Free Republic

The nominee in question is not just any doctor. James Holsinger is also one of America’s most prominent United Methodists, a former president of that denomination’s Judicial Council and one of the leaders of the Confessing Movement renewal organization. That means he’s conservative, particularly with regard to sexuality issues. For many gay rights groups, that means he’s radioactive: President Bush’s nominee for surgeon general, Kentucky cardiologist Dr. James Holsinger, has come under fire from gay rights groups for, among other things, voting to expel a lesbian pastor from the United Methodist Church and writing in 1991 that gay sex is...

Lexington (AP) -- President Bush's nominee for surgeon general, Kentucky cardiologist Dr. James Holsinger, has come under fire from gay rights groups for voting to expel a lesbian pastor from the United Methodist Church and writing in 1991 that gay sex is unnatural and unhealthy. Also, Holsinger helped found a Methodist congregation that, according to gay rights activists, believes homosexuality is a matter of choice and can be "cured." "He has a pretty clear bias against gays and lesbians," said Christina Gilgor, director of the Kentucky Fairness Alliance, a gay rights group. "This ideology flies in the face of current...

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- New Surgeon General nominee James Holsinger had his named announced as the candidate to be America's top doctor just days ago. But Planned Parenthood, the leading abortion business in the nation, is already lobbying him to side with its pro-abortion agenda. Holsinger is an accomplished physician who has led one of the nation's largest healthcare systems in Kentucky and the University of Kentucky's medical center. He also has taught at several American medical schools, and he served more than three decades in the United States Army Reserve, retiring in 1993 as a Major General. In nominating...

The surgeon general hypes the hazards of secondhand smoke.According to Surgeon General Richard Carmona, secondhand smoke is so dangerous that you'd be better off if you stopped going to smoky bars and started smoking instead. "Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke," claims the press release that accompanied his new report on the subject, "has immediate adverse effects on the cardiovascular system and increases risk for heart disease and lung cancer." Among smokers, these diseases take many years to develop. So if you got your health tips from the surgeon general, you'd start smoking a pack a day as a protective...

“Secondhand smoke debate ‘over.” That’s the message from the Surgeon General’s office, delivered by a sycophantic media. The claim is that the science has now overwhelmingly proved that smoke from others’ cigarettes can kill you. Actually, “debate over” simply means: “If you have your doubts, shut up!” But you definitely should have doubts over the new Surgeon General’s report, a massive 727-page door stop. Like many massive reports on controversial issues, it’s probably designed that way so nobody (especially reporters on deadline) will want to or have time to read beyond the executive summary. That includes me; if I had...

I don't know how many operations I performed in my surgical career. I know that I performed 17,000 of one particular type, and 7,000 of another. I practiced surgery for thirty-nine years, so perhaps I performed 50,000 operations. I was successful, and patients were coming to me from all over the world. And one of the things that endeared me to the parents of my patients was the way my incisions healed. No one likes big scars, but they are especially upsetting to mothers when they appear on their children. So I set out early on to make my...

Surgeon General Calls on Americans to Face Facts About Drinking; Transportation Safety Leaders Join Alcohol Research, Prevention, and Treatment Leaders to Recommend Screenings on April 8, National Alcohol Screening Day 4/1/2004 12:23:00 PM -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To: National Desk Contact: National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 301-443-3860, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 301-443-8956 WASHINGTON, April 1 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, M.D., M.P.H., F.A.C.S., today called on American adults who drink alcohol to participate in free screenings to be offered April 8 at more than 5000 sites nationwide. The "Alcohol and Your Health-Where Do You...

A London accountant has described how Pakistan's disgraced nuclear hero Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan visited the West African state of Mali on three occasions between 1998 and 2000. Abdul Ma'bood Siddiqui accompanied A.Q. Khan on three mystery trips  between 1998 and 2000. Their final destination was Timbuktu, a remote outpost in the desert that has always been a magnet for explorers and adventurers from around the world. The mystery behind the visits has deepened following recent revelations that Khan is also the owner of a small hotel in the town that he has named after Hendrina, his Dutch-born wife and...

Lying in the name of public health A recent study by researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the most popular brands of smokeless tobacco in this country are the ones with the highest levels of readily absorbed nicotine. For the researchers, the finding was an opportunity to once again mislead the public about the hazards of oral snuff. "Consumers need to know that smokeless tobacco products...are not safe alternatives to smoking," said co-author Patricia Richter of the CDC's Office on Smoking and Health. "The amount of nicotine absorbed per dose from using smokeless tobacco...

<p>The Army is trying to figure out what is causing a rash of serious pneumonia cases, including two fatalities, among soldiers serving in Iraq.</p> <p>A six-person team of specialists was en route to Iraq Friday to investigate 14 cases of pneumonia serious enough that the soldiers had to be put on ventilators to breathe and evacuated from the region, the Army Surgeon General's office said Friday.</p>

WASHINGTON -- Surgeon General Richard Carmona said Tuesday that he supports the banning of tobacco products -- the first time that the government's top doctor and public health advocate has made such a strong statement about the historically contentious subject. Testifying at a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing on smokeless tobacco and "reduced risk" tobacco products, Carmona was asked whether he would "support the abolition of all tobacco products." "I would at this point, yes," he replied

(CNSNews.com) - A federal jury in Providence, R.I., ruled in favor of Philip Morris U.S.A. in a case brought by the family of a Rhode Island smoker. Judith Hyde sued for compensatory damages for her husband Walter's death, because she said the company did not warn him of the possible health hazards when he started smoking in 1959, his teen years. "The jury concluded that there was widespread common knowledge of the health hazards of smoking even before the Surgeon General's warning was put on cigarette packages," said William S. Ohlemeyer, vice president and associate general counsel for Philip Morris...