LOUISVILLE (AP) — The national panel that approves doctors as board certified said U.S. Senate candidate Rand Paul isn’t on the list, even though he has campaigned as holding the endorsement.

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports that the American Board of Medical Specialties, which works with the American Medical Association, doesn’t recognize certification by a group Paul founded in 1991 and heads.

Paul, a Republican from Bowling Green and an opthamologist, says he’s certified by the National Board of Opthamology. But, Lori Boukas, a spokeswoman for the American Board of Medical Specialties, said the organization considers certifications valid only if they are done by the two dozen groups that have its approval and that of the AMA. The American Board of Opthamology said Paul hasn’t been certified since Dec. 31, 2005.

“He’s not board certified,” Boukas said.

Paul, who faces Democrat Jack Conway in the November general election, declined to address the issue to the paper. Paul’s campaign did not immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press on Sunday.

Paul, appearing at the Great Eastern National Gun Day Show, and JAG Military Show in Louisville on Saturday, told the paper “I’m not going to go through all that right now.”

When asked when he would address the issue, Paul replied: “Uh, you know, never … What does this have to do with our election?”

Board certification is a voluntary process in which doctors go through a 12- to 18-month process, including written and oral tests about eye diseases, deformities and diagnostic ability. American Board of Opthamology administrator Beth Ann Slembarski said about 16,000 eye doctors are currently certified by the group.

Doctors do not need to be certified to practice medicine in Kentucky. But, hospitals generally prefer or require that doctors be board certified to earn privileges. That includes The Medical Center and Greenview Regional Hospital in Bowling Green, where Paul practices.

Greenview Chief Executive Mark Marsh and Medical Center Vice President Doris Thomas said those facilities require either board certification or eligibility for board certification to practice there.

Paul, along with his wife and in-laws, incorporated the National Board of Opthamology in 1999, with Paul as the “owner/president” of the organization.

The group dissolved in 2000 when Paul didn’t file the necessary paperwork with the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office. Paul revived the organization in September 2005, three months before his certification from the American Board of Opthamology was set to expire.

Paul said in May he formed the group because he had issues with the way the American Board of Opthamology treated younger doctors, mainly those certified after 1992. Paul said his main issue was that doctors 55 and older didn’t have to be re-certified, but doctors younger than that did.

Asked what standards the group uses, Paul’s wife, Kelly, who is listed as its vice president, declined to comment.

“I’m not involved in that,” Kelly Paul said. “I’m not officially talking about that today.”

Paul, through campaign manager Jesse Benton, said he has been certified by his own group since 2005.

“What he told me is that he actually has been certified by both groups in the past,” Benton said.

Benton said Paul’s prior statements about being board certified comport with the facts and blamed any confusion on how the question was asked.

“I mean there is absolutely no motivation to say anything that isn’t 100 percent true,” Benton said.