By
Historically, practicing physicians have shunned politics. If our democracy is to survive, these times demand thoughtful solutions and difficult decisions. Few individuals are better suited to the task than the Hippocratic physician.
Behind the scenes, a quiet and unassuming movement is afoot destined to reshape the future of American health care—and possibly the entire landscape of American politics.
The House currently has fourteen physicians. The Senate has two. This means less than 3% of our elected officials in Washington come from one of the most trusted professions in America—medicine. But that is about to change.
Rising from the ranks of my home state, three North Carolina physicians are running for Congress to address our nation’s daunting challenges. Dr. B. J. Lawson, Dr. James Taylor, and Dr. Dan Eichenbaum seek to represent the 4th, 6th, and 11th Congressional districts. Should they be elected, North Carolina would have a larger physician representation than any state in the Union—three of thirteen Congressional seats, nearly 25%. But why should America care?
In “Precepts” Hippocrates once wrote, “For if love of men is present, love of the art is also present.” In “On Breaths” he added, “The physician sees terrible things, touches what is loathsome, and from others’ misfortunes harvests troubles of his own.” For the Hippocratic physician, the well-being of the individual was of primary concern—not power, not money, not personal gain, and most assuredly, not the supremacy of the State. The Hippocratic physician was born to serve his fellow man.
But such servant leaders are in short supply in Washington today. An air of entitled aristocracy permeates our political class. Rather than guarding hard-earned taxpayer dollars with sacred trust, politicians spend with reckless abandon. Rather than leaving Washington to live under the laws they pass, most politicians cling to power for as long as possible.
Washington has become a city where pork and payoffs rule the day. Where backroom deals and buried earmarks are accepted as they way things get done. Where health care reform becomes about politics, power, and payoffs, not patient care. Americans chafe against this sad perversion of power. To reclaim our representative government, We the People must find new leadership.
Historically, practicing physicians have shunned politics—and for good reason. As we open the clinic door or push aside the emergency room curtain, our patient’s political leanings never cross our mind. Nor should they.
However, our nation now moves into complex and perilous waters. Trillions of dollars of unfunded Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security obligations must be addressed. The exploding American debt now threatens our very independence. If our democracy is to survive, these times call for thoughtful solutions and difficult decisions. Few individuals are better suited to make these difficult decisions than the Hippocratic physician.
To save the patient the surgeon must sometimes cut to cure. To fight some cancers the oncologist must prescribe chemotherapy. Physicians must not only understand the details of a complex system and make the correct diagnosis, they must treat the illness, even if the patient does not want to hear what the physician has to say. Physicians know that alleviating symptoms does not address the disease, that more is needed however difficult.
The behavior of two prominent physician/politicians, Senators Bill Frist and Tom Coburn demonstrate the credibility of the physician statesman. In sharp contrast to today’s permanent political aristocracy, Senator Frist stepped down after achieving the position of Senate Majority Leader. Why? He had promised the voters he would serve for 12 years and no more—he kept his word. Few individuals can walk away from such power. In contrast to Washington’s common but corrupt practice of earmarks, Senator Coburn has opposed wasteful spending (by both parties) so aggressively he earned the nickname Dr. No. Like Senator Frist, he too has pledged to relinquish power after 12 years of service.
In the fall of 2010, North Carolina may serve as a bell-weather state. North Carolina’s state motto, “esse quam videri”—to be, not to seem to be, distinguishes the politician from the statesman. The politician is concerned with perception; the statesman is driven by character. Voters must decide if these three physicians can be statesmen. If elected, these three men must prove that they are.
Facing overwhelming debt, we need politicians willing to make tough decisions. In dealing with a subject as complex as health care reform, we need men and women who understand how decisions in Washington impact patient care at the bedside. Americans desperately seek elected officials committed to financial responsibility, Constitutional fidelity, and the sanctity of the patient/physician relationship. Two questions remain:
1) Will such servant/leaders rise to the fore?
2) Will We the People recognize who they are and send them to Washington?
C. L. Gray, M.D., is president of Physicians for Reform.
Categories: Uncategorized
The only reason these people aren’t a complete joke is because they blow things up when they get mad. Their culture is irrelevant and their nation-states are in squalor because they use religion to keep their people ignorant and subjugated. Every time one of their “leaders” gets a chapped pucker they find a way to blame it on the US.
