Volume 71, no. 9 September 2015
One author admits that he is “not shocked” by videos showing officials of Planned Parenthood speaking callously about the harvesting of fetal organs. “The fact that money is exchanged, and the question of whether this constitutes a ‘market,’ do not particularly matter to me,” writes Robert Oscar Lopez. “Well-educated people believe that ‘planned parenthood’ can lead to a socially just world. That hubris is the main horror from which all these other abhorrent things descend.”
“Consider the intellectual consequences of this foundational belief that humanity can be ‘planned.’” It means that humans can be “regimented, organized, scheduled, commoditized, bought, sold, and programmed”—they “must become objects.”
Lopez writes that Roe v. Wade leads to Obergefell v. Hodges. From the child as waste product, possibly to be recycled for profit, follows the child as a desired commodity, to satisfy the constitutional right of same-sex couples not to be lonely.
Lopez considers the wine-sipping Dr. Deborah Nucatola to be the inevitable offspring of a society that killed humanities-based education. But even Allan Bloom, author of The Closing of the American Mind, “did not foretell the vast spiritual devastation awaiting the United States and the diabolical role played by ‘researchers’ and ‘experts.’”
Lopez stops short of making the connection with the consequences of central planning of the economy (i.e. human action) or specifically of medicine. Or of killing the Oath of Hippocrates.
For the Greater Good?
Planned Parenthood’s ethical position is by no means unprecedented. Is cutting through the midline of the face of an intact, heart-beating donor, the product of abortion, to dissect out a whole brain (see http://tinyurl.com/qc44s43) justified because it might contribute to life-saving research? How about 1972 in-vivo experiments on fetuses extracted by hysterotomy, reported in Pediatric Research?
Some assert that “we have a duty to use fetal tissue for research and therapy” (T. Alta Charo, J.D., NEJM 8/12/15). It was used in research leading to vaccines against varicella, rubella, and polio. “By using the public’s unfamiliarity with the history and realities of fetal tissue research as a back door for attacking Planned Parenthood, abortion opponents have added millions of people to the collateral damage of the abortion wars,” Charo writes: The decision to kill can be kept separate from the benefit.
Should we resume scientific use of Julius Hallervorden’s personal collection of brains of mentally ill and disabled children and adults slaughtered by the Nazis? He explained during the Nuremberg Trials that “those brains offered wonderful material” for studying early childhood diseases. “It really wasn’t my concern where [the brains] came from or how they were brought to me.” Are Planned Parenthood’s justifications any different, asks Michael Brown.
Neural tissue is “insanely fragile,” stated StemExpress CEO Catherine Dyer in an undercover video obtained by the Center for Medical Progress. Thus, her company prefers to have the intact “calvarium”—shipped with the eyes closed, with prior notification, so that a lab technician doesn’t “freak out” or “have a meltdown.” More “champions for the cause” are needed for this work, Dyer said.
Abusive experimentation on adults is not unknown in the U.S. —see two recent films, Experimenter (about Stanley Milgram) and The Stanford Prison Experiment (reviewed in Nature 7/23/15).
Such research does not start with evil intentions. In all cases, the end is thought to justify the means.
The purpose of the entire socialist experiment is, of course, the good of society, or “social justice.” Few Americans seem to believe in the power of human beings to make the best decisions even for themselves in a free market. And inevitably a massive, coercive bureaucracy is needed to “fairly” redistribute wealth—through “scientific,” massively documented processes.
Planning for Death and Profits
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has an “expert committee” to advise the Obama Administration on how to increase the likelihood that “children are born healthy.” Deborah Nucatola is one such expert, all of whom appear to be professionals who advocate for abortion or make a living from it, writes David Harsanyl.
Planners also want to prevent people from living when unhealthy or frail. Bundled payments for hip and knee replacements will lead to “immediate, guaranteed savings,” says Ezekiel Emanuel—by causing hospitals and doctors to avoid costly patients, notes Betsy McCaughey. Seniors with severe arthritis who opt for joint replacement are 50% more likely to be alive 7 years later than those who don’t; pain and immobility are killers.
Who is doing the “healthcare” planning? Consider the personnel, such as Andy Slavitt and Lois Quam, and their relationship to the “Quants of Wall Street” (http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com).
And remember the historic results of central planning everywhere, every time: the abortion of the fruits of the human spirit, from lemonade stands to life-saving medical innovation. If it’s not coded and quantitated in the virtual reality of the software models, or doesn’t serve the Plan, it has no right to exist.
Flashback: Words from the Founder
Margaret Sanger (1883-1966), founder of Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the world, who is admired by Hillary Clinton, said (http://www.dianedew.com/sanger.htm):
Blacks, immigrants, and indigents are “human weeds… spawning…human beings who never should have been born.” But: “We do not want word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.” The purpose in promoting birth control was “to create a race of thoroughbreds.”
