by John Vassall, MD
As physicians we speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now depriving physicians and their patients of access to information, research and clinical trials; resources necessary for excellent medical care and for physicians and patients to make informed choices in disease management.
We physicians are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight. However, we must oppose undue government intrusion into the lives and decisions of medical professionals and our patients regarding the ethical and legal pursuit of evidence-based care, cure, comfort and healing. We physicians urge our medical colleges and universities, medical associations and societies, institutions conducting medical research and delivering medical care, our elected and appointed public officials and our patients to reject the coercive use and punitive withholding of public research funding, attempts to inhibit the distribution of evidence-based scientific information and attempts to dictate the accreditation of medical schools and the training of physicians.
America’s health care systems are as diverse and varied as the communities and patients they serve. Yet every physician and every patient in every town and health system in America shares the need for timely, accurate evidence-based information from credible unbiased sources, such as an unencumbered National Institutes of Health and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Our medical colleges and universities share a commitment to teach and practice evidence-based medicine in an environment where scientific medicine is pursued and physicians, scientists, students, and staff are free from fear of retribution, censorship, loss of funding or deportation.
Every one of us has been the beneficiary of a medical miracle: a drug, vaccine or surgical procedure that we now take for granted. Creating these miracles requires effort and attention, time and treasure. If we hope and expect the flow of life-enhancing miracles to continue, we must each in our own way, large or small, resist efforts to hinder and usurp science, medicine and progress.
Dr. Vassall’s perspective reflects our shared commitment to protecting medical science and the physician-patient relationship. If you share these values, join KCMS.