Federation of State Medical Boards Declines to Condemn Licensing FGM Doctors
Medical board organization won't oppose female genital cutting.
When the Federation of State Medical Boards was asked whether a physician who performs female genital cutting on children should retain a medical license, they declined to answer.
FSMB is the national non-profit organization that represents every state medical board in the United States. It describes itself as working to ensure that state licensing boards “protect the public.”
In response to questions I sent asking whether physicians who perform female genital cutting on children should retain active medical licenses, Joe Knickrehm, FSMB’s Chief Public Affairs Officer, responded:
“The Federation of State Medical Boards does not license or discipline individual physicians and is not involved in any decisions about investigations or cases. We therefore cannot comment on the circumstances involving any particular physician or on actions taken by one of our member boards.”
Of the questions I had sent, several concerned FSMB policy, not specific physicians or cases. I sent a follow-up, asking only about FSMB’s own policy positions, and removing all questions pertaining to specific cases. FSMB did not respond.
For context: Dr. Jumana Nagarwala and Dr. Fakhruddin Attar, doctors that were federally indicted in 2017 for performing genital cutting on minor girls, hold active, unrestricted Michigan medical licenses today. Michigan's licensing agency, LARA, closed its investigations into both physicians with no disciplinary action.
Female genital cutting on children is a federal crime under the STOP FGM Act of 2020 and is illegal in most states, including Michigan.
Screenshots of our emails can be found below:
This is an ongoing investigation. If you’d like to support this work, you can contribute here: Expose Medical Board for Licensing an FGM Doctor