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The only reason these people aren’t a complete joke is because they blow things up when they get mad. Their culture is irrelevant and their nation-states are in squalor because they use religion to keep their people ignorant and subjugated. Every time one of their “leaders” gets a chapped pucker they find a way to blame it on the US.
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The only reason these people aren’t a complete joke is because they blow things up when they get mad. Their culture is irrelevant and their nation-states are in squalor because they use religion to keep their people ignorant and subjugated. Every time one of their “leaders” gets a chapped pucker they find a way to blame it on the US.
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The only reason these people aren’t a complete joke is because they blow things up when they get mad. Their culture is irrelevant and their nation-states are in squalor because they use religion to keep their people ignorant and subjugated. Every time one of their “leaders” gets a chapped pucker they find a way to blame it on the US.
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The only reason these people aren’t a complete joke is because they blow things up when they get mad. Their culture is irrelevant and their nation-states are in squalor because they use religion to keep their people ignorant and subjugated. Every time one of their “leaders” gets a chapped pucker they find a way to blame it on the US.
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The only reason these people aren’t a complete joke is because they blow things up when they get mad. Their culture is irrelevant and their nation-states are in squalor because they use religion to keep their people ignorant and subjugated. Every time one of their “leaders” gets a chapped pucker they find a way to blame it on the US.
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The only reason these people aren’t a complete joke is because they blow things up when they get mad. Their culture is irrelevant and their nation-states are in squalor because they use religion to keep their people ignorant and subjugated. Every time one of their “leaders” gets a chapped pucker they find a way to blame it on the US.
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The only reason these people aren’t a complete joke is because they blow things up when they get mad. Their culture is irrelevant and their nation-states are in squalor because they use religion to keep their people ignorant and subjugated. Every time one of their “leaders” gets a chapped pucker they find a way to blame it on the US.
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lso the FEDERAL GOVT DOES NOT dictate to the States where or HOW to spend their medicaid dollars that is why this happened in IL. FEDS should mandate the kind of care qualifying poor persons on medicaid can receive without any equivication that we can have our teeth saved repaired surgery crowns and proper eye glasses which we Do not now get cause the STATE OF IL Claims no money for poor adults!
Posted by: Pam Toll | May 09, 2010 at 08:44 AM
lso the FEDERAL GOVT DOES NOT dictate to the States where or HOW to spend their medicaid dollars that is why this happened in IL. FEDS should mandate the kind of care qualifying poor persons on medicaid can receive without any equivication that we can have our teeth saved repaired surgery crowns and proper eye glasses which we Do not now get cause the STATE OF IL Claims no money for poor adults!
Posted by: Pam Toll | May 09, 2010 at 08:44 AM
Also the FEDERAL GOVT DOES NOT dictate to the States where or HOW to spend their medicaid dollars that is why this happened in IL. FEDS should mandate the kind of care qualifying poor persons on medicaid can receive without any equivication that we can have our teeth saved repaired surgery crowns and proper eye glasses which we Do not now get cause the STATE OF IL Claims no money for poor adults!
I agree and I will volunteer as a consultant to the application of the insurance coverages as approved by the DRs to assure our senate that these types of care n treatments would be covered. Legislation failed to cover many areas of medical care for example. If you are in a bad accident and break your teeth but need surgery your teeth is considered dental , while you are laying out in a surgery unit at a hospital a Dental surgeon comes in and fixes u up but there is absolutely no binding coverage between your MEDCAL COVERAGE and that $12,000 dental surgery you just had. YOU ARE STUCK ..even ifyour a poor person like myself. On MEDICARE , cause the US govt does not approve any DENTAL RELATAED CARE cause MEdicare is NOT DENTAL CARE. And MEDICAID wont pay in IL cause you did not PREAPPROVE the treatment and it will be denied . cause they dont pay for dental surgery or root canals cause they gave all the funding to ALL KIDS. If you make $60,000 a year and u have a kid . Your child can get FREE MEDICAL CARE UNDER ALL KIDS, but I , a poor adult on qualifying MEDICAID cant get a root canal or Crown for it cause theres no money to PAy for it. cause your $60,000 a year family child and illegal aliens are covered cause theyre under 18 and Im 50 years old. Rod Blago took our money and gave it to people who dont need it..they dont need to qualify like i do for medicaid.
