Richard Carmona went on the attack of a woman who discussed his angry attack on her when she was his boss. On Thursday, the Flake campaign began airing an ad statewide on broadcast and cable featuring the personal testimony of Dr. Cristina Beato, who served as Acting Assistant Secretary of Health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 2003 to 2005.
Carmona immediately struck out at Dr. Beato for her recount of the night that Dr. Carmona angrily banged on her door in the middle of the night in a rage to continue an argument that he started earlier that day. Carmona’s surrogates went forth to smear Beato, and Carmona released his own ad defending himself against the allegations while demanding that Republican Congressman Jeff Flake pull his commercial from the airwaves.
On Friday, the Flake campaign today released a statement from Arthur Lawrence, a 37-year career veteran of HHS, who served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health under both Democratic and Republican administrations, regarding Dr. Cristina Beato:
“I became acquainted with Cristi when she came to the department shortly after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and subsequent anthrax releases. She was truly amazing in her professional and analytic abilities in important aspects of follow-up to the attacks, but particularly in looking out for the welfare of women, children, all minority communities, and persons who do not speak English as their first language. She provided significant advice and counsel on work that needed to be done to protect all persons at risk, especially the hard to reach and under-served.
“I worked with her throughout her term as Acting Assistant Secretary for Health and found her to be direct and honest, a true patriot, and she practiced high personal and professional standards in all of her work and decision making.
“As a member of a refugee Cuban family, Cristi carries with her a unique appreciation and personal knowledge of the importance of honesty, integrity, and forthrightness, characteristics which she practices herself in all that I have observed.”
Carmona has also been haunted by accusations by women that he is abusive toward them. A petition is being circulated online calling for respect of women in and out of the workplace. Organizers say, “Let’s keep this “living nightmare” out of the U.S. Senate and show that the respect of women in the workplace is an unwavering American value.”
According to petition organizers, Carmona has a history of workplace abuse:
Hospital administrators cited his ‘bullying’ of a nurse who said he failed to diagnose a young boy’s skull fracture in 1991.” After she complained to other hospital workers about Carmona’s failure to diagnose, Carmona demanded that she resign. The nurse struck a deal with Carmona, for a demotion in order to not be reported to the State Nursing board. Carmona reported her anyway.
In 1999 Health Commissioner Sylvia Campoy was antagonized and threatened by Carmona. She was doing her job by reporting another doctor’s drug abuse that Carmona supposedly “dealt with.” Carmona became irate that she reported him. Campoy said “I was screamed at, I was yelled at. I was told it was none of my business. I was told that I had breached peer review.”