Population Trends
By 2100, potential dependents (adults over 65 and youth under 20) in high and upper-middle income countries will constitute half of the total population, up from about 37% today. Japan and ten European countries are set to see their populations decline by more than 15% by 2050. Since 1979, enforcement of China’s one-child policy, largely by forced abortion, has reduced the population by about 400 million. One Chinese family planning slogan is: “It would be better to have blood flow like a river than to increase the population by one” (http://tinyurl.com/pk3nsvf).
Evidence-Based Mania
Arising from a desire to make evaluation of therapies more rigorous, evidence-based medicine expanded its purview to all human behavior and has turned into empirical fundamentalism. No opinion can be deemed valuable unless sanctioned by a clinical study, preferably a randomized controlled trial. “Since we now know empirically that clinical trial truths have half-lives measured in months or a few years at best,” writes Michel Accad, M.D., “the persistence of EBM mania is testimony to the great intoxication it has produced.” It is an attack on reason itself. “One is no longer allowed to deduce on the basis of established premises and principles, one must only induce from the observed ‘facts’ or ‘evidence.’” Actually, “evidence-based mania is more than an intoxication. It is an intellectual amputation.”
Francis Alston Davis, M.D.: R.I.P.
Dr. Davis will be missed at our annual meeting, for which he had already registered, but he has died at the age of 96. He worked as a general practitioner in Oklahoma for many years. He was the long-time editor and publisher of Private Practice Magazine and the founder of the Congress of County Medical Societies, which was intended to be an alternative to the AMA. In 1965, he organized a special meeting of the AMA House of Delegates in order to pass a policy of nonparticipation in Medicare. Despite broad support from physicians, AMA leaders thwarted the effort, and changed the bylaws to make future special meetings virtually impossible. Dr. Davis organized and funded a national tour of physicians (U.S., British, Canadian, and Australian), journalists, and congressmen opposing Jimmy Carter’s national health insurance initiative. He also organized a huge meeting in Dallas in 1993 opposing the Clinton healthcare reform. A member of AAPS since 1960, he was a true giant in the physicians’ war for independence.
WSMA Considers Anti-MOC Resolution
The Washington State Medical Association is considering Resolution C-2, on recognizing the National Board of Physicians and Surgeons (NBPAS) as an equal alternative to the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Maintenance of Certification and recertification process.
Last year, AAPS member Ken Lee, M.D., passed an anti-MOC resolution on his own, without the support of his county chapter colleagues, who were too fearful to endorse it because they are mostly employees of government or a big hospital corporation. “I have to remind my native-born colleagues what it means to be an American,” states Dr. Lee, the only foreign-born minority member of his county society board of trustees.
Paradox: Choosing Wisely® and MOC®
Rocky Bilhartz, M.D., asks: “Is there even a role for medical board certification any more?” If physicians are to be tracked with all kinds of quasi-quality metrics and given a grade from zero to 100 by government, on top of medical school, residency, continuing education, and ever-more third parties intent on “educating practicing physicians,” who needs another certificate? In the late 19th century, patients in backwater Rochester, MN, were able to judge physician quality without any certificates at all. Now we have Choosing Wisely®, by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), whose leaders see a median number of zero Medicare patients per year. It is about doing less and spending less, while MOC® is about physicians doing more tests and modules and spending more—with no evidence of efficacy. Rationing for patients; opulence for ABIM and its Foundation (http://bilhartzmd.com/?p=1832).
New MOC® Costs 26% More
The first change from lifelong to time-limited board certification was unfortunately accepted without protest by most physicians. But the ABIM was not content. Changes made in February increase the fees by 35% and physicians’ time requirement by 26%, according to a Jul 28 article in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The cost ranges from $16,735 for general internists to $40,495 for hematologists-oncologists. Diplomates will spend $5.2 billion over 10 years to comply, compared with $4.5 billion under the process effective in 2013. Study coauthor Dhruv Kazi, M.D., states that “we don’t see the evidence” of benefit. Paul Teirstein, M.D., founder of NBPAS, calls the process “busy work” rather than “keeping up” (Medscape 8/4/15).
AAPS Calendar
Oct 1-3, 2015. 72nd annual meeting, St. Louis, MO.
Sep 22-24, 2016. 73rd annual meeting, Oklahoma City, OK
ACTION OF THE MONTH
Register for 72nd annual meeting today.
Please help students attend: nominate one for a scholarship; contribute to the AAPS Educational Foundation.