Margalit,
Ever hear of Dr. Howard Dean?
Ms G-A:
You are right. And that is what is wrong. Principles of what define being a health care provider drive decisions and acts, not what is convenient or popular.
And that is why these “doctors” are running for office. Because they are running away from their original dedication. And, good riddance to them.
You can direct public policy by being an advisor to responsibe political representatives. As soon as you join this current system, you are lost.
Again, look at the deeds of these candidates. They are not good providers now. Sorry if that is an overgeneralization. But look at their current status as clinicians. They are working less hours, and focused on political party needs first.
Show me wrong, readers!
Dear Dr. Exhausted, you keep my writing honest and I greatly appreciate that. I should have written “political office seeking physicians” instead of “politically inclined”.
Unfortunately health care is now hopelessly tangled with politics. I’m not sure who is to blame, but that’s what is happening and this site reflects reality.
No, Ms G-A. Responsible physicians are independents. They have no allegiance to a party, but, to a public. That should be a give away to what the real agenda is.
Man, this site has deteriorated to just about politics first, and health care second. Maybe the author of this site may want to read the threads generated by these postings and give pause to what is the mission statement to what is intended here!
Just curious, are all politically inclined physicians Republican?
Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course… just asking…
MEDICAL DOCTOR running for US SENATE:
I am running for U.S. Senate to heal Health Care in Florida and America, and to preserve the American Dream! Join me in creating A Better Way for All Floridians and Americans.
http://www.marionthorpe.com
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=330091694049
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dr-Marion-D-Thorpe-Jr/20060245928
The How to;
President Obama, asked for the help, of a way to cover the sick. And it is a simple concept that is presented before all to see. Health Care Insurance Companies will not cover the sick, {This will not make dollars for them.} Our tax failure within our system will not be able to carry the load because of cost.
Within this United Forum, as Health Care Insurance Companies do join and earn money by helping the pay in form and the Health Care Tax Forum within our Medicare Tax system all ready in place, the concept of the dollar is like this in a low ball figure, { $10.00 x 250 million people, per week x 1 month} as stated before you do the math.
Now this is the part that Government Officials do not like, because of the constant failures before 9/11/2001 to 2/15/2010, all government Officials should be penalized
10% off of their pay. And that money should go to the Health Care Account. It is a recorded fact of history that our Officials we elected / hired to do a job have failed to do their jobs. The lives of the people have become in dangered and lives lost. They fight over this Health Care Dollar as if it is to be split up between 52 States. Our goal is to Unite The 52 States Of the United States Of America, as it should be.
Health Care Companies have also failed, and it is also a part of documented history, of their failures. This concept of profit under a Health Care Responsibility is the biggest lie before the people and we offer one last chance to theses Insurance Companies to Unite with the Peoples Government and earn money. Fact; 0ne Insurance Company can not maintain the dollar cost of a few people, so what happens when a Nation Wide Out Break takes Place ?
Some how Government Officials failed to understand that the American People have a common sense about them to see that around 173 Million people still jobs out of 373 million legal American People and there are around 125 million Illegal People in the U.S.A. It would only confirm the failure of Government Officials if they admitted this information.
Some have asked how I know that this is a $100 Trillion Dollar Health Care Package that Officials fight over, I called and asked Insurance Companies. And to my surprise 70% of those I talked to stated that this concept of a United Health Care Forum Built By The People in our Government System hold a honest approach of how to cover the sick that cant be covered. And Laws built to protect this money from miss use.
I wanted to Save this for page 100 but I will only show part of the building block of a Health Care Reform Stimulus Package. It is of a interest to many people to see the ideas that will come forward.
So again I ask all to Help President Obama to get this Job concept under way, and at the same time build this Health Care reform. Do not set it into action and not keep track of it, I am talking about a 10 year month to month data read out to see if scams are in the works.
