Women on the verge

Certainly the news regarding the Justice Department purge of diligent US Attorneys is dominating domestic headlines, which is why I missed this charming little item from a couple of days ago.

After Susan Wood resigned from the FDA after its political reticence in approving over-the-counter emergency contraception, the so-called Plan B, her post at the Office of Women's Health seemed about to be filled by the appointment of Norris Alderson, a man with no known experience in field of women's health and whose previous incarnation had been veterinarian. The Bush administration message was clear and it was not appreciated.

As you might expect, The FDA received quite a pounding. Seemingly backing away from the Alderson appointment, three days later the FDA announced that Theresa Toigo would be the new acting director of the OWH, pretending the whole Alderson snafu had never actually happened. Various critics have called this move an episode of "tone deafness" on the part of the FDA. I guess this is probably a more diplomatic way of saying what the Bush administration really thinks about women.