Friday, May 13, 2005

Ayelish McGarvey: Dr. Hager's Family Values

(Another of Lexington's finest...)

Dr. Hager's Family Values
by Ayelish McGarvey
The Nation reposted at AlterNet

As a Bush-appointed adviser to the FDA, Dr. David Hager plays a key role in women's health policy. Allegations that he abused his former wife call into question his fitness for the job.

In a special investigation published by The Nation, reporter Ayelish McGarvey profiles FDA adviser Dr. W. David Hager, who played an instrumental role in blocking the availability of the "Plan B" morning-after pill for moral reasons, and who is accused of sexually abusing his former wife.

Hager is a prominent, socially conservative Ob-Gyn and a Bush Administration appointee to the FDA's Advisory Committee on Reproductive Health Drugs. The article reveals that Hager wielded crucial influence behind the scenes of the FDA's highly controversial 2004 decision to prohibit the sale of Plan B over the counter. According to Hager, he authored a "minority opinion" that was read by the FDA commissioner and used in the ruling against Plan B. Yesterday's Washington Post carried an article about this previously undisclosed maneuver by Hager that was first reported in The Nation. Additionally, Senators Hillary Clinton and Patty Murray called on Health and Human Service Secretary Michael Leavitt to investigate Hager's actions.

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."

Entire Article

Also:

No Faith in Science

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