Henry Massingale
FASC Concepts in and for Pay It Forward
http://www.fascmovement.mysite.com
Great! More Doctors Taken up Politics! Like Senator Bill Frist. I remember that case that Congress and Senator Bill Frist had no business in participating in; Terry Sherivo! Like a armed Chair Quarterback;He determined her condition by Video. As if the actual Doctors were incompetent to make a determination. This was abuse of power and a unethical encrouchment of a attending.
Doctors seeking Political status will not change anything regarding Medical Error and Hospital Acquired Infections.However,the larger question is what have they done to address these issues that are before them Today. This would be a guage of the direction they would take once elected.
The author claims that the medical Profession is the Most trusted profession, Next to Lawyers?Some of us realize that Doctors Lie and are often deceptive to patients.Lets not forget that Doctors are people who are subject to the same vises that are shared by the public at large.This includes Greed,and self interest etc. Many naive people who have unyielding faith and trust in their Doctors. Often end up dissapointed ,maimed and even dead.
I understand that Mistakes are made and sometimes negative outcomes occur and a person can not be Rescued. However, it is when best practices,HAI’s, and compliance are Ignored.Creates a riff in the concept of most trusted among Patients.Couple that with the need to cover up those events. Leaves a Chasm of Distrust that the patient and/or survivors shall forever challange.
And tell me, Margalit, just how much time have you spent with the handful of Yamal larch rings these buggers used to flatten the Medieval Warm Period? But let’s not go there. There may be, after the November elections, some potential for compromise on HCR, but you would do well to put aside the temptation to suppose that everyone who does not share your “vision” is capable of thinking only in catch phrases.
“Senator Coburn has opposed wasteful spending (by both parties) so aggressively he earned the nickname Dr. No.”
This is a pretty hilarious statement that should be amended to say:
“so aggressively he earned the nickname Dr. No except when it came to the earmarks that go to Oklahoma (and his district), his aggressive support for federal agricultural subsidies, and continued support for oil and coal tax credits”
Coburn does oppose spending on some things but to say he is also some kind of ‘Mr. Smith’ who opposes most spending is laughable. He supports plenty of spending as long as it supports his constituents or one of his principle causes/beliefs.
Coburn also voted recently against the bill in the Senate to for joint Commission on the deficit and he was a big proponent of the crazy budget the Paul Ryan released last month in response to Obama’s budget that called for a number of far-right/supply-side ideas including a 15% flat income tax rate, a repeal of capital gains, and the privatization of Medicare/Medicaid.
ExhaustedMD, while the Hippocratic oath includes a promise to abstain from doing harm, the maxim “First, do no harm”, is not specifically included verbatim and has its origins in much later literature. The issue is largely semantic.
Before you take offense, particularly since I think we are in complete agreement on this one, please note my absolute first sentence:
“With all due respect to most hard working, dedicated physicians in this country….”.
I usually mean everything I say, and try very hard to not engage in writing platitudes…
It is incongruent for a physician to become a federal politician for several reasons, but the two most important from my perspective are these: you will not be practicing clinical care in any consistent form, so you are just an MD in title only, and, even if you maintain the true philosophies of being a doctor, you are surrounded by an environment of lack of concern for true well being of man, thus you will be corrupted, especially if you stay in office more than 10-12 years at most.
As to MS Gur Arie’s comment at the beginning of this thread, I am offended by your comment “I would start with something that is NOT in the Hippocratic Oath, ‘First do no harm’ “.
Read the oath, woman! Some of us as physicians do adhere to it and thus why we are taking a stand against this current legislative effort to in fact “DO HARM” if it succeeds.
You know, the more I interact with people who are IT specialists, they seem to become just that, ITs, not people who are focused on the day to day needs of society. Focused just the silicon world you traverse.
By the way, to the author of this post, the answer is not having more physicians be politicians, it is having more physicians be politically active to keep these charlatans of the people’s interest kept in check.
And it starts by advocating for term limits, not by legislation, but simply voting out incumbents after 12 or so years in office. Hopefully 2010 is the starting point for this process!!!
That’s good. I feel better now that I know who stands behind you. I hope you enjoy your cannon fodder position in your projected “political Stalingrad”….
Ah, the resident energizer bunnies, furiously banging away. But now you’re agreeing with me that you’ve been blocked by an “unprogressive” electorate, not darkling, backroom conspiracies?
