Watering down the truth

Former Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona told a Congressional panel today that top Bush administration officials repeatedly “tried to weaken or suppress important public health reports” because of political considerations.

The administration, Dr. Carmona said, would not allow him to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, or prison, mental and global health issues. Top officials delayed for years and tried to “water down” a landmark report on secondhand smoke, he said. Released last year, the report concluded that even brief exposure to cigarette smoke could cause immediate harm.

While the Bush Administration may very well have suppressed health reports for political motives, one of the studies Carmona points to deserves some serious skepticism. The so-called “landmark” study the NYT story refers to claimed that brief exposure to passive smoke could cause immediate harm. The fact is, there is tenuous evidence to support the contention that exposure to second-hand smoke causes harm over decades much less immediately. It doesn’t mean that passive smoke is good for you, it means the science isn’t in yet.

What’s worse, is that the Surgeon Generals’ press release at the time misrepresented the science of the report itself, claiming ”Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and increases risk for heart disease and lung cancer …” The indefatigable Jacob Sullum and Michael Siegel debunked those claims at the time. I deal with the issue in the smoking chapter of my book.

And as Reason magazine’s Radley Balko points out, this is also the man who eagerly spread the outlandish CDC claim that obesity kills 400,000 Americans yearly.

Update: Tom Firey of the Cato Institute has a worthwhile post on Carmona’s own ideologically driven tenure.

Carmona is correct that politicians should not interfere with the scientific analysis of the surgeon general — the surgeon general should follow an empirical question wherever the science leads. And he may even state his personal opinion — couched as such — on the value judgments that ensue from the science. But the surgeon general should not supplant the politicians in making public policy decisions, nor supplant private individuals in making personal health decisions.

Judging from his testimony, Carmona is as guilty as the Bush Administration.