Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1949-08-19
New Press Scandal
Doctors Bribe Editors
On Health Insurance
By NATHAN ROBERTSON

secret deal - under which the doctors have
dropped their long standing ethical rule
against advertising in return for a 'closer un-
derstanding with the press - which amounts
to bribing the press to fight President Tru-
mans health insurance program.
Some of the editors reported to be plan
ming to blast the deal as an attempt to corrupt
the press" But although the arrangement was
consummated in May, and announced to the
editors in confidential bulletin" from the
Minnesota Editorial Assn in June, it has so
far been treated with the same secrecy as
press scandals in other states this year no.
tably in Illinois
A copy of this confidential bulletin" to
editors has been obtained by the Committee
for the Nations Health, which is spearheading
the drive for national health insurance. 1t car
res "doctored' text of resolution adopted
by the Minnesota State Medical Assn approx
ing by doctors and by local medical societies in
order to foster indirect publicity" for the me-
dical profession.
Under headline Medical Profession Eases
Ethical Restrictions on Advertising, the Bull
letin tells the editors: "This is one of the most
significant items your MEA Bulletin has ever
carried, though we fervently hope that en-
thusasm over relaxed medical ethics will not
encourage even the momentary impairment of
newspaper ethics"
"The background of the story, however, Of
fers little basis for this hope. Apparently the
idea originated with the newspapermen and
was presented to the doctors in a medical-press
conference in April In May the State Medical
Assn at its annual melting adopted the resolu-
tion approving newspaper advertising by the
doctors with a preamble including this key
statement:
"One criticism frequently heard from the
press is that the medical profession expects the
press to maintain the entire burden of indirect
publicity from the doctor to the public with
out remuneration"
To meet that criticism the resolution ap-
proved of doctors placing in their local news
papers professional card" stating their
names, addresses, telephone numbers and Of
flee hours Local medical societies also were
encouraged to take advertising in the news
papers.
It is highly significant that the words with
out remuneration" in the quotation above were
In the text of the resolution as published by
Minnesota Medicine, the organ of the Medical
Association, but were omitted from the text
distributed by the MEA. Apparently these
words were a little too plain in their meaning.
Even without that phrase however, the mean
ing of the resolution as printed by the MEA
Bulletin was clear.
The Bulletin made the meaning even plain
er by quoting the medical association as say
ing:
This resolution we believe, Is an impor-
tant step in building up better relations with
the press of our state. AT our medcal-press
conference April 8, country editors particularly
stressed the importance they attach to what
they term reciprocal arrangement" with
the medical profession that would benefit both
They are perfectly willing to carry the story of
medicine as private enterprise, in which they,
for the most part are firm believers, but they
feel that physicians, as leading citizens in
their home communities have responsibility
to alleviate the financial burden connected
with publishing local newspapers Many of
our country medical societies have carried on
splendid programs in this respect for some
time"
The MEA sent to editors, along with the
Bulletin, a suggested advertisement for news
papers to solicit from country medical socie-
ties opposing the Truman health insurance
program. It told editors this will help you
move, we hope with circumspect caution and
genuine gratitude for the open gate, into this
lew era of medical press relations"
This is organized medicines third and most
brazen effort to bribe the nations press on
health insurance
The first was an offer to cartoonists of
thousands of dollars in prizes by the Physicians
Committee, an adjunct of the ANA, year or
two ago for the best published cartoon
against national health insurance. This was de-
as an attempted bribe by Editor &s
Publisher, trade journal of the newspaper in
dustry.
The second, disclosed only few months
ago. was the program of the California Medical
Assn to buy the press by taking advertise
ments in every newspaper in the state during
the campaign against Gov. Earl Warrens
health insurance program. A spokesman later
reported that the response from editors in
publicity has been far beyond anything we ex-
pected."
The similarity between this technique and
The technique now being employed in Mime
sofa is inescapable In view of the fact that the
ANA campaign against national health insur-
,nce is being conducted by the same publicity
irm that conducted the California battle