Such a misdirection of energy. Because I, and people like me, are just a foothill. Behind us lies a glacier you can’t bang your way across: the medical-industrial complex. It hasn’t even felt threatened yet, and you have to know it will never, ever allow you to fix its pricing.
Dr. Gray – I hope you run, and win! I agree, we need medically informed people in the Senate (Congress, and the poorly-informed White House).
I guess their “bed rock values” sort of evaporate once they hit 65 and happily go on publicly funded insurance….
And I guess all that global warming talk from the elitist liberal scientists is absolutely laughable because it’s snowing in DC. Not sure what “bed rock value” this one pertains to, but it must be as solid as an iceberg.
The 40,000 dead is really not an issue either because they are most definitely illegals and we have a “bed rock value” for illegal immigrants that takes care of this little statistic.
And when the President of the United States is inviting the purveyors of these “bed rock values” to a meeting on health care reform, they go on national TV calling it a TRAP. Can’t let “him” get that “hopey changey stuff” working now, can we?
Is this even remotely about health care?
Don’t forget about the 40,000 people a year who are dying because they don’t have publicly funded insurance. Or obesity counseling. Or whatever.
“a large number of voters (a majority, in my opinion) is unwilling to assume the financial burden of funding broad policies of insurance for the uninsured.”
Here’s the funny part – They already are funding broad policies of insurance for the uninsured, except at a rate that is not sustainable.
“And they are quite unimpressed with predictions of impending doom.”
Would that include Republicans predictions of impending deficit doom?
“This site is littered with confessions that “progressive” HCR will do little to bring down provider costs.”
That’s because present HCR is not near progressive enough.
“They are girding themselves for a political Stalingrad, because they know additional assaults on their bed rock values are on the way, in the form of “climate change” legislation, “comprehensive immigration reform” and Lord knows what.”
The girding against their bed rock value of not wanting to pay for anything – even the stuff they help create. Somehow they don’t want to pass the deficit on to their children (or so they say) but they’d prefer to pass unsolved problems on to their children.
Wouldn’t the discussion be a little less inbred if someone were to volunteer to act as spokesman for the “conservative agenda”? Anyone? Ok, I’ll have a go at it.
I really thought we had a consensus here that the reason the wheels have come off HCR is that a large number of voters (a majority, in my opinion) is unwilling to assume the financial burden of funding broad policies of insurance for the uninsured. They may not like the cost of what they have, but prefer it to what you offer. They suspect, with reason, that however much -average- health care may improve, the quality of their own will decline. They, not unlike providers, investors in insurers and (if the truth be known) even purveyors of electronic medical technology, do not thrill to the thought of subordinating their interests to the greater good. They cling to Locke, not Mill. And they are quite unimpressed with predictions of impending doom.
This site is littered with confessions that “progressive” HCR will do little to bring down provider costs. Sale across state lines, to evade so-called monopolies? Tort reform? It is to laugh.
Conservatives do not see HCR as an isolated issue. They are girding themselves for a political Stalingrad, because they know additional assaults on their bed rock values are on the way, in the form of “climate change” legislation, “comprehensive immigration reform” and Lord knows what. They have seen your vision of “transformational change,” and will have none of it.
Dr Gray,
Your candidates are MD’s that will not write the health care prescription this country needs.
I believe we can deliver excellent health care to ALL citizens and lower the % of GDP that goes down the health hole. We must reduce the amount of $ skimmed off by the pharmaceutical and insurance industries. Focus our resources at preventing and treating illness. Reduce the number of people employed in this sector of our economy that do not touch a sick person.
Across the board the conservative agenda will not meet the challenges we confront. I wish they did because we have been following them for thirty years.
I think Dr. Kirby brings up a very pertinent point. The current, or future, health care crisis is not triggered by lack of quality. Health care (care being the key word) in this country, when available, is as good as it gets.
The problem is that this level of quality is quickly becoming unaffordable in aggregate, both because costs of individual services are climbing out of control and because population health is declining (aging, lifestyle, etc.), which translates to increased volume for health care needs.
