Richard Henry Carmona (born November 22, 1949) is an American physician, police officer, public health administrator, and politician. He was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and served as the seventeenth Surgeon General of the United States. Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2002, Carmona left office at the end of July 2006 upon the expiration of his term. After leaving office, Carmona was highly critical of the for suppressing scientific findings which conflicted with the Administration's ideological agenda.