Bush Officials Tout Credentials of Anti- Contraception Appointee Who Lacks Certification
Bush Officials Tout Credentials of Anti- Contraception Appointee Who Lacks Certification
Last week, the Bush administration quietly appointed Eric Keroack to oversee federal family-planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services. Keroack is a nationally known advocate of abstinence until marriage who has worked for a Christian pregnancy counseling group that opposes contraception.
To defend Keroack, the administration has repeatedly referred to his professional experience as a doctor:
An HHS spokeswoman said Keroack is a skilled doctor and a nationally recognized expert on preventing teenage pregnancy. “We have confidence that he’ll perform his duties effectively and in accordance with the law,” HHS spokeswoman Christina Pearson said by e-mail.
John O. Agwunobi, assistant secretary for health, said Keroack “is highly qualified and a well-respected physician…working primarily with women and girls in crisis.”
In fact, Keroack is not a board-certified physician. Buried at the bottom of an article in today’s Washington Post:
[HHS spokeswoman Christina] Pearson also acknowledged yesterday that Keroack is not currently certified as an obstetrician-gynecologist. That is not a requirement for the job, but HHS officials had cited Keroack’s expertise in defending his selection.
Keroack was certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1995, but that credential expired after 10 years.
“He inadvertently missed the recertification deadline and for 2006 is listed as board-eligible, meaning he is eligible to take the recertification exam,” Pearson said. “He plans to seek recertification in the future.”
Incoming Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA), and 12 other senators sent a letter to HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt yesterday urging him to withdraw Keroack’s appointment. “Unfortunately, this appointment is another example of the administration allowing ideology to trump science, and it could jeopardize vital services on which large numbers of women and families depend,” the letter said. (See the letter here.)
More at Feministing.
UPDATE: The title was updated to reflect the fact that Keroack is still a doctor who is not certified.
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68 Responses to “Bush Officials Tout Credentials of Anti- Contraception Appointee Who Lacks Certification”
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Is this really any different than appointing a show horse judge to head FEMA? I expect nothing more from this incompetent administration.
November 22nd, 2006 at 2:58 pmHow nice of this dangerous administration to pull yet another fast one on the American public.
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:02 pmAmerica’s Least Wanted
President Bush has already declared Keroack’s mission accomplished and has stated that Keroack has done a heck of a job. Keroack was also given the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:10 pmCan’t you just smell the bipartisanship coming from the White House? Oh, wait, that’s not bipartisanship…that’s hypocrasy.
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:14 pmI read your blog regularly and generally agree with its contents, but this news piece’s title is totally false. I am not in any way defending the choice of this appointee, but from the information you’ve provided, he is a physician. Board certification represents additional certification above and beyond having a valid medical license. In fact, the 10 year term for recertification is not that old a regulation. It came into effect some 15 or so years ago. Before then, take the exam once and you’re certified for life, which means virtually all physicians who took board exams in the 1980s or earlier have never reappeard for their boards. On the other hand, many physicians practicing in the US today are not board certified, because it is not a requirement to practice medicine. Now perhaps it should be a requirement for this government post–but it does not mean he is not a doctor.
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:17 pmBut Bush IS being bipartisan. As usual, the two parties invited are: (1) Bush and (2) crazy neo-cons with no grasp of reality. See? bipartisan.
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:18 pmDo you think that they sit around and wonder who the WORST person they could possibly think of to appoint is, then go ahead and do it? I mean, really. Part of this guy’s job is to promote safe sex and he’s put out pamphlets that say that condoms don’t protect against HPV and HIV, etc.
What a miserable failure this administration’s turned out to be.
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:19 pm“We have confidence that he’ll perform his duties effectively and in accordance with the law,â€
its very revealing that they feel compelled to pre-defend that their nominee will perform their duties according to the law - you would sort of like to be able to assume that. But with republicans its not as if so many right wingers such as the likes of keroack aren’t predisposed to lawlessness when it comes to reproductive rights. perhaps even they know something already that they’re hiding.
