Comments on: Past Surgeon General on Future Surgeon Generals

By: NYC Plastic Surgeon

NYC Plastic Surgeon — Sun, 16 May 2010 05:05:51 +0000

Good post. How long have you been running this site? I need to work on mine a bit!

By: Science-Based Medicine » Steven Higgs: Another antivaccine reporter like Dan Olmsted in the making?

Mon, 12 Apr 2010 04:04:21 +0000

[…] a study. In essence, Dr. Healy, despite her previous position as NIH director (a position she was arguably unqualified for), is not an authority on vaccines. In fact, if you want an idea of how far down the rabbit hole of […]

By: Trusted.MD Network

Trusted.MD Network — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 01:44:46 +0000

Laws of Internet Discussion: Announcing Orac’s Law…

Bernadine Healy, she of the career free of scientific accomplishment, has come out….as at best, an apologist for the anti-science, anti-vaccination crusaders. At worst, she is a card-carrying member of the Society to Promote Vaccine-Preventable Disea…

By: Don Cox

Don Cox — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 14:55:01 +0000

“Personally, I’d like to see qualified women in both jobs.”

You spoiled a good post by ending it with a political statement which contradicts the rest of the post. Appointments made on the basis of gender or race are political: they are not based on the medical expertise of the individual appointed.

By: EpiWonk

EpiWonk — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 02:06:35 +0000

I said, “If I wanted to discredit Healy…” I don’t.

Metta.

By: Please?!

Please?! — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 23:50:59 +0000

Duh, do you think political appointments might be political? And why don’t you go ahead and do a WHOLE post on Healy. W
What? Are you going to talk about how she was fired by the board of the American Red Cross after 9/11? There are plenty of
articles out there about how she was a scape goat for the board. So go ahead…put your money where your mouth is and fo
the WHOLE post.

By: EpiWonk

EpiWonk — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 17:53:17 +0000

If I really wanted to discredit Healy, I would do whole post on her. There’s no doubt that her appointment by Bush I was almost purely a political appointment, based on loyalty to the party. The same has been true of several surgeon generals since Koop. I’m hoping that neither Obama nor McCain make the same mistake. (Do you really think the official NIH bio is going to admit that she was unqualified?)

By: Please?!

Please?! — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 14:51:22 +0000

EpiWonk

Is this an article about how a President should select a surgeon general? Seems to me more like a weak attempt to discredit Bernadine Healy, former Director of the NIH.

From Dr. Healy’s bio at NIH Website,http://www.nlm.nih.gov/changingthefaceofmedicine/physicians/biography_145.html “She earned a reputation as a skilled cardiovascular researcher specializing in the pathology of heart attacks.”

A Director’s poison is an administrative role and such a high ranking position within the government should
filled by someone with vast administrative experience. In Dr. Healy’s case, in addition to working as a researcher, she
has filled the top position as the President of the American College of Cardiology, as well as serving as chairman of the Research Institute of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where she directed the research programs of nine departments, she also was deputy director
of the White House Office of Science and Policy…all of which were positions overseeing RESEARCH.

Why would you look for an opportunity to discredit Dr. Healy? Could it simply be because the dared question the science behind
the claim that our vaccine program has been proven safe?

By: isles

isles — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 03:47:11 +0000

If only we knew what floats Healy’s boat. Obviously it’s not scientific merit, or she wouldn’t be running her mouth about how vaccines are scary. What did the likes of this Handley do to groom her? Suck up to her ego? Tell her weepy stories about those meeeeean scientists (against whom she’s probably always harbored resentment) and how they are so darn picky about this thing they call evidence? Send her chocolate?

I’d willingly buy her some Godiva if that’s all it would take.

By: andrea

andrea — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:37:15 +0000

Hooray, Epiwonk yet lives! Man, that was one bitchin’ case of bronchitis you had.

Fine, so YOU take the helm now; I’m working 60-hour weeks and have had this Whatever for four weeks now. (Either I’ve developed allergies that give me intermittent low-grade fever, or I’ve a virus that’s lasted a month. Or maybe both. I’m around students all day long, so who knows?) Plus, I just tried to step on the wrong side of my foot, again. Time to pull out the elastic wrap and cane, again. Feh.

Oh, and YES, We Need More Scientists In Government.
andrea