Financial Profit: Not the Mission of Medicine
Authors: Bernard Lo, Deborah Grady
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2021)

EditorialsOctober 2021Financial Profit: Not the Mission of MedicineBernard Lo, MD and Deborah Grady, MD, MPHBernard Lo, MDUniversity of California San Francisco and The Greenwall Foundation, San Francisco, California, and New York, New YorkSearch for more papers by this author and Deborah Grady, MD, MPHUniversity of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CaliforniaSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M21-3220 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Free enterprise, free markets, and the pursuit of profit are bedrock beliefs for many business leaders, politicians, and U.S. residents (1). Influential economist Milton Friedman forcefully advocated the profit motive: “There is one and only one social responsibility of business—to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud” (2).The American College of Physicians (ACP) position paper on financial profit in medicine rejects the for-profit approach to the business of medicine ...References1. Goldwater Institute. About the Goldwater Institute. Accessed at https://goldwaterinstitute.org/about on 27 July 2021. Google Scholar2. Friedman M. A Friedman doctrine – the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. The New York Times. 13 September 1970. Accessed at www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/a-friedman-doctrine-the-social-responsibility-of-business-is-to.html on 19 July 2021. Google Scholar3. Crowley R, Atiq O, Hilden D; Health and Public Policy Committee of the American College of Physicians. Financial profit in medicine: a position paper from the American College of Physicians. Ann Intern Med. 2021;174:1447-1449. doi:10.7326/M21-1178 Google Scholar4. Sulmasy LS, Bledsoe TA; ACP Ethics, Professionalism and Human Rights Committee. American College of Physicians ethics manual: seventh edition. Ann Intern Med. 2019;170:S1-32. [PMID: 30641552] doi:10.7326/M18-2160 LinkGoogle Scholar5. Sulmasy DP. Edmund Pellegrino's philosophy and ethics of medicine: an overview. Kennedy Inst Ethics J. 2014;24:105-12. [PMID: 25109090] doi:10.1353/ken.2014.0015 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Bloche MG. The market for medical ethics. J Health Polit Policy Law. 2001;26:1099-112. [PMID: 11765259] doi:10.1215/03616878-26-5-1099 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Elwyn G, Durand MA, Song J, et al. A three-talk model for shared decision making: multistage consultation process. BMJ. 2017;359:j4891. [PMID: 29109079] doi:10.1136/bmj.j4891 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. Lo B. Resolving Ethical Dilemmas: A Guide for Clinicians. 6th ed. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2019;20-41. Google Scholar9. Feeley D. The triple aim or the quadruple aim? Four points to help set your strategy. Institute for Healthcare Improvement. 28 November 2017. Accessed at www.ihi.org/communities/blogs/the-triple-aim-or-the-quadruple-aim-four-points-to-help-set-your-strategy on 27 July 2021. Google Scholar10. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. SEC adopts rule for pay ratio disclosure. 2015-160. 5 August 2015. Accessed at www.sec.gov/news/pressrelease/2015-160.html on 27 July 2021. Google Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: University of California San Francisco and The Greenwall Foundation, San Francisco, California, and New York, New YorkUniversity of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CaliforniaDisclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M21-3220.Corresponding Author: Bernard Lo, MD, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA; e-mail, Bernard.[email protected]edu.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Lo: University of California San Francisco, 1701 Divisadero Street, 5th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94115.Dr. Grady: University of California San Francisco, 550 16th Street, San Francisco, CA 94143.This article was published at Annals.org on 7 September 2021. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoFinancial Profit in Medicine: A Position Paper From the American College of Physicians Ryan Crowley , Omar Atiq , David Hilden , and Metrics October 2021Volume 174, Issue 10Page: 1466-1467KeywordsCOVID-19Health careHealth care facilitiesHealth care sectorHealth insuranceMedicareMotivationPatientsPrevention, policy, and public healthTaxes ePublished: 7 September 2021 Issue Published: October 2021 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2021 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...