Did presidential candidate Ben Carson refuse a DNA test to settle a "blackmail" paternity suit?

The retired neurosurgeon has been accused of refusing a DNA sample to resolve a case where a woman in Florida sued him for paternity. Carson wrote about the incident in an op-ed for the Washington Post back in 2014 claiming that the woman was just trying to "blackmail" him.

"I have had an opportunity to witness firsthand how the blackmail threat operates," he wrote at the time. "Several years ago while I was in the operating room, I received a call from one of the legal offices at Johns Hopkins University informing me that the state of Florida was trying to attach my wages for child support."

Carson claimed that the woman did not provide adequate information that proved that she really knew him.

"The proof turned out to be knowledge of where I went to high school, college, medical school, and where I served my internship and residency. To top all that off, she had a picture of me in scrubs. I said anyone could obtain such information," he wrote.

Yet, the paternity suit was still pursued and Carson refused to take a DNA test in order to protect his identity.

"I refused on the basis of the incompetence of any governmental agency that was willing to pursue a paternity suit on such flimsy grounds," he said. "I said that level of incompetence would probably result in my blood specimen being found at a murder scene and me spending the rest of my life in prison."

As of late October, Carson has become one of the leading candidates in the GOP presidential race along with business mogul Donald Trump. Both men will participate in the fourth Republican presidential primary debate on Tuesday evening on the Fox Business Network.

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