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:24 pm.
Patrick, I tend to agree that this is somewhat misleading, but the bigger point may be that the BushovelersofShit should maybe have vetted this clown and held off the nominating until he got certs>?
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:28 pmPatrick is correct. Keroack is a doctor. He is no longer board certified. Being board certified is NOT a requirement to practice as a doctor.
There are many good reasons to object to this selection. Dont undermine them by giving a false one for defenders to shoot down.
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:35 pmThanks for the comment patrick (#5), et al. I’ve changed the title to make it a more accurate reflection of Keroack’s situation.
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:37 pmPatrick,
As a pharmacist, I have to renew my license every 2 years via continuing education. If I fail to renew, I am no longer a practicing pharmacist. Thus my credentials would state “that I was a pharmacist, not that I am a pharmacist. Don’t know if this pertains to licensed doctors, but I do feel the propaganda for Keroake from the administration is misleading
Also, I really don’t agree with his study from 2001:
In the 2001 paper for Abstinence Medical Council that he co authored with Diggs, the two doctors concluded: “People who have misused their sexual faculty and become bonded to multiple persons will diminish the power of oxytocin to maintain a permanent bond with an individual. . . . Just as in heroin addiction . . . the person involved will experience ’sex withdrawal’ and will need to move on to a . . . new sex playmate.
Now, being sexually active since 17 and having numerous partners (not going to reveal how many), one would conclude that I must have a rotten marriage void of monogomy. I take offense to that particular thinking. I’ve had a great 10 years of marriage, and look forward to the many decades to come with my wife!
And one more point, never in my pre marriage sexual activities did I experience the ’sex withdrawal’ and a need to move on syndrome. All I ever wanted was a NAP!
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:43 pmA Correction and an Apology are in order.
I don’t like having to spend my time correcting the accuracy of posts. It’s like, I used to read the new york times and often needed to send letters to the editor to correct this or that glaring misrepresentation or omission; eventually, you decide to look elsewhere for the news. The blogs have been a breath of fresh air, and the typical behavior described above is what has made sites like this viable, because it has attracted the disaffected.
So the title of this post is “Bush Officials Tout Doctor Credentials of Anti-Contraception Appointee Who Isn’t A Doctor” (emphasis is mine). Conclusion to be drawn? The government is lying. Argument: (1) the Government is telling the public that their choice for this position is qualified because he is a wonderful doctor, (2) he “Isn’t a Doctor”, therefore (3) we should all be angry that we’re being lied to, yet again, and this appointment should be a vigorously decried.
Now, as I always say, there is enough malfeasance and dumbshittery coming out of this administration on a daily basis, that there is no need to make shit up. The truth is stranger than fiction. But your own post undermines your claim. You clearly write:
As your post makes plain, the man IS A DOCTOR. The fact that he did not do what was required to be recertified by a particular Board for a particular specialty, this year, does not remove him from the class of Doctors. Even if you never seeks recertification again, he is still a doctor entitled to practice medicine in the United States.
The error is insulting. I request a correction.
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:49 pmOh. I see I’m not the first to note the error and I see the author has agreed to amend the caption.
November 22nd, 2006 at 3:52 pmThanks TP!
Bush does not intend to change anything in his approach to appointments, agendas, or accountability. As far as he and his far right cronies are concerned, the election results are merely a temporary setback to their plans. They will not compromise, they will not bargin, they will not listen. They fully expect to continue their “new†vision in two years. That’s the scary message of this latest nonsense.
November 22nd, 2006 at 4:11 pmThe man is a doctor…but he’s also an ignorant asshole.
November 22nd, 2006 at 4:15 pmWhen dealing with a crime family and thugs, the only thing that matters is loyalty to the family.
November 22nd, 2006 at 4:16 pmOh. I see I’m not the first to note the error…
Comment by Eskwaya — November 22, 2006 @ 3:52 pm
Yea, and with far fewer words and way less condescension…
November 22nd, 2006 at 4:19 pmLets see, recently reported that 4 out 10 babies are born out of wedlock. Abstinence only sex ed is a f*cking joke!!
