Ab-Only Debacle Continues At CDC

A minor note to add to previous posts: Jackie Jadrnak’s blog for the Albuquerque Journal included an interesting bit of news today. You’ll recall that recently politicians overrode the scientific peer-review process and censored a panel on abstinence-only education at a conference focused on sexually transmitted infections. Supposedly, Centers for Disease Control spokesperson Mark Skinner told Jackie that in light of the “conflict”, the CDC would revisit its policy of using a peer-review process to accept papers and panelists for future conferences.

If scientists and doctors are no longer qualified to formulate discussions on science and medicine, who is? The politicians who censored this most recent panel? Could the CDC be serious?

Considering that the heat has been on CDC for bowing to political pressure and failing to be faithful to its medical mission, one would think they’d be affirming the peer-review process as the best way to avoid such conflict in the future. Apparently not.

A minor note to add to previous posts: Jackie Jadrnak’s blog for the Albuquerque Journal included an interesting bit of news today. You’ll recall that recently politicians overrode the scientific peer-review process and censored a panel on abstinence-only education at a conference focused on sexually transmitted infections. Supposedly, Centers for Disease Control spokesperson Mark Skinner told Jackie that in light of the “conflict”, the CDC would revisit its policy of using a peer-review process to accept papers and panelists for future conferences.

If scientists and doctors are no longer qualified to formulate discussions on science and medicine, who is? The politicians who censored this most recent panel? Could the CDC be serious?

Considering that the heat has been on CDC for bowing to political pressure and failing to be faithful to its medical mission, one would think they’d be affirming the peer-review process as the best way to avoid such conflict in the future. Apparently not.