Science Under Attack By The Bush Administration

THE FDA, POLITICS AND PUBLIC PROTECTION
"In a recent letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Tommy Thompson, a dozen members of Congress expressed concern that "scientific decision-making is being subverted by ideology and that scientific information that does not fit the Administration's agenda is being suppressed." Cited as an example of ideological censorship is the removal of scientific information posted on HHS web sites, including a fact sheet on latex condom effectiveness in reducing the risk of sexually transmitted diseases and the National Cancer Institute's finding that abortions do not increase the risk of breast cancer."
In a separate letter to Secretary Thompson, Congressman Edward J. Markey expressed concern that highly qualified scientific members of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention were being replaced with "individuals who are affiliated or openly sympathetic with the views of the lead industry." Markey singles out one Administration candidate, William Banner, MD, PhD, as a particularly offending example.

"Banner's nomination seriously threatens the health of children. Consider this: in his deposition during a lead paint lawsuit brought by Rhode Island against paint maker Sherman Williams, Dr. Banner opined that lead levels ten times current CDC guidelines were safe in children. Never mind that considerable scientific evidence and the overwhelming majority of experts in the field support the CDC guidelines."

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