November 22nd, 2006 at 4:23 pmTime for impeachment.
November 22nd, 2006 at 4:27 pmbuzzbomb,
Having a baby in a marriage or outside of a marriage has nothing to do with abstinence. It just proves that more people are living together than getting married.
Abstinence does nothing to but cause pent up republicans to act like a’holes as has been proven here everyday since I started posting.
November 22nd, 2006 at 4:30 pmIt always amazes me that TPers get their knickers in a bunch when Bush appoints someone who shares his values. What do you expect him to do, appoint the head of NOW?
November 22nd, 2006 at 4:30 pmCynicon, our knickers get in a bunch when a federal appointee may not follow the law.
November 22nd, 2006 at 4:36 pmJack, what law has he not followed in the past that would lead you to conclude he would do so again in the future?
November 22nd, 2006 at 4:46 pmFrom the link to The Boston Globe:
Keroack said teenage sexual activity blunts the brain’s ability to develop emotional relationships. Comparing sex to drug use, he said the hormone produced by the brain after orgasm, oxytocin, will eventually diminish a person’s ability to form emotional attachments. Keroack said premarital sex can lead to overproduction of oxytocin.
I would like to see any study that backs up these statements. This is the first time I know of anyone claiming that teenage sex will lead to a diminished capacity for emotional attachment later in life.
Obviously, these are wild claims fueled by Keroack’s own prejudices, they play on people’s fears (conservatives are very good at it), and they beg many questions, such as: Why would pre-marital sex lead to “overproduction” of oxycotin? Does post-marital sex also lead to the same “overproduction”? If not, why not?
Also, are divorced people unable to form new emotional relationshihps? What about marriages of yore, when people got married when they were still in their teens -were they not forming lasting emotional relationships? Is kissing, caressing, and touching not “sexual activity”? If so, should we prevent minors from engaging in foreplay (intercourse or not)?
November 22nd, 2006 at 4:57 pmIs kissing, caressing, and touching not “sexual activity�
Well, Gregor, not according to Billy blowj*b
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:03 pm#26
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:07 pmWell, Cynicon, not according to Crystal Meth induced man love Haggard.
What’s you point?
Also, are divorced people unable to form new emotional relationshihps?
Comment by Gregor Samsa
What about divorced people who have no intention of getting married again?
How about a Department of Mind Your Own Business?
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:14 pmDoes post-marital sex also lead to the same “overproduction�
Comment by Gregor Samsa — November 22, 2006 @ 4:57 pm
Isn’t post-marital sex an oxymoron? (HA!)
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:17 pmDRxJ,
I think Cynicon had no point.
Zooey,
If the Department question is addressed to me -sorry, I din’t mean to step on your toes. It wa a rhetorical question meant to show the idiocy in Kerouack’s position.
If it’s a question for the self-appointed gatekeepers of morality, then I agree with you. Wholeheartedly.
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:20 pmIf it’s a question for the self-appointed gatekeepers of morality, then I agree with you. Wholeheartedly.
Comment by Gregor Samsa
That’s the one, Gregor. My toes are un-trodden…
Another general question: What is with these people? Why is sex so icky to them? If their god didn’t want them to have sex, why didn’t go make them replicate asexually? People do a lot of things that are immoral — consentual sex isn’t one of them.
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:28 pmIsn’t post-marital sex an oxymoron? (HA!)
Comment by DRxJ
See why so many divorced people don’t get married again? :)
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:29 pmAnother general question: What is with these people? Why is sex so icky to them? If their god didn’t want them to have sex, why didn’t go make them replicate asexually? People do a lot of things that are immoral — consentual sex isn’t one of them.
Comment by Zooey
They don’t think that sex is icky or that god doesn’t want them to have sex, they just are just arguing over the best way to lower the teenage pregnancy rate. I don’t happen to agree with them either, but they’re not sexophobes.
