Roger O. Egeberg

Roger Olaf Egeberg

Dr. Egeberg in an interview
Born November 13, 1902(1902-11-13)
Chicago, Illinois
Died September 13, 1997(1997-09-13) (aged 94)
Washington, D.C.
Cause of death Pneumonia
Title Assistant Secretary for Health
Term 1969–1971
Predecessor Philip R. Lee
Successor Charles C. Edwards
Political party Democrat
Spouse Margaret McEchron Chahoon
Children One son, three daughters

Roger Olaf Egeberg, M.D. (pronounced EGG-uh-berg) served as General Douglas MacArthur's personal physician during WWII in the Pacific Theater and as Assistant Secretary of Health in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (now the United States Department of Health and Human Services) during the Richard Nixon administration. Prior to his service in the Nixon administration, he was the dean of the University of Southern California's medical school.

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Early

Dr. Egeberg was born in Chicago to Hans Olaf Egeberg and the former Ulrikka Rostrup Nielsen. He received a bachelor's degree in 1925 from Cornell University where he was a member of the Quill and Dagger society. He then earned his medical degree in 1929 from Northwestern University and became an internist. In World War II he was the personal physician for Gen. Douglas MacArthur, rose to the rank of colonel and won the Bronze Star and the Legion of Merit.

Nixon administration

Before Dr. Egeberg was named to the health post by President Richard Nixon, he had won widespread respect as a medical administrator in Los Angeles, where he was dean of the Medical School at the University of Southern California.

He was the ranking health official from 1969 to 1971, as the assistant secretary for health and scientific affairs in the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.

Dr. Egeberg won admiration within the department as an outspoken advocate of expanding the Government's role in solving the nation's health care problems. He fought for more money for medical programs and for more attention to health care by the White House.

But in an interview in the spring of 1970, when he was seeking an additional $100 million to immediately expand the training of more doctors and nurses, he said that the Health, Education and Welfare Secretary, Robert H. Finch, and the department's Under Secretary, John C. Veneman, were not taking his advice on health matters and that Mr. Nixon's advisers openly ignored him.

Health care was a subject Mr. Nixon had emphasized in his 1968 campaign, but Dr. Egeberg said in the interview that the White House just doesn't appreciate, doesn't know, what is going on in the health field. He added, I just can't get through to Ehrlichman, referring to John D. Ehrlichman, the President's chief aide for domestic matters.

Dr. Egeberg also denied rumors at the time that he might step down, saying, I may be fired because of my words and actions, but I won't quit.

Officials of the department, including Mr. Finch, expressed dissatisfaction with Dr. Egeberg's managerial skills. In 1971, he left his post and became the Health Secretary's special assistant for health policy, from 1971 to 1977; special assistant for health education, in 1976 and 1977, and special consultant to the President for health affairs, from 1971 to 1977.

Post administration

He later worked as a professor at Georgetown University.

Stance on Marijuana

Egeberg's stance that penalties for marijuana offenses were excessive led to reduction of simple possession from a felony to a misdemeanor. In 1970, the committee reviewing the Controlled Substances Act requested his advice on how marijuana should be regulated. In retrospect, one of the most far-reaching letters he ever wrote was this letter to Harley O. Staggers, Chairman of the House Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, which led to marijuana being "temporarily" placed in Schedule I, the most tightly-controlled category of drugs:

"Dear Mr. Chairman: In a prior communication, comments requested by your committee on the scientific aspects of the drug classification scheme incorporated in H.R. 18583 were provided. This communication is concerned with the proposed classification of marihuana.
"It is presently classed in schedule I(C) along with its active constituents, the tetrahydrocannibinols and other psychotropic drugs.
"Some question has been raised whether the use of the plant itself produces "severe psychological or physical dependence" as required by a schedule I or even schedule II criterion. Since there is still a considerable void in our knowledge of the plant and effects of the active drug contained in it, our recommendation is that marihuana be retained within schedule I at least until the completion of certain studies now underway to resolve the issue. If those studies make it appropriate for the Attorney General to change the placement of marihuana to a different schedule, he may do so in accordance with the authority provided under section 201 of the bill. . .
"Sincerely yours, (signed) Roger O. Egeberg, M.D."

Egeberg only intended that marijuana remain in Schedule I until the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse completed its report. However, Nixon refused to implement the Commission's recommendation that marijuana be legalized, and the drug remains in Schedule I today. Egeberg's letter has been cited in several petitions for removal of cannabis from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.

Writings

Dr. Egeberg's writings include the book The General: MacArthur and the Man He Called 'Doc.' (1993, Oak Mountain).

References

Lee  · Egeberg  · Edwards  · Cooper  · Richmond  · Brandt  · Windom  · Mason  · Lee  · Satcher  · Slater  · Beato (acting)  · Agwunobi  · García  · Galson (acting)  · Koh