusing to be diplomatic. The nation simply was (and is) not ready for a Black woman in a position of authority to be advocating things that were that far away from what was socially normative, regardless of how obviously true it was.<BR/><BR/>Personally, my favorite SG was <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antonia_Novello" REL="nofollow">Antonia Novello</A>. She spoke at our school this year, and gave a powerful presentation on women and AIDS WRT world health. I can't say enough good things about her, not to mention the fact that she's directly responsible for my eventually getting a <EM>domestic</EM> MD in the State of NY by continuing funding/support of 5th Pathway for those schools that meet their accreditation. <BR/><BR/>OK, this comment went all over the map...sorry. :)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-80669220703604813712007-07-11T17:05:00.000-07:002007-07-11T17:05:00.000-07:00Mitch: I agree. And whereas I think it's pretty cl...Mitch: I agree. And whereas I think it's pretty clear that this president has done more harm to the institutions of our country than any other, I'm not very optimistic that there's any Democrat with the gumption to do much about it. Which makes me worry that the damage may actually not be fixable.Sid Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-62285208577146011902007-07-11T14:45:00.000-07:002007-07-11T14:45:00.000-07:00This administration has placed "political officers...This administration has placed "political officers" in many key positions to oversee policy; remember that kid at NASA who had falsified his college credentials and was censoring global warming science? This is more than vaguely reminiscent of the soviet style political officer, and when the democrats get control back, they better eliminate this whole structure and not just replace those players...Mitch Keamyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02552695021608383465noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-76614770521020865292007-07-11T08:41:00.000-07:002007-07-11T08:41:00.000-07:00"beats the pants off.." Amusing, in the context of..."beats the pants off.." Amusing, in the context of Dr Elders....<BR/><BR/> When Carmona testified, so did Dave Satcher and C.E. Koop. They acknowledged that there's always been politics involved in the position, but they said that under the current rulers it has far surpassed anything previously seen. The argument that you can find examples in previous administrations of what this one is doing does not change the fact that these guys have taken it to a level never before seen: and the surgeon general (I think we could get along fine without one) is by far the least of it! Plus, at least Dr Elders got to say what she wanted to say: evidently there weren't people issuing prior restraint. She said stuff, it wasn't liked. Carmona was shut up before he could open his mouth.<BR/><BR/>And, of course, it was the same people who gagged Carmona in advance who were eventually able to get Elders shut down.Sid Schwabhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14182853083503404098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-70903413044178438822007-07-11T07:53:00.000-07:002007-07-11T07:53:00.000-07:00This post reminded me of some of the stuff I've re...This post reminded me of some of the stuff I've read over at the blog of another surgeon--Orac of Respectful Insolence. He, too, would likely find W.'s distaste for science and reality more than a bit troubling. And I always thought Dr. Elders had more sense than these "abstinence only" fools we've got now. Yes, sometimes she was a bit too graphic (I was a teen or thereabouts when she was Surgeon General), but it beats the pants off of trying to completely ignore that teens are sexual beings by their very biology.<BR/><BR/>"W" is too worried about his war and his precious religious ideology to do anything sensible to help our kids or our health care system. JMHO.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-91400935163472135582007-07-11T07:34:00.000-07:002007-07-11T07:34:00.000-07:00Is anyone surprised? Gen. Shinseki got canned the...Is anyone surprised? Gen. Shinseki got canned the minute he went off the reservation prior to the invasion and expressed concerns that more troops would be needed, that the post-war reconstruction would be problematic given the limited expeditionary force planned. This administration is a thinly veiled Fascist regime. Staying on message trumps everything else. Dissent is not tolerated. And the incurious, morally strident, intellectually deficient W still has a year and a half to embroil us in some Iranian travesty. <BR/><BR/>As for Joycelyn, I loved her. Teaching the kids to masturbate was a priceless idea. I can just imagine horrified 8th grade health teachers across the nation being forced to flip through slide shows in a dark classroom on "Masturbating Safely and Successfully".Jeffrey Parks MD FACShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15650563299849196122noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-62780024970908611152007-07-11T05:54:00.000-07:002007-07-11T05:54:00.000-07:00After W is out of office, I think we'll have a flu...After W is out of office, I think we'll have a flurry of revelations about overt and covert policies within his administration, probably a whole spate of books written about various aspects.<BR/><BR/>It's very telling when you have a former Surgeon General making these kinds of comments while his former boss is still President, very telling indeed.Greg Phttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18422487877167541900noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-14877027039874402652007-07-11T05:49:00.000-07:002007-07-11T05:49:00.000-07:00I am from Arkansas, so my first thought was like S...I am from Arkansas, so my first thought was like Scapel--Jocelyn Elders. I remember her from the lectures she gave to us in medical school. I really thought she got a bum rap.rlbateshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15236331355857884458noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-20645466557841067422007-07-11T02:15:00.000-07:002007-07-11T02:15:00.000-07:00Joycelyn.Now it's three words. Sorry.<A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joycelyn_Elders" REL="nofollow">Joycelyn</A>.<BR/><BR/>Now it's three words. Sorry.scalpelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12163296819469420123noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30499448.post-51399512620333728482007-07-11T02:13:00.000-07:002007-07-11T02:13:00.000-07:00Ahhh....two words:Jocelyn Elders.Ahhh....two words:<BR/><BR/>Jocelyn Elders.scalpelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12163296819469420123noreply@blogger.com