Jeff Singer, Champion of LibertyHometown hero and Phoenix surgeon Dr. Jeffrey Singer has written a great piece for Reason.com, explaining what Big Government is doing to medical ethics in America. Here’s a sample:

For centuries, my predecessors and I have been inculcated with what has come to be called the “Hippocratic Ethic.” This tradition holds that I am ethically required to use the best of my knowledge to recommend to my patient what I consider to be in my patient’s best interests—without regard to the interests of the third-party payer, or the government, or anyone else.

But gradually the medical profession has been forced to give up this approach for what I like to call a “veterinary ethic,” one that places the interests of the payer (or owner) ahead of the patient. For example, when a pet owner is told by a veterinarian that the pet has a very serious medical condition requiring extremely costly surgery or other therapy, the veterinarian presents the pet’s owner with one or more options—from attempt at cure, to palliation, to euthanasia—with the associated costs, and then follows the wishes of the owner.

And under government-dominated health care, the government bureaucracy sees itself as YOUR owner…

Here is another disturbing paragraph:

Medical students and residents are now being trained to follow federally-derived protocols and guidelines as a normal part of medical practice. As a result, this new generation of doctors will be less inclined to challenge the recommendations of federal task forces and agencies. Some academics also worry that “teaching to the protocol” might discourage independent thinking and the use of intuitive knowledge, two traits essential to the practice of good medicine.

The entire article is here:

http://reason.com/archives/2012/03/15/the-coming-medical-ethics-crisis

View the forum thread.

Article source: http://www.americansforprosperity.org/032112-big-government-destroying-medical-ethics