Keep Politics Out of the Doctor’s Office
Wall Street Journal | Stanley Goldfarb
Former associate dean of curriculum at the UPenn’s Perelman School of Medicine, Stanley Goldfarb, sounds the alarm that “healthcare is being infected by the radical ideology that has corrupted education and public safety…Americans deserve to know that their health and well-being are at risk.” In the piece, Goldfarb announces his new nonprofit, Do No Harm.
“Health disparities do exist among racial groups, but physician bias isn’t the cause…attacking physicians is dangerous. It degrades minority trust in healthcare while undermining health outcomes for everyone…To fight their supposed bias, physicians are being bribed into discriminating by race.”
He goes on to discuss the role of medical journals and medical schools:
“Prominent medical journals are complicit in the crusade against medical professionals…They’re also bringing race and other nonacademic factors into the peer-review process, threatening the scientific analysis on which physician practice and patient health depend.”
As for med schools, they are increasingly “preparing physicians for social activism at the expense of medical science…[the] schools and residencies are lowering admissions standards… [with the result being] fewer talented physicians providing high-quality care to fewer patients.”
Goldfarb concludes with a sobering reality and lifeline. “Healthcare is close to a tipping point, but I’m confident a majority of physicians oppose what’s happening to our profession…That’s why I’m launching Do No Harm, a nonprofit that will help medical professionals and concerned Americans protect and promote the principles at the heart of healthcare: fairness, equal access, and the best, most personalized treatment for every patient.”
