by TChris

Following on the heels of Wednesday's criticism by leading scientists of the Bush administration's suppression or distortion of scientific evidence to provide a smokescreen for its unscientific approach to the environment, health care, and arms control, the administration admitted that "it improperly altered a report documenting large racial and ethnic disparities in health care."

The theme of the original report was that members of minorities "tend to be in poorer health than other Americans" and that "disparities are pervasive in our health care system," contributing to higher rates of disease and disability.

But that theme doesn't mesh well with the administration's cheery view of an America where racial inequality is a thing of the past, so the administration adopted its usual spin strategy: when the facts are inconvenient, ignore them or change them. And so,

the final report has an upbeat tone, beginning, "The overall health of Americans has improved dramatically over the last century."

The authors of the report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, led by Dr. Carolyn Clancy, resisted the bureaucratic pressure to doctor the report, but in the end gave in.