California Medical Association denounces Obama’s inflammatory rhetoric

A very small percentage of doctors belong to the AMA, but most doctors do maintain memberships in statewide organizations or board certification groups. President Obama, in attempting to get sympathy and support for his massive take over of health care, has gone from insuring the uninsured (including a huge number of illegals and middle class who chose not to buy insurance), to saving money (old people cost too much), to insulting the insurance companies which currently insure adequately the majority of Americans, to demonizing doctors.

Truly, this man is gathering an enemies list but not from your neighbors' e-mails. He’s creating enemies out of former supporters. This loss of support has nothing to do with racism, as his true believer sycophant followers claim, but his own “acting stupidly” and speaking out about what he believes on the role of government expansion. He’ll soon be as popular with liberals as the gaffe-prone Biden. He has become his own worst enemy at these town hall meetings saying things off teleprompter we didn‘t hear during the election months and months of “hope and change.”

“CMA is deeply concerned about two examples of medical treatment recently used by President Obama to make his case for health reform.

“In the first example, he stated that surgeons make $30,000 to $50,000 to amputate a foot of a diabetic. This assertion is false. Medicare pays surgeons $589 to $767 for a foot amputation. Medi-Cal pays $420 for the same. Hospital and other associated costs may add up to the greater amount, but it is incorrect and misleading to suggest the surgeon’s costs are responsible for that figure.

“We share the President’s belief that we need to put greater resources towards primary and preventive care in order to keep people healthier and help address the nation’s rising health care costs. However, preventive care will never obviate the need for qualified physicians and surgeons to take corrective action to improve or save people’s lives.

“In the second example, the President suggested that physicians take out children’s tonsils to make more money. This implication is inaccurate and offensive.

“Doctors treat patients based on the health needs of the patient, not the financial incentives. When science suggests over utilization may be occurring, the medical profession has responded with improved guidelines to more fully inform physicians of the risks and benefits of any treatment or procedure.

“The California Medical Association is committed to reforming our health system to increase access to quality care and reduce rising health care costs. To achieve health reform, the American people must be able to trust our elected officials and the statements they make regarding health care.

“Patients trust their doctors. That trust is critical to an effective and successful doctor-patient relationship. We urge the President to stick to the facts and avoid the kind of misleading and inflammatory rhetoric that would erode that trust and derail our efforts to increase access to quality care and control rising health care costs.”

Dr. GnanaDev, the CMA President, is a trauma surgeon and chief of the medical staff at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, San Bernardino County’s public hospital