The Washington times., 1938-08-18
The Doctors

COUPLE of earthquakes have hit the American
"A medical profession in the last couple of weeks-the
National Health Conference at Washington and the Gov
ernmens antitrust jab at the American Medical Assoca
ton for alleged unlawful interference with group medi
cal service movement among Government employees.
It is all very involved; and the confusion isn't cleared
up to any great by the we'll phrased but not um
mating insults tossed back and forth by for example Dr.
Morris Fishben conservative spokesman for the A NJ A.
and Dr. Hugh Cabot most vocal of the so-caed radical
faction in the medical profession But far as we can
make out here is the situation confronting American
medicine and this is what most of the shouting IS about
The American people aren't getting the medical and
public health service they should have considering the
wealth of the United States and the annual output of its
medical schools. There young
M0LULSLTLOULLOH doctors by the thousand hunger
ne u1tL 1oro ing for practice in cities, while
w there are whole rural counties
with next to no health service.
This condition is blamed by the so-caled medical
radicals chiefly on the American Medical Associations
conservatism with regard to group medical service Sue
cessfu doctors charged with being too cautious about
extending medical care Reading of the so-caled
radicals criticisms you would gather that no successful
doctor did piece of charity work or failed to collect
his exorbitant fees in advance.
The A. M. A. conservatives crack back that the
called radicals open the door to the politicians by
setting up national system of socazed medical service
Political control they say will be the death of firscass
medical service in this country by most accounts it has
cut badly into what efficiency the medical profession
had in Russia
The observers feeling strictly that of ayan is that
both of these conflicting pictures exaggerated
For example, the great majority if not all of the
cessful doctors do large amounts of
UOCtOTS ana charity work, plus large amounts of
xr.. D work at fees below what they ought
~ to get in view of their skill and
what their medical training cost them their families
For exampIe-if politicians know nothing of medicine,
equally true that doctors rule inept in politics.
There various facts of life, too which still further
cloud the issues We such facts that plenty of
people wouldn't follow the advice of the best doctor in the
country that plenty of others prefer quacks and takers to
honest docors that plenty of others hypochondracs
who only think they need doctors and that still others
deadbeats who think it triumph to duck doctors bill
The medical picture being checkered as it is, the
logical conclusion to be that there is magic
formula which bring the American people adequate
medical service overnight
doctors rs. A compromise between the Fishbeins
D7:4:: and the Cabots seems to be called for
with the emphasis the prime facts
that medical service is badly distributed and inadequate in
this country at the present time and that rich
enough to do something about it in big Certainly
the present fight isn't getting us anywhere
It looks as if the Fishbein faction would be wise to
make the first overures for gettogether-f for moth
ing else than practical of seprotection The
politicians heard the figure $85O,0OOOOO year
toned at the National Health Conference the amount
the United States might eventually spend nationwide
public health service The politicians be depended
to do everything their power to get at such juicy
jackpot.
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