Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Doctors ignore politics? Not so fast.

Farzon A. Nahvi, MD
Policy
December 6, 2017
22 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

If all politics is local, then Washington’s health care debacle has brought politics to the front stoop of every health care provider in America. There is no escaping it – debates taking place on Capitol Hill are set to affect the very survival of our patients. Irrespective of political leanings, doctors, nurses and providers of all stripes have ethical and professional obligations to speak up and become engaged in order to protect their patients.

While politics have always affected medicine – obstetricians and gynecologists have long fought for women’s health issues, for example – current political events have pushed this into overdrive. In our current political climate, it no longer even makes sense to distinguish between events in Washington and my patient in front of me.

Earlier this year, Congress put forth a bill that among other things would strip 23 million patients of their health insurance, allow insurance companies to exclude people with preexisting conditions, eliminate essential health benefits such as pediatric services, ambulance rides, and lab tests from their plans, and increase costs, especially to older Americans.

Politicians are speaking frankly — even eagerly — about stripping services away from patients who currently have them. Each patient I see becomes another example of someone whose life could be at risk should any of the measures debated in Congress pass into law.

My elderly patient’s infected bedsore, for example, could only worsen, leading to sepsis and even death if she could no longer fill her antibiotic prescription. My patient with breast cancer, if unable to obtain chemotherapy due to her “preexisting condition,” would inevitably die. And any pediatric patient I see could suddenly be at risk of entirely preventable illnesses if left unimmunized due to the elimination of their essential health benefits.

Suddenly, being a physician and ignoring politics has become a lot like being an airplane pilot and ignoring the fact we are flying with the cabin doors wide open. Patients are about to be whisked into the sky with no parachute – it is just as unethical to ignore politics as it would be to continue flying that plane pretending everything was OK.

The truth is that avoiding politics is not only unethical, but also unprofessional. While many doctors, scientists at heart, find political advocacy uncomfortable, it is in fact a required part of the job.

In order to be allowed to practice independently, physicians must graduate from a residency training program and demonstrate proficiency in six “core competencies”. Most of them, such as medical knowledge and patient care and procedure skills, are well known. It is the sixth – systems-based practice – that is often overlooked, but equal in importance.

To quote the governing body that mandates these requirements: doctors “must demonstrate an awareness of and responsiveness to the larger context and system of health care … and are expected to advocate for quality patient care and optimal patient care systems”.

In other words, to practice independently, we must not only know how to prescribe our medicines and perform our procedures, but also work toward improving our entire health care system. Our professional governing body makes no distinction between helping patients through syringes, scalpels or statutes.

As German physician Rudolph Virchow noted in 1848: “Medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing else but medicine on a large scale.”

Importantly, as physicians, we advocate for our patients all the time. We feel completely at ease when we do this on the day-to-day level. If one of our patients cannot get an appropriate follow-up appointment with a specialist or their insurance company denies them a specific medication, for example, we eagerly take up arms. We fight a million reams of red tape on a daily basis to get that one patient what she needs.

We must now embrace this same ethos on a macro level by lobbying our representatives, joining activist groups and even running for office ourselves. The only difference is the outsize impact these efforts could have: working through a single ream of red tape in the form of legislation could positively affect the lives of millions of patients.

Laws affecting human lives should not be drawn along partisan lines, but by evidence-based policy that’s best for constituents. As Washington fails this litmus test, citizens must step up. As health care providers, advocating for our patients is both an ethical imperative and a professional requirement. Our patients depend on us for their care – we must help them get it, whether that comes in the form of pill or policy.

Farzon A. Nahvi is an emergency physician.  This article originally appeared in the Guardian.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Fixing health care requires putting patients and their health teams on top

December 6, 2017 Kevin 3
…
Next

When it comes to lifestyle inflation, where do you draw the line?

December 7, 2017 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Public Health & Policy, Washington Watch

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Fixing health care requires putting patients and their health teams on top
Next Post >
When it comes to lifestyle inflation, where do you draw the line?

