Historically, the practice of medicine was highly regarded and demonstrated a precious connection between physician and patient. One  of mutual admiration, trust, and care. In recent years, those attitudes have changed significantly. The main social network for doctors in the US, SERMO, recently included an extended debate about how patients feel about their physician. The opinion was that patients possess a mistaken thought about their physician’s economic interests. Patients understand that medicine can be a business, however they don’t know where the cash goes, and this has harmed many physician-patient relationships.

In my own youth, a family doctor that lived just down the street made house calls. I am reasonably certain his practice functioned mainly in cash and his patients knew what they were spending money on.  There were no practice managers or midlevel “physician extenders” to boost revenue. I doubt that he was in medicine for the money. He was…

“Let it be considered, too, that the present inquiry is not concerning a matter of right, if I may say so, but concerning a matter of fact.”–Adam Smith

“Most men endure the sacrifice of the intellect more easily than the sacrifice of their daydreams.  They cannot bear that their utopias should run aground on the unalterable necessities of human existence”  -Ludwig von Mises

“Science under dictatorship becomes subordinated to the guiding philosophy of the dictatorship.” So begins Medical Science Under Dictatorship¹ written in 1949 by Leo Alexander and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Alexander acted as consultant to the Secretary of war and the Chief Counsel for the Nuremberg trials.

The guiding philosophic principle is Hegelian or “rational utility” and “corresponding doctrine and planning”, Alexander said “replaced moral, ethical and religious values” and Nazi propaganda was highly effective in perverting public opinion and public conscience…

I will be putting up a survey shortly and want to hear your stories.  One of the recurrent themes I keep hearing from those victimized by PHPs is falsified drug and alcohol tests.   Attached is an example of what they are capable of.

Quote by Dr. Greg Skipper, MD, FASAM, FSPHP

Remember, this group has essentially removed themselves from accountability in drug and alcohol testing via the use of Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs), a loophole which avoids FDA approval and oversight.   Whereas most drug testing is transparent and held accountable, the PHPs use testing that is opaque, unregulated and accountable to no one.  Accountability demands both the provision of information and justification for ones actions. PHPs block both.  While most drug-testing requires the immediate provision of information if the test is questioned (as it should be), PHPs have put forth the logical fallacy that doctors have some sort…

“The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.” ― John F. Kennedy

Before the  2012 Drug and Alcohol Testing Industry Association (DATIA) annual conference, Dr. Robert Dupont delivered a speech entitled “Drug Testing and the Future of American Drug Policy.”    He describes a “New Paradigm” for substance abuse treatment that enforces “zero tolerance for alcohol and drug use”  that is enforced by monitoring with frequent random drug and alcohol tests in which positive tests are “met with swift, certain, but not draconian, consequences.” The paradigm is based on the current Physician Health Programs blueprint.  Dupont states:

Three shells and a pea–ASAM, FSPHP, and LMD.

As home to some of the countries top ranked hospitals and most prestigious medical schools,  Massachusetts is an international healthcare hub with world-class teaching, research and clinical care. Two of the top three psychiatric hospitals in the United States as rated by U.S. News and World Report are found here in Massachusetts with McLean Hospital earning the top prize and Massachusetts General Hospital ranked number three. However, this medical mecca of learning and research is apparently unable to attract anyone with the competence and skill to assess a physician for substance abuse or disruptive behavior.

In Massachusetts if the State PHP feels a physician is in need of an assessment the evaluation must be done at “a facility experienced in the assessment and treatment of health care professionals.”  No exceptions. And apparently these esoteric skills are only found in Georgia, Arkansas…