{"id":7585,"date":"2022-04-06T11:45:15","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T11:45:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=7585"},"modified":"2022-04-06T11:45:15","modified_gmt":"2022-04-06T11:45:15","slug":"the-american-medical-association-should-help-patients-instead-its-policing-language","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lonecandle.com\/?p=7585","title":{"rendered":"The American Medical Association Should Help Patients. Instead, It’s Policing Language."},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\n\n“the AMA now tells doctors to call poor neighborhoods “systematically divested,” not “poor,” it has long lobbied for things that hurt<\/em> poor people, like restricting the number of doctors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. has fewer doctors than other countries. Per person, Austria has twice as many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We have the best paid physicians in the world and the scarcest physicians in the world,” says Yglesias. “That’s not a coincidence.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years ago, in most of America, anyone could practice medicine. Licensed doctors didn’t like that. That led to the formation of the AMA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They’re a trade group, says Yglesias. “They\u2026advance the interests of their members.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like the teachers union or dock workers union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It’s called a trade association rather than a union,” says Yglesias. “But it’s never been all that different.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1986, the AMA called for smaller<\/em> enrollment in medical schools, to curb an alleged doctor “surplus.” In 1997, it even got the government to pay hospitals not<\/em> to train doctors!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, the AMA supports rules that make it hard for doctors from other countries to practice here. Foreign doctors must complete a U.S. residency program. They don’t get credit for having practiced abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such rules preserve America’s doctor shortage. That shortage allows the average doctor to make more than $200,000 a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well-paid doctors can be choosy about where they work. It’s why it’s tough to find a doctor in rural America, says Yglesias.”
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Why does the AMA and its “Liaison Committee on Medical Education” even get to approve new schools? I don’t get to approve new TV reporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AMA’s statement claims it supports “increasing\u2026the number of physicians.” If that’s true, it’s long overdue. A study in Annals of Internal Medicine says if there were more primary care doctors, 7,200 lives would be saved.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The American Medical Association Should Help Patients. Instead, It’s Policing Language.<\/a><\/blockquote>