Thursday, October 10, 2002

Bush's Science Advisers Drawing Criticism
In a particularly controversial case, the Food and Drug Administration has asked an obstetrician-gynecologist who strongly opposes abortions to serve on the panel that reviews reproductive health drugs. The doctor, Dr. W. David Hager, teaches at the University of Kentucky and has written popular books asserting the healing power of faith in Jesus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meanwhile, is considering a toxicologist who has advised the lead industry for a panel weighing the contentious issue of whether the federal government should lower its acceptable limits of lead in the blood.

"The pattern of actions we are watching is troubling," Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, said in an interview. "It's one thing to have a political perspective, which all of us do. But we are going to be in trouble in this country if we start moving toward theology-based science or ideological research."

Mr. Thompson and his aides have defended their selections. In a letter this week to Senator Clinton and Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, Mr. Thompson denied that the administration uses a litmus test and said, "We will continue to recruit the best scientific minds to serve."

The issue also came up on Monday at the Senate confirmation hearing of Dr. Mark B. McClellan, President Bush's nominee for commissioner of food and drugs.

"Expertise and objectivity are important criteria for selection," Dr. McClellan told the committee, in response to a question from Senator Kennedy. But, he added, so is "diversity of viewpoints."

The committee changes come at a time when Mr. Thompson is restructuring the health and human services advisory system, which consists of 258 outside boards and panels. In any given year, Mr. Thompson said in his letter, his office can appoint roughly 450 people.

Last month, The Washington Post reported on a series of changes, including some involving a committee that advises the disease control centers on matters of environmental health. The article prompted the letter from Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Kennedy. In a statement today, Mr. Kennedy argued that the administration was "stacking these committees with right-wing ideologues instead of respected scientists."

One scientist being replaced is Dr. Michael Weitzman, a pediatrician at the University of Rochester whose five-year term has expired. Dr. Weitzman, who has argued strongly that low levels of lead in the blood may be dangerous in children, said he was mystified as to why he was not reappointed.

"I've taken care of thousands of cases of lead poisoning, and am maybe the senior pediatrician currently still taking care of children and doing research on lead," Dr. Weitzman said. "I'm not a zealot. So why would you take somebody like me off?"

Mr. Markey was critical of Dr. Weitzman's removal. He also criticized the selection of Dr. William Banner, a pediatrician who is medical director of Oklahoma's poison control center. Dr. Banner has consulted with the lead industry in a Rhode Island lawsuit against lead paint manufacturers, and questions whether low lead levels are truly harmful.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/10/10/politics/10FDA.html

No comments:

Post a Comment

con·cept