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:45 pmI don’t happen to agree with them either, but they’re not sexophobes.
Comment by Cynicon Implant
Sorry, I can’t agree with that.
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:48 pmThis is weak TP. There are better examples than this for Bushevik and Republican fascism…
But I keep on humming…”Every sperm is sacred, every sperm is good…”
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:49 pmIf their god didn’t want them to have sex, why didn’t go make them replicate asexually?
Comment by Zooey — November 22, 2006 @ 5:28 pm
Zooey, as a Christian, this is one area where I struggle. Now, believe me, there is nothing more fulfilling than “becoming one” with someone you love, someone that you’ve made a committment to. But if pre-marital sex is such a sin, why did God create men’s bodies to regularly “release” its contents, thru sexual encounters, masturbation, and “wet dreams”. Our bodies recycle sperm so the strong can survive, to “swim the fastest” to their final destination, usually the tip end of the condom (HA!). Seriously, though, I’m all for monogomy, and marriage, and I don’t condone teen-agers experimenting, but I really don’t see pre-marital sex as adultery (that’s more of a possession thing)
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:50 pmAh well, I’m sure we’ll hear from St.Daryll shortly
This is not news. Since when does Bush consider qualifications before making appointments? Bush has put dangerously unqualified people in places where the health and well being of others is at stake, and he defiantly continues to do so.
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:50 pmWhat is with these people? Why is sex so icky to them?
Comment by Zooey — November 22, 2006 @ 5:28 pm
They are control freaks. I think they derive a lot of pleasure out of knowing they control something as personal as someone else’s sexuality.
I don’t think they believe sex is necessarily icky; just the sex they don’t approve of, for whatever reason.
If their god didn’t want them to have sex, why didn’t go make them replicate asexually?
You’d think this argument would be straightforward: Asking people not to use what god gave them is nonsense. But then, if these control freaks had it their way, people wouldn’t be allowed to use their brains, either.
November 22nd, 2006 at 5:57 pmAh well, I’m sure we’ll hear from St.Daryll shortly
Comment by DRxJ
I really am looking forward to Daryll’s arrival.
Thanks, DRxJ, I hope I didn’t offend you. We are sexual beings, our bodies just work that way, and these fearful ninnies are just being stupid. Teenagers experimenting, no, not a good idea, but we must be aware that our children are capable of surprising the crap out of us. The price of one (or two) monumentally bad decisions shouldn’t be pregnancy, HIV, or an STD.
Teens need more knowledge, not less. Then they will hopefully become adults with brains, and will manage their sex lives in a more sensible manner. Nothing is guaranteed, of course.
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:08 pmThanks to you also, Gregor.
Control freaks - that makes a lot of sense - to them anyway.
This country would be a lot better off if (1) people could learn to mind their own business, and (2) if we had less violence, and more (adult/consensual) sex. :)
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:11 pmZooey, of course you didn’t offend me. I’m capable of think objectively about almost everything, including my faith. I will not blindly follow, that’s for sure. I do get a little peeved when I’m attacked for Christianity, but with the pseudo-Christians that ran the show for awhile, I do understand the hatred.
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:17 pmWell, I’m outta here! Time to spend the weekend with the family!
Happy Thanksgiving to ALL (Left, Right, and the Middle)!
Cya Monday!
Have a happy turkey day, DRxJ!
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:21 pmThe Repugs may not be sexophobes, but they definitely have problems with sexuality. That’s why they have people like Ted Haggard denouncing homosexuality while seeking out a gay escort himself. Also, we have yet to find out how and why Jeff Gannon/James Guckert, a man who was advertising his $200/hour services on the Internet, was getting into the White House, which was pushing for a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, even before he managed to acquire “press credentials” from a Texas GOP website that wasn’t recognized as a proper media organization even by the Republican-controlled Congress.
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:27 pmDid Bush practice abstinence before marrying Laura? Do his daughters practice abstinence? And wasn’t one of Jeb Bush’s sons caught having sex in a public place?