Flashback: It’s Just an “Opinion”
The infamous Dred Scott decision, handed down in the 1800s, written by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, held that blacks were not entitled to full citizenship rights. Even at the time, many people, including President Abraham Lincoln, resisted that opinion, writes Mat Staver of Liberty Council. Sen. William Pitt Fessenden (R-Maine) wrote: “It is charged that I am undermining the institutions of the country by attacking the Supreme Court of the United States. I attack not their decision, for they have made none. It is their opinion.” We do not live under a judiciocracy, and five justices are not dictators, comments Matt Barber.
“Discrimination” and Disparity
The U.S. federal government is increasingly considering “transphobic discrimination” to be a form of sex discrimination, in actions by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or any health agency under §1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The Office of Civil Rights may terminate federal funding or refer a case for prosecution. A Florida case involved an employee who 6 months after being hired began wearing women’s clothing and make-up as he began his “transition.”
It’s a health issue, however classified legally, states the American College of Legal Medicine: transgender people are less likely to have health insurance (Legal Medicine Perspectives, summer 2015).
Concern about disparities does not seem to apply to the five-fold higher abortion rate for black babies. Abortion is the number one killer of blacks (http://tinyurl.com/pw433a4).
Campaign Slip Could Cost Doctor Her License
In September, the South Dakota Board of Medical and Osteopathic Examiners (SDBMOE) will decide whether to revoke the license of Annette Bosworth, M.D., as recommended by the hearing examiner. After running for Congress, she had been convicted of the felony of falsely signing the circular affidavit on six petitions containing only 37 of thousands of signatures. Her attorney advised her that it was acceptable for her to sign as circulator though the petitions were left in her office while she was away on a medical mission. She was threatened with 24 years in prison, but sentenced to a year of probation. Attorney General Marty Jackley threatened the most severe penalty ever for the least sinister of any petition-related violations; the SDBMOE’s attorney works for him. Dr. Bosworth’s previous encounters with the Board, though resolved in her favor, are being held against her (Townhall.com 8/23/15).
South Dakota was recommended as one of two most favorable states to practice, in the winter 2014 issue of our Journal (jpands.org). However, one should watch this case closely. SD physicians should possibly avoid running for political office, criticizing the medical board in the press, being independent, or accepting Medicaid (or advocating for Medicaid patients or paying for their non-covered prescriptions out of their own pocket).
Tip of the Month: Once you obtain an occupational license in New York State, you are forever subject to sanctions against that license, even if you practiced there only for a short time as a resident and the license has been inactive for years. If you are disciplined by another state, New York may punish you with thousands of dollars in fines, solely on the basis of the other state’s action. It is not clear whether you can “relinquish” or “retire” that license and remove yourself from New York’s roster without having to report this action on all future applications for licensure or privileges. Do NOT try to do this if you are “under investigation” anywhere. Also be aware that if you obtain multistate licenses under the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact, a problem in any state may lead to the need to defend yourself in all the states. The other states will not incur costs of doing their own investigation, but you will be subject to costs and penalties in all.
Since 2000, the FSMB has had an “Alert Service,” which sends an email to all other medical boards within 24 to 48 hours of any adverse medical board action against a physician’s license.
Our Decadent Civilization
The three stages of civilization, writes Daniel Greenfield, are: barbaric, vigorous, and decadent. “The decadent civilization has a million laws which it applies selectively. Its universal laws, inherited from a vigorous civilization, are so mired in legalisms as to be meaningless,” he writes. “The laws do not mean what they say. Instead they must be interpreted by a specialized caste. Everyone is always in violation of some obscure laws. Life depends on a lawless dispensation from the law.”
“Interpretation is what the decadent civilization does best. While vigorous civilizations discover new things, decadent civilizations endlessly categorize and re-categorize them….”
Other features of decadent civilizations include :
- They don’t cure diseases,… but they do spend billions on medical record systems that never seem to be compatible.
- Scientists may have rapid access to more information, but the scientific community is more contaminated, with worse results.
- They operate through corrupt closed processes.
- Fixed truths have been deconstructed and routed through a complex array of relativistic values. A decadent understands that murdering this baby right here is wrong, but can be taught that it is acceptable to trade parts of dead fetuses.
AAPS Fights for Patient Privacy
On Jul 13, AAPS filed an amicus brief in U.S. v. Zadeh, No. 15-10195, asking the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court verdict permitting the federal government to search patient records without a warrant. Some 336 federal statutes now authorize administrative subpoenas. There is no need to show probable cause to a judge. Such bureaucratic warrants can be used for “fishing expeditions” (http://tinyurl.com/nusr3lt).
“Unconsented access to one’s medical records is a trapdoor to his or her most private information,” argues AAPS general counsel Andrew Schlafly.
