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'''Edgar J. Schoen''' ({{LifeData|1925|2016}}) was a [[Circumcised doctors|circumcised American Physician]] and worked as a Clinical Professor in Pediatrics at the {{UNI|University of California, San Francisco|UCSF}}.<ref>{{REFweb

|firstinit=E.G.EG

}}</ref> This may have contributed to his being appointed as chairman of the new [[American Academy of Pediatrics]] (AAP ) task force on circumcision.(The AAP is a [[medical trade association]] which is noted for its [[bias]] in favor of non-therapeutic [[circumcision]] from which its members hugely [[Financial incentive| profit]].)

In 1987, Schoen was appointed head of the Task Force on Circumcision by the [[American Academy of Pediatrics]],<ref>''American Journal of Diseases in Children'', Vol 141: 128. February 1987</ref> where he pushed for "routine" (meaning without [[medical indication]]), non-therapeutic infant circumcision, but the neonatologists on Schoen's committee wouldn't go for it. According to Schoen, not performing circumcision would be "taking us back to nineteenth-century medicine on the eve of the 21st century," and that circumcision will prevent "dermatological problems".<ref name="Slack">{{REFjournal

Schoen was the chair of the 1989 AAP taskforce task force on circumcision, which studied available data to consider recommendeding recommending [[circumcision ]] to parents. Schoen seized on very poor articles with methodological flaws by fellow circumfetisher [[Thomas E. Wiswell]] to advocate circumcision. The taskforce task force concluded that "Newborn circumcision has potential medical benefits and advantages as well as disadvantages and risks".<ref>{{REFweb

}}</ref> (''Potential'' means to exist in possibility but not in actuality, so a ''potential benefit'' is not a real benefit.) This was despite their own admission that evidence linking circumcision to prevention of any diseases was inconclusive, with the sole exception of penile cancer (which they noted was mainly caused by unhealthy lifestyles). Given Schoen's history of circumcision advocacy and his position as taskforce task force chair, he may have influenced the committee significantly. While the statement spoke glowingly of circumcision, it made no formal recommendation for circumcision, perhaps on advice of counsel.

The 1989 AAP circumcision statement was not well received. Professor Ronald Poland, M. D., another member of the AAP task force , rejected Schoen's advocacy of non-therapeutic circumcision and published his own paper in which he argued against circumcision.<ref>{{REFjournal

|first=Ronald L. |init=RL

Schoen appeared in Penn & Teller's show, "Bullshit" for their [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0672524/ circumcision episode]. Penn reported that Schoen said [[circumcised ]] penises smell and look better.<ref>{{REFweb

}}</ref> Schoen later recited some poetry reflective of his belief that the [[circumcised ]] penis is a thing of beauty:

|ref=<ref>[http://youtube.com?watch=jI3oa4Mx9hs?t=50s kunavu. (2001, May 25). Penn & teller Teller on circumcision part 2.]</ref>

|first=BrianJ. |init=BJ

}}</ref> Groups such as the [[Gilgal Society]] openly admit to a morbid fascination with [[circumcision ]] to the point of sado-masochistic fetish. These groups advertise that doctors are among their members. There are those on the Internet who discuss the erotic stimulation they experience by watching other males being [[circumcised]], swap fiction and about it, and trade in videotapes of actual circumcisions.<ref>{{REFbook

Schoen's former office was in the Julia Morgan building on Broadway that houses [[Kaiser Permanente]]'s genetics department in San Fransico. Only a few yards from the home office of [[Daniel Halperin]], assistant professor of anthropology at UCSF's Center for AIDS Prevention Studies (CAPDS).<ref name="Slack"/>

Schoen died in his sleep, at the age of 91 on 23 August 23 of 2016, surrounded by his family.<ref>{{REFweb

 [[Category:DeceasedHistory]] [[Category:USA]]