A physician mails a letter urging patients to vote Republican

Political activism going too far – leading to irate patients. Politics and patients should be mutually exclusive:

I am irate and disappointed in some of the doctors in the Edwardsville area. With my statement from my doctor, whom I respect, was a letter from two other doctors urging me to vote for Republican judges. The reason given was to reform the judicial system. They blame the present system for the outrageous malpractice insurance fees they pay.

(via This Makes Me Sick)

Comments

Dr. A
I disagree. I think this plays right into the hands of all those attorney legislators who work in the state and federal legislatures.
While they are passing laws destroying the American health care system, docs are just supposed to stand by and take it?
Patients need another point of view other than all those personal injury commercials put out by attorneys and the media who love to publicise malpractice cases.
Patients need to know why specialists in my small town are moving out of state because of high malpractice premiums. Patients need to know why more than one OB physician in our small town is closing his practice to new OB patients because of malpractice premiums. Patients need to know the reality and not the spin.
Anonymous
I completely disagree with the above poster. It’s inappropriate to send out this kind of material with your patient billing statements.
There are other ways to get the message out. Write letters to the editor. Buy ad time or ad space with your local TV, radio and newspaper. Get politically involved. Contribute money to the candidate of your choice. Hell, run for political office yourself. But trying to influence how people vote does not belong in the doctor-patient relationship.
If this were a nonprofit organization, this kind of campaigning would be a violation of the tax law, and there could be penalties to pay. Although I presume these docs have a for-profit practice and don’t have the same restrictions as those placed on 501(c)3 organizations, they are still dog-paddling in some very muddy waters here.
This is a line that should not be crossed, period.
Chris, RN
We need more doctor legislators, although this will not fix the problem entirely, especially when you consider Dr Frist’s political career. There are too many attorneys who have held office for too long. When a physician holds office, they are in a position to write laws that effect medical practice everyday.
Doctors are partly responsible for high malpractice rates because they do not police their own and many times turn a blind eye to poorly performing physicians. This allows unscrupulous attorneys to take advantage of everyone else.
Anonymous
While it does clearly cross the traditional line b/t physician and patients, I disagree that this is a bad development. (unless it’s political brainwashing to vote via party rather than an educatd issue based opinion)
Traditionalists may believe may strongly believe in the sanctity of isolated medical practice: I argue that the modern Physicians role in the lives of it’s patients extends beyond direct clinical care. Their is a direct relationship between the care my patient’s recive and the healthcare system that is the framework for delivering this care. Therefore, certain ballot issues ARE in the PATIENT’s direct interests. Take for exmaple, the OB/GYN and malpractice (my wife got a letter from her OB at the start of her prenatal care that they may drop OB before she deliver’s). Medicare cuts and senior citizens. There is a relationship b/t time spent per patient and reimbursement.
I argue that as good moral ethical patient’s advocates, we can make recomendations to our patients. In fact, a better step than to say support a politicl party, is to offer a letter of why support one cadndiate and not another.
Anyway, just an opinion of one MD.
DR.A
Anonymous
Beyond simply paying off politicians, which is what the ATLA does with Democratic candidates (Do you think Hillary truly thinks the reaon for the malpractice crisis is physician errors, like she wrote in NEJM?) another option is supporting candidates who support tort reform, or simply aren’t in the pockets of personal injury lawyers. It would be nice if physicians organizations like AMA and Mass Medical Society weren’t such pansies when it comes to Tort Reform. We all see what’s going on: Hospitals, which bear no financial responsibility, talk about “reducing medical errors” and all we read about or see is Lawsuits involving Bad Outcomes, not medical errors.
Anonymous
There is nothing wrong with letting the public know who you support and why, with the emphasis being on how the outcome affects patient’s interests. The better educated the public becomes regarding health care issues, the more effective they will be at the voting booth. We wouldn’t have some of the problems we have now if we had an educated populace.
Anonymous
Hospitals bear no financial responsibility? What are you talking about?
Anonymous
“Hospitals bear no financial responsibility? What are you talking about?”
In many states (Massachusetts is a prime example) hospitals are considered “charitable organizations” and cannot be sued. They bear no responsibility when a patient sues. So all the responsibility goes to the physician. Tha’s why so many of us are defensive. It’s truly “us against them”.
Anonymous
Let’s just say that I know of a few physician practices that are “nonprofit” organizations.

A physician mails a letter urging patients to vote Republican

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