Abuse board's lightning rod. (Policy & Practice).

The appointment of leading psychiatrist Dr. Paul R. McHugh to the Catholic church's sexual abuse review board is drawing criticism from people angered by his affiliation with the False Memory Syndrome Foundation, a foundation that combats the concept of childhood repressed memories. Dr. McHugh is the former chair of the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, and the only psychiatrist on the church's review board. In an interview with this newspaper, Dr. McHugh says he was "completely blind sided" by the attention his appointment to the church board has received. "As far as I know, I've got a pretty good record," he says, adding that he would survive the "ad hominem" arguments levied against him, such as the charge that his views are analogous to an espousal of child sexual abuse. The church has "absolute confidence in Dr. McHugh's integrity," Bill Ryan, deputy director of communications at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, told this newspaper.