Reductions in cost of care, if at all possible, are at best a short term solution and may involve quality improvements to care, mainly as it pertains to waste and effectiveness. Bending the curve of demand, not by restricting access or rationing care, but by improving population health, is the real long term solution for generations to come.
I would expect pragmatic politicians to address the former and thoughtful physicians and public health advocates to champion the latter.
Both tasks are imperative on national and personal levels.
There is a kind of structural bias in the conversation that I think would benefit from discussion – the idea that improving health care should be the top goal of health policy.
Surely, cost-effective improvements to health are (or should be) the top goal of health policy. Improving health care is a part of this – but far from the whole.
This is more than a technical observation. Much of the opportunity to improve health lies outside of the domain of the health care system, as traditionally (and politically) defined. Aspects of public health work (e.g. smoking quiting/prevention), environment (e.g. lead abatement in homes with infants), and more general culture changes to promote healthy behaviors are, at the margin, at least least as important as any changes we can make in the acute care system- arguably more so. Yet, these other areas of opportunity to improve health are starved for resources and policy support.
This imbalance is important to the current conversation because the litmus test for a champion for health surely must include evidence that the leader seeking office understands the relative priorities and opportunities to improve health and will focus on this in forming policy. Such a leader might happen to be a physician (I know many who are), but a person from many backgrounds could easily be the kind of policy leader needed to cost-effectively improve health.
My young colleague believes that Congress, dominated by liberals, would somehow change their agenda to the health of the nation instead of the health of their careers, if only they had people with a different brand of ethics. It won’t happen.
The ethics of a politician are as invisable as a snipe. Their is only one kind of problem successfully handled by a political body; a political problem. Not a fiscal problem, not a moral problem, and not a military problem. To expect them to do something different is to expect pigs to fly.
The commentors who sneer at physicians clearly have a doctor derangement syndrome or an inadequate personality.
Margalit continues to confuse “cost” with “price”. Doctors have control over neither. Only the patient has control over these. Until that is acknowledged, nothing will get better. Prices will not change until the patient must shop price. The cost is the aggregate cost, determined by utiliaztion by the patient.
What we really need is a physician president.
“Trillions of dollars of unfunded Medicare,…”
“To save the patient the surgeon must sometimes cut to cure.”
“Facing overwhelming debt, we need politicians willing to make tough decisions.”
“we need men and women who understand how decisions in Washington impact patient care at the bedside.”
So Dr. Gray, any ideas on where and how you’d cut Medicare? Would those ideas include anything that resembles restraining physician incomes?
Anyway, the only physicians to vote for would be anybody belonging to this group: http://www.pnhp.org/
Is this post strictly for comic relief? As a health care advocate in North Carolina I can say that the nation should certainly fear the election of any of these three men running for Congress. Luckily, none of them stand a chance of getting elected.
BJ Lawson doesn’t even mention healthcare as an issue of interest on his website. Dan Eichenbaum and James Taylor are devoted followers of Glenn Beck.
Servant leaders? Please. I would love for these three tea partiers to move to Washington, but not to represent my state.
While having Tom Coburn in a position of political power is a total disaster for the health of the nation, I suspect it’s a net plus for the health of the women he’s no longer “treating” in Oklahoma!
With all due respect to most hard working, dedicated physicians in this country, the two Republican Senators with an MD degree are not exactly representative of what this country needs.
It certainly does not need a Senator, like Dr. Coburn, advising folks from the Senate floor to pray “…that somebody can’t make the vote tonight”, or telling seniors “I have a message for you: you’re going to die soon” presumably because the government will be rationing their care under reform. Never mind that Medicare has been in charge of their care for decades and has not done that at all.
I do not perceive any sort of Public Servant, Hippocratic behavior as far as Dr. Coburn is concerned. Just the usual obstructionist, fear mongering, partisan rhetoric….
Dr. Gray, if physicians are really intent on helping solve the health care crisis in this country, I would start with something that is not in the Hippocratic oath: “First, do no harm”.
Physicians, who control most of our exploding health care costs, are in the best possible position to help the country cut costs, and improve quality of care.
So how about a grassroots organization to do just that?
It will be so much more effective than sending a few more physicians to Washington. After all, we do not put Generals in charge of our legislation just because we have war a crisis, do we?