Dr. Cranford/A powerful antidote to lunacy (Star Tribune)

[katinmn]

You must see the final paragraph. Star Tribune nails it. :thumbsup:

An aside: I'm attending the American Academy of Neurology annual meeting next month for work. I hope Cranford gets lots of support from his colleagues there. He sure deserves it for defending the medical profession, science and ethics.

http://www.startribune.com/stories/1519/5321661.html
Editorial: Dr. Cranford/A powerful antidote to lunacy
March 31, 2005 ED0331A

In a column this week, the New York Times' Paul Krugman mused about the dangers inherent in the rise of religious extremism in the United States. Increasingly, he said, the Christian right wing is willing to bend the law, ignore the spirit of the law, rewrite the law and ultimately reinterpret the law by packing the court with fellow travelers. All this in order to impose upon the nation an extremist religious ethic that looks more Iranian than American.

You've seen this play out over the past few weeks in lurid, 24/7 coverage of federal meddling in the Terri Schiavo case. It's also affecting the classroom as more teachers come under pressure to teach "intelligent design" as a counter to evolution science. And it is coming soon to the U.S. Senate in the form of a Republican effort to prohibit filibusters against the most radical of President Bush's federal court nominees.

Now the Washington Post reports that increasing numbers of pharmacists, citing their conservative religious preferences, are refusing to fill physicians' prescriptions for birth control and morning-after pills. They thus overrule the wisdom of federal and state authorities who have decided these drugs should be legally available. They also reject the professional wisdom, not to mention legal authority, of the prescribing physician. In many states (including Minnesota), they also violate state law, although perhaps not for long: So-called "conscientious objector" statutes are popping up increasingly in state legislatures to give pharmacists an explicit right of refusal, on moral grounds, to dispense a medicine.

-snip-
As we said, it wasn't pretty. But someone has got to do this -- or rather a lot of someones have got to do this on a lot of topics. It's not pleasant, either, as Cranford could tell you. But it is absolutely critical that learned people stand up to the know-nothings and charlatans who are waging war on law and reason and science and medicine in the United States.

[ztn]

1. The right will never get it.

As these same people call on moderates in the middle east to guide the culture towards sanity, they refuse to listen to their own advice when their extremist mentality is brought into question.

They are also the ones wanting to stamp out religious extremists in other countries in "just wars". Psychologists call this animosity "projection". They might have a point!

Like I said, the right will never get it.

[patdem]

2. Great article...will you report back if Cranford gets any praise?

Seems the Schaivo case should make your meeting VERY interesting!

[katinmn]

4. Yes, I hope I get to talk with him

He's from MN and I've spoken with him on the phone previously when the feeding tube was reinserted last October.

BTW, the AAN staff office in St. Paul received a threat this week from some moran. Now the place is in lockdown and they have a full-time police officer on duty. Everyone needs to leave by 6 p.m.

It's expected there will be some protestors at the scientific meeting. I hope they don't do anything foolish.

[BiggJawn]

3. "Know-nothings and Charlatans"

Describes the Indiana General Assembly and most our Federal Congress-Critters (Buyer, Hostettler, et al.)to a "Tee"...