In this past week's This Week w/ George S, we had the following exchange
while Frist was defending various abstinence only sex ed programs:
S: You're a doctor. Do you believe that tears and sweat can
transmit HIV?
F: I don't know. I can tell you --
S: You don't know?
F: I can tell you things like, like --
S: Wait, wait. Let me stop you there. You don't know that? You
believe that tears and sweat might be able to transmit AIDS?
F: I can tell you that HIV is not very transmissible as an element -- like
compared to smallpox -- compared to the flu, it's not.
I thought it was pretty sad that any doctor would be so poorly-informed
regarding HIV--according to the CDC, while HIV has been detected in tears and
saliva, it has been in extremely minute quantities--far below the threshold
believed to be required to be infected. And HIV has never been detected in
sweat.
LiberalOasis even went so far as to suggest that
Frist's
performance violated AMA code of ethics, grounds for having his license
suspended.
(The link also has a more complete transcript of the exchange; towards the end of the program, Stephanopolis comes back to the topic and Frist allows that the chances of getting HIV from sweat or tears is small.)
I posted my misgivings on a local board. I live in Alabama, so you have an
idea of the replies I got. "What's wrong with Frist saying he doesn't know?" and
the like. George S was playing Gotcha, yada yada yada.
Well, as they say here in Alabama, that dog just won't hunt.
To begin with, he's a doctor. And that's a major part of his political
image--if you go to his website it says right at the top: Bill Frist, M.D. While
being a doctor does not make one omniscient, it should make one at least
conversant in the basics of one of the more infamous diseases of our age.
And that would be the case for any doctor.
Hell, it took about five minutes to get information from the CDC. I'll even
go out on a limb and suggest that Stephanapolis had the information, and that's
why he kept coming back to it.
Frist, however, isn't just any doctor. Prior to becoming the majority leader,
was chair of the Senate Subcommittee on Public Health. And, oh yes, since 2001
he has been Co-Chairman, CSIS Task Force on Strengthening US Leadership on
HIV/AIDS. It seems to me that a fundamental part of being a leader in the
fight against AIDS, is knowing something about it.
He was more interested in not stepping on the party line regarding sex
education than he was in providing clear, accurate medical information.
In short, yes, he damn well should have been able to provide a more informed
answer than he managed.