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On Health Reform, Obama Should Heed His Doc, Not AMA

Medical association is wrong yet again: Kristof

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Jun 25, 2009 8:19 AM CDT

(Newser) – Its membership may abide by the Hippocratic Oath, but the American Medical Association is definitely doing the public harm in its opposition to meaningful health care reform, writes Nicholas Kristof in the New York Times. The AMA has become infamous for its lousy political stands: it supported segregation, backed tobacco, denounced Medicare, and opposed health reform from both Truman and Clinton. Now, it’s trying to kill the public option. “They’ve always been on the wrong side of things,” says Dr. David Scheiner—Barack Obama’s longtime personal physician.

Scheiner supports a public option, and he’s worried his former patient’s reform efforts won’t go far enough. “In the past the patient’s health was the bottom line, not the checkbook,” he says. “Today, it’s just immoral what’s going on.” Lots of doctors agree. That’s why the AMA’s ranks have shrunk to roughly 19% of practicing doctors—and half of those disagree with its politics. Obama should tune the other half out, Kristol concludes, and give his doctor a call.

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President Barack Obama address the American Medical Association during its annual meeting in Chicago, Monday, June 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

President Barack Obama walks on stage as he is introduced before delivering remarks on health care reform at the annual meeting of the American Medical Association, Monday, June 15, 2009, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais)

President Barack Obama address the American Medical Association during its annual meeting in Chicago, Monday, June 15, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

In this June 15, 2009 file photo, President Barack Obama address the American Medical Association during its annual meeting in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, FILE)

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I might expect the American Association of Used Car Dealers to focus exclusively on wallet-fattening, but we expect better of physicians. - Nicholas Kristof

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On Health Reform, Obama Should Heed His Doc, Not AMA