American Medical Association president, J. James Rohack has begun sharing his thoughts on the U.S. health care system, health reform and other issues affecting patients and physicians in a new blog, according to the AMA.
There’s one problem: the AMA presidency is an elected position whose occupant has roughly the same freedom of expression as a senior Iranian clergyman or a member of Vladimir Putin’s cabinet. The AMA, so virulent for so many years in opposition to the group practice of medicine, yields to no one in its practice of group consensus medical politics. All communications by AMA officers and board members are strictly scripted to adhere to official positions.
In other words, an AMA blog is simply repackaged blarney. Don’t consult Dr. Rohack expecting even the barest glimpse of a genuine “second opinion.”
Michael Millenson is a writer, consultant and frequent speaker on healthcare topics. His work appears frequently in these pages and on other blogs, including the Huffington Post.
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The AMA, so virulent for so many years in opposition to the group practice of medicine, yields to no one in its practice of group consensus medical politics.