Former Surgeon General Says Administration Censored Him

President Bush's choice as the next Surgeon General will face a Senate committee tomorrow. Meantime, his predecessor has told a House panel that Administration officials tried to weaken or suppress public health reports because of political considerations. Dr. Richard Carmona, who won two purple hearts in Vietnam and led the SWAT team in Pima County, Arizona before serving as US Surgeon General from 2002 to 2006. Carmona, who was not reappointed, told Congress yesterday that he faced more political interference that the six doctors who preceded him. Mary Agnes Carey is Associate Editor for the HealthBeat at Congressional Quarterly.