German chancellor Angela Merkel said ahead of the election the sales tax will be lifted by 3%. She won 2005 by a margin of 0.8%. She lifted the sales tax afterwards. The numbers are out. Consumer spending in Germany will be reduced by 25.000.000.000 Euros. Germanys economy will grow next year only by 1%.
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:29 pmwhy didn’t go(d) make them replicate asexually?
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:43 pmEEEwww. Zooey, that’s even ickier!
ccoaler? Are yew on the write post?
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:45 pmThe price of one (or two) monumentally bad decisions shouldn’t be pregnancy, HIV, or an STD.
Comment by Zooey — November 22, 2006 @ 6:08 pm
Or death, after contracting HIV. See, the conservative stance of not giving teens appropriate sex education is potentially lethal. Conservatives don’t seem to get past the moral-dentered mind set, and understand this is a public health issue.
Teens need more knowledge, not less.
Can you imagine if approached other subjects they way these freaks want to teach sexuality? How would you like it if aspects of -say- math or physics were described as bad, immoral, or evil? Or how about not teaching high schoolers how the eyes work because “who knows what kids might do with that information”? It’s nonsense.
We all need accurate information, so we can make decisions to live our lives. We need to know how the world around us works. The more information, the better.
Nothing is guaranteed, of course.
Sure, but at least you tried -right?
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:46 pmwhy didn’t go(d) make them replicate asexually?
EEEwww. Zooey, that’s even ickier!
Comment by RUCerious
I didn’t say I thought it was a good idea. :)
I am a fan of icky, though.
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:49 pmSure, but at least you tried -right?
Comment by Gregor Samsa
Yep, it’s the best we can do. It’s nonsensical the way these people approach life.
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:53 pmBoard certification represents additional certification above and beyond having a valid medical license. In fact, the 10 year term for recertification is not that old a regulation.
-patrick
My father is a 65 year old G.P. (family doc) and everyone in his practice is board certified and every doctor we know is board certified. With the pace of changes in medicine it really is a necessity and not an option. That we might nominate a physician that isn’t board certified to one of the top gov’t health appointments in the land is unacceptable.
November 22nd, 2006 at 6:56 pmHey Yo, what up homies,
Maintaining a certification or a license when no longer practicing is a pain in the ass. The credentials’ primary function is to protect the patient. Whan a doctor or clinician is in an administrative capacity, they don’t necessarily need the credential. However, the required continuing education is the thing that Eric Keroack will not have. But now that he is in the Bush admin, continuing education is banned.
November 22nd, 2006 at 7:05 pmOh and another thing,
The guy is a lunatic whether he is certified or not. He wishes he could have lots of sex…
November 22nd, 2006 at 7:06 pmHe wishes he could have lots of sex…
Comment by ForTruth
It would probably do him some good….
November 22nd, 2006 at 7:17 pmMy father is a 65 year old G.P. (family doc) and everyone in his practice is board certified and every doctor we know is board certified. With the pace of changes in medicine it really is a necessity and not an option. That we might nominate a physician that isn’t board certified to one of the top gov’t health appointments in the land is unacceptable.
-Thorstein Veblen
Not disagreement with the importance of board certification for practicing physicians, but that was not my point above. It was to clarify that lack of board certification does not imply one is no longer a licensed physician. As ‘ForTruth’ says, many physicians in administrative positions let their certification lapse–unless they are over age 50, in which case, they don’t need to be recertified since it does not expire for them.
Your sampling of ‘every doctor we know’ does not represent a true sample of all physicians out there. There are many, many non-board certified physicians who provide quality care.
November 22nd, 2006 at 7:49 pmLet me offer another thought. Perhaps the good doctor took his recertification exam in 2005 but failed. He then applied to try and
recertify again, therefore he is Board Eligible. Most medical specialty boards do not make public whether a person has tried and failed certification. In their minds physicians are Board Certified, not Board Certified (meaning they have not passed and are not in the process of certifying), or Board Eligible (waiting to take the exam).
