SENATORS CLINTON AND MURRAY TO LAUNCH INVESTIGATION INTO MEMO TO FDA ON PLAN B
Washington, DC-- Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) and Patty Murray (D-WA) today sent the following letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt urging him to launch an
investigation into a memo sent by Dr. David Hager to Acting Commissioner Lester Crawford on Plan B. The Senators reiterated their concern that FDA decision-making process was being driven by personal
beliefs and ideology over science.
May 12, 2005
The Honorable Michael O. Leavitt
Secretary
United States Department of Health and Human Services
Washington, D.C., 20201
Dear Secretary Leavitt:
We write to urge you to immediately initiate an investigation into
reports in this morning’s Washington Post and The Nation that W. David
Hager was asked to write a memo to the FDA commissioner about Plan B.
According to the reports, Dr. Hager was requested to write the memo
after an FDA Advisory panel voted in favor of making Plan B available
over-the-counter. If substantiated, these allegations seem to leave
little doubt that the process for considering Barr Laboratories’
application was based not on science, but on personal beliefs.
Both The Washington Post and the Nation report that Dr. Hager stated in
a videotaped sermon that he was asked to write a “minority report”
outlining why over-the-counter sales of Plan B should be rejected. It
is unclear whether the FDA asked Dr. Hager to write a report, with the
Washington Post reporting that he has given conflicting accounts to
reporters.
On the taped sermon itself, Dr. Hager states that “I was asked to write
a minority opinion that was sent to the commissioner of the FDA. For
the second time in five decades, the FDA did not abide by its advisory
committee opinion, and the measure was rejected… I argued from a
scientific perspective, and God took that information, and he used it
through this minority report to influence the decision. Once again,
what Satan meant for evil, God turned into good.”
As we have previously stated, we are concerned that the FDA’s
decision-making process is placing personal beliefs over science. And
Dr. Hager’s statements only add to our deep concern. The FDA should
never let political considerations interfere with scientific treatment
decisions.
Day-by-day, the public’s confidence in the FDA’s ability to make
Click Here to read the letter
The Nation's article Dr. Hager's Family Values is here : Despite his public moralizing on sexual matters, Hager, according to his former wife, Linda Carruth Davis, repeatedly sodomized her without her consent throughout the last seven years of their 32-year marriage, the article reports. The Nation editors note, "These serious allegations are relevant to the public role of the subject of the profile, who was appointed by President Bush to be a custodian of women's health." Currently, prominent members of the US Senate, including Hillary Clinton and Patty Murray, have held up Lester M. Crawford's nomination
as FDA director over the agency's handling of the Plan B decision. Dr. Hager is up for reappointment to the FDA committee on June 30.
Amanda at Pandagon says:Women's bodies belong to Dr. Hagar
When Bush appointed Dr. David Hagar to the FDA, pro-choicers and other people who consider the FDA's duty to judge the safety and effectiveness of drugs, not to control women's sexual behavior, raised the alarm. In his private practice, Dr. Hagar had a reputation for denying unmarried women the birth control pill, apparently because he seemed to think that he, not these women, should make their choices about premarital sex and contraception use...read on
Jesse asks has a follow up: DOOOOBSOOOOON!
To follow up on Amanda's post on the Bad Doctor Hagar, it honestly makes you wonder what would happen if you went onstage and told the Focus on the Family members what kind of scum they're being implored to pray for. I went ahead and asked them. I'll tell you if I find out anything.
Eschaton says:Dear Dr. Haber: I have long wondered how I could resolve my desire to have forced sodomy with my wife with my faith in Christ. It appears you have found the answer, though I have yet to hear from you how you've based this in scripture. Unlike you, I have not been blessed with a narcoleptic spouse, so sneaking it in while she's asleep may not be an option. As a doctor, could you perhaps suggest some God blessed pharmaceutical aid for my desires?
Jesus General says: Dr. Hager does for women what Dr. Frist did for cats.
We have to be the party of " NO" when it comes to insanity.
