[Paul's] certification by the rigorous American Board of Ophthalmologists lapsed at the end of 2005, and he says his current certification comes from the National Board of Ophthalmology, which he incorporated in 1999 and which he leads.
...this seems to be another example of Dr. Paul's disturbing hostility toward any regulation and oversight. He portrays his dispute with the American Board of Ophthalmologists as a principled one, because the board doesn't require recertification of doctors who were certified before 1992, but it does demand that of younger physicians. Perhaps he has a point. But is it really one that in his own mind supersedes the established American board's insistence that doctors keep current in a rapidly changing field by taking 30 hours of continuing medical education classes each year and reviewing 15 case files and passing proctored tests every 10 years?
This incident does not call into question Dr. Paul's competence as a physician. But now he is a candidate for the U.S. Senate, and in that context this episode does raise legitimate concerns about his candor, judgment and values.
The Herald-Leader adds:
It's only June, but collisions between reality and the ideals of Republican Senate candidate Rand Paul are lighting up the sky like bottle rockets on the third of July.
There's the time that Paul, an eye doctor, wanted board certification but didn't like the new rules for earning it. So he created his own medical board. He's now certified by the National Board of Ophthalmology of which he's president, his wife is vice president and his father-in-law is secretary.
...The Tea Party movement, of which Paul is both a leader and beneficiary, feeds the comforting illusion that we can have all we've come to expect from government without paying for it. We buy into this illusion at our own peril.
