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| In two related articles the theme of doctors lying is the top issue. On the front page of the October 25th 1999 issue of the USA Today newspaper was the headline, “Doctors say they would lie to get insurers to pay.” Also on the front of the American Medical News was the title, “New Study confirms: Doctors willing to lie for coverage.” These strong condemning statements were based on a study of 169 internists where 57.7% sanctioned the use of deception as justification of getting insurance companies to pay. The percentages varied depending on the severity of the patient condition. In addition to the above study a group of doctors were polled in a recent Kaiser Family Foundation / Harvard University School of Public Health survey. In this survey 48% admitted to exaggerating the severity of some patients conditions in the past two years. In still another survey presented by the AMA Institute for Ethics at the Association for Health Service Research annual meeting it was disclosed that 39% of MDs had used deception. |
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| The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons is a group of medical doctors that has as a goal, "preserving the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship and the practice of private medicine." This group, founded in 1943, calls itself, "the Delta Force of private medicine". According to Jane Orient, M.D., executive director of AAPS, "The AAPS believes in the oath of Hippocrates and that the physician should work for his patient, not some third party," In an interview for the December 3, 2000 issue of the WorldNetDaily, Dr. Orient went on to say, "It is interesting that the 'do no harm' clause has been eliminated from the supposedly updated oaths," Orient noted. "We are seeing an inversion of medical ethics lately that is based on population ethics, in which physicians are being indoctrinated to believe that it is OK to sacrifice the individual to the good of the whole." The AAPS takes many stands that are opposite to traditional medical associations such as the AMA. Some of these views include:
The AAPS Patient Power newsletter sums up their positions by explaining to patients why their doctor is a member; "As a member of AAPS, your physician is one of the elite of the medical profession--those dedicated to the sanctity of the patient/physician relationship through the practice of private medicine. He has agreed to practice the art of medicine under uncompromising ethical principles: to treat you with the highest respect for your dignity and to protect your privacy and rights as a patient from intrusion by the government, insurance companies or HMOs." The AAPS web site can be viewed at, www.aapsonline.org. |
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| According to the results of a study published in the November 27, 2000 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, one-third of MDs are unlikely to follow the advice given to patients of routine checkups and flu shorts. A survey of 915 physicians by the Hopkins team, showed that 312 (34 percent) said they had no regular source of medical care. Those in the study that did not get medical care did so because they thought that regular medical attention was unnecessary. The study did show that as a group doctors were more interested in prevention than the general public. The report illustrated that of those who were studied, 28 percent, had no medical care at all, while 7 percent treated themselves. Approximately 43 percent had an independent physician as their main source of care, while 18 percent saw a colleague in their own medical practice. Not having a regular medical doctor was unrelated to either age or gender. There was, however, a wide variation based on practicing specialty. The range was from 21 percent among psychiatrists to 46 percent among pathologists. Internists were the most likely to engage in self-treatment. |
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