Related Posts

  • Politics is health care on a grand scale

    Kasey Johnson, DO
  • Take politics out of science and medicine

    Allison Neitzel, MD
  • Talking politics in the exam room

    Hayward Zwerling, MD
  • Yet another injury to our doctors and our health care system

    Peggy A. Rothbaum, PhD
  • Doctors: It’s time to unionize

    Thomas D. Guastavino, MD
  • How to deal with politics in the workplace

    Health eCareers

More in Policy

  • Pediatricians grapple with guns in America, from Band-Aids to bullets

    Tasia Isbell, MD, MPH
  • Health care wins, losses, and lessons

    Robert Pearl, MD
  • Maximizing care amidst provider shortages: the power of measurement-based care

    Tom Zaubler, MD
  • Unveiling excessive medical billing and greed

    Amol Saxena, DPM, MPH
  • Chronic health issues and homelessness

    Michele Luckenbaugh
  • The impact of certificate of need laws on rural health care

    Jaimie Cavanaugh, JD and Daryl James
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • I’m a doctor, and I almost died during childbirth

      Bayo Curry-Winchell, MD | Physician
    • Reigniting after burnout: 3 physician stories

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • Motorcycle helmet laws: Balancing freedom and financial impact

      Stephen Cohn, MD | Conditions
    • Balancing efficiency and compassion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The link between orofacial myofunctional disorders and dental health

      Stephanie Jeret | Conditions
    • How compassionate leadership saved this physician [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Medical gaslighting: a growing challenge in today’s medical landscape

      Tami Burdick | Conditions
    • Balancing opioid medication in chronic pain

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Conditions
    • I want to be a doctor who can provide care for women: What states must I rule out for my medical education?

      Nandini Erodula | Education
    • Navigating the broken medical system: challenges faced by foreign medical graduates

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Mourning the silent epidemic: the physician suicide crisis and suggestions for change

      Amna Shabbir, MD | Physician
    • The essence of medicine: genuine connections in practice

      Jennifer Tillman, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Balancing efficiency and compassion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Reigniting after burnout: 3 physician stories

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • Why patients write: stress relief, self-care, and sharing experiences

      R. Lynn Barnett | Conditions
    • Inside the grueling life of a surgery intern

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Physician
    • Misinformed claims and the offensiveness of discrediting COVID-19 vaccine development

      Angel Garcia Otano, MD | Conditions
    • Bitcoin’s role in diversified portfolios [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 2 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

CME Spotlights

From MedPage Today

Latest News

  • Did Gabapentin Improve Post-COVID Olfaction?
  • Fentanyl Death Trends; Food Additives and Heart Disease
  • What If the Doctor Is Out?
  • Reduced Mortality Seen in Cancer Survivors Who Meet Exercise Guidelines
  • CDC Advisors Endorse Maternal RSV Vax to Protect Newborns

Meeting Coverage

  • Loneliness Needs to Be Treated Like Any Other Health Condition, Researcher Suggests
  • Stopping Medical Misinformation Requires Early Detection
  • AI Has an Image Problem in Healthcare, Expert Says
  • Want Better Health Outcomes? Check Out What Other Countries Do
  • ERS Roundup: Cell Transplant Boosts Lung Function in COPD Patients
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • I’m a doctor, and I almost died during childbirth

      Bayo Curry-Winchell, MD | Physician
    • Reigniting after burnout: 3 physician stories

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • Motorcycle helmet laws: Balancing freedom and financial impact

      Stephen Cohn, MD | Conditions
    • Balancing efficiency and compassion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The link between orofacial myofunctional disorders and dental health

      Stephanie Jeret | Conditions
    • How compassionate leadership saved this physician [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
  • Past 6 Months

    • Medical gaslighting: a growing challenge in today’s medical landscape

      Tami Burdick | Conditions
    • Balancing opioid medication in chronic pain

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Conditions
    • I want to be a doctor who can provide care for women: What states must I rule out for my medical education?

      Nandini Erodula | Education
    • Navigating the broken medical system: challenges faced by foreign medical graduates

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Mourning the silent epidemic: the physician suicide crisis and suggestions for change

      Amna Shabbir, MD | Physician
    • The essence of medicine: genuine connections in practice

      Jennifer Tillman, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Balancing efficiency and compassion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Reigniting after burnout: 3 physician stories

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • Why patients write: stress relief, self-care, and sharing experiences

      R. Lynn Barnett | Conditions
    • Inside the grueling life of a surgery intern

      Randall S. Fong, MD | Physician
    • Misinformed claims and the offensiveness of discrediting COVID-19 vaccine development

      Angel Garcia Otano, MD | Conditions
    • Bitcoin’s role in diversified portfolios [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Doctors ignore politics? Not so fast.
2 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...