If this is the case, no way would he say he failed recertification but that he merely “forgot” or let lapse his certification.
November 22nd, 2006 at 7:52 pmIt would probably do him some good….
Comment by Zooey — November 22, 2006 @ 7:17 pm
Nah… IF he could get it up, it would just be over in 2 minutes and he’d feel equally inadequate as a man who hates women but believes his god hates gays - and guilty for two weeks afterward for being all sexual - making him even more cranky… :D
November 22nd, 2006 at 8:23 pmmaking him even more cranky… :D
Comment by unbelievable
Pessimist…
November 22nd, 2006 at 9:13 pmPessimist…
Comment by Zooey — November 22, 2006 @ 9:13 pm
You mean Realist… :)
November 22nd, 2006 at 9:45 pmHis lack of and updated Board Certification in his medical specialty is not a big deal and not an issue at all, IMO, particularly if he’s not treating patients. What IS important is his personal beliefs on family planning and birth control, particularly since he has in the past pushed these beliefs on other people in his professional capacity. In other words, I don’t care at all about his board certification. I do care that he doesn’t believe in birth control.
November 22nd, 2006 at 10:05 pmThe corruption keeps on coming.
November 22nd, 2006 at 11:16 pmBeing board certified or not is irrelevant to whether or not this person is also either an idiot or a christofascist or both. Religious stupidity has been proven to be independent of otherwise intelligence again and again. Physicians, astronomers, physicists, poets, mathematicians, etc; none are immune to being also an idiot. Don’t be confused.
November 23rd, 2006 at 2:54 amJust remember, when abortion is outlawed, only rich unexpected expecting good Christian women will take expected unexpecting vacations to Mexico.
All the po folks can just go back to the dark, dangerous alley, like they did in the 50’s. If they don’t come back out, then it must be God’s will.
Care for another round of more Jesus juice? Drink up!
November 23rd, 2006 at 7:14 amAn HHS spokeswoman said Keroack is a skilled doctor and a nationally recognized expert on preventing teenage pregnancy. “We have confidence that he’ll perform his duties effectively and in accordance with the law,â€
“[H]e’ll perform his duties…within the law” is interesting new qualifying territory for Republican appointies (sp). We’ll just need to watch and see if this unsupported premenition will prove to be true or untrue?
November 23rd, 2006 at 1:03 pmIdeology trumps science again. It is par for the course in the Bush mal-Administration.
Keroack is a crackpot. By putting him in charge of family planning, Bush effectively insured that the health and the life of millions of poor women will be endangered.
Bush has clearly not been chastened by the results of the mid-term elections. His first moves? Re-nominate Bolton, re-nominate four ultra-right wingers for judgeship (one of them found “not qualified” by the ABA), and now nominating a religious crackpot to head family planning.
I predict that his stubborness and his defiance will backfire big time for the GOP.
November 24th, 2006 at 8:14 amI don’t care if he’s board certified or plain certifiable!
BushCo would nominate an Orthodox Jew or Muslim to head the Whitehouse BBQ if he could!
Get in there and marinate them pork ribs real good…
November 24th, 2006 at 2:00 pmGive me a freaking break, Doc Keroack. It takes a HUGE effort to “inadvertantly” overlook getting recertified. At least it would be in my discipline, internal medicine, and I would doubt a surgical specialty would be any different. It’s not just forgetting to send in a few bucks and an application. For internal medicine recert’s a ten year process of education modules and testing, Q/A and other surveys, culminating in a big exam. The dude probably decided it would be too much of an effort and blew it off.
Inadvertantly. Yeah, right. That’s the byword of the right. Shit happens. They’re never responsible.
Excuse me while I upchuck.
December 1st, 2006 at 7:29 am[…] Bush to oversee federal family planning programs, has resigned. Keroack was a nationally known advocate of abstinence until marriage who had worked for a Christian pregnancy counseling group that opposes contraception. Planned […]
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