The Arizona State Chapter of AAPS joined an amicus in Jewel v. National Security Agency in the Ninth Circuit on the issue of whether the Fourth Amendment protects communications through the internet.
Correspondence
Harvesting Organs. I can’t help noticing that Planned Parenthood’s meticulous method of killing, to preserve organs for use by others, resembles that used by Chinese Communists in their human organ sales operation. In China, the government matches a prisoner’s tissue type with a buyer’s needs. The prisoner is loaded up with anticoagulant and antibiotics in preparation for the execution so as to preserve organs as well as possible. Government troops then take prisoners out to a public place, kneel them down with head bent forward, rifle barrel on back of head pointed upward toward the top of the head so as not to damage the eyes, as corneas can be sold. All other organs in demand are quickly harvested as well. Profits support the Chinese military. The CBS program 60 Minutes showed these executions years ago.
Lawrence R. Huntoon, M.D., Ph.D., Lake View, NY
Indentures. I recently read the ABIM website for MOC. In order to contract for MOC a physician must sign a “medical services contract,” which is not simply applying for an exam. What absurdity is this ? Since when does a physician have to pay ABIM so he is forced to provide medical services for ABIM in order to have the tenuous privilege of using the title “board certified by ABIM” or “meeting MOC”? Sounds like paying to be whipped when you have committed no crime. My ABIM board certification was useless when I was audited by a Blues insurance corporation years ago. I was treating diabetics, and the overseers thought it was too costly and forced me to pay them back via a collection agency. The “board certification” diploma is as strong as a piece of paper stopping a dagger.
Ken Lee, M.D., Olympia, WA
ICD-10. We are told that the rest of the world uses ICD-10 diagnostic codes and the U.S. must catch up immediately. The truth is that most countries use a 16,000-code subset of ICD 10, not the whole 60,000-code system that is being forced on U.S. physicians by the government. Also, other countries do not use it for billing but only for data collection. In the U.S., the ICD-9 has been used to decide whether or not to pay for care already delivered in good faith. After Oct 1, all claims with ICD-9 will be rejected. My hospital threatens to terminate my admitting privileges if I do not complete an Internet course on ICD-10 by Aug 31. So we are all expected to stop, drop, roll over, and acquiesce to this huge complication. Just imagine if all physicians simply decided not to comply. It is long past time for physicians to make the insurance industry and government irrelevant in the care transaction.
Craig M. Wax, D.O., Mullica Hill, NJ
Medicare “Not in Crisis,” Says Obama. On the 50th anniversary of the enactment of Medicare, Barack Obama said: “Obamacare is ‘finishing the job’ begun by Presidents Kennedy and Johnson.” He claims that “the two federal health care programs are not in crisis, and those who say they are in trouble are playing politics.” This is the Saul Alinsky attack method of marginalizing your opponents. Even Medicare actuaries and CMS say both Medicare and Medicaid are unsustainable. And according to the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), 29% of Medicare beneficiaries who were looking for a primary-care doctor already had trouble finding one.
Stanley Feld, M.D., Dallas, TX
The Real Lawmakers. Ninety percent of all federal laws are written by regulators, and become law without a vote, according to Jonathan Emord in The Rise of Tyranny. You don’t know the names of these lawmakers, and you can’t vote them out of office. All you can do is comment. One 373-page ACA rule had only 23 comments. Regulatory restrictions, 580,000 when Carter took office, doubled by 2014. Runaway regulations began with Franklin Roosevelt; congressional delegation of lawmaking is still unconstitutional. Jonathan Emord once drafted a bill for Congressman Ron Paul “preventing the adoption of any agency rule that has an economic impact unless and until Congress enacts it into law.”
Twila Brase, R.N., Citizens’ Council for Health Freedom
Quality of Evidence. A core landmark cardiology trial on the management of coronary artery disease screened 36,000 patients. Fewer than 10% met the enrollment criteria, and only 6% were enrolled. The results apply to 6% of the population; how should the other 94% be managed? Previously I would have told you to ask your doctor, buat he might be too busy working as an information technology wizard for the government.
Rocky D. Bilhartz, M.D. – http://bilhartzmd.com
Stat Rat Fever in Duperville. The government is addicted to stats, and what I call “Stat Rat Fever,” or “Perception-Deception,” or the “Sebelius Syndrome” is everywhere—the SEC, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and more. America is not America any more, as secret “scores” determine what people may have or do. Software models—like what all the banks used and abused for the mortgage scam—can cheat. Now ACA is largely run by machines. The Scoring of America is a $180-billion-a-year business. See how CVS and Express Scripts use medication adherence data and make spurious correlations. Whether data is good or bad, the price is the same (http://tinyurl.com/ov37p5z).
Barbara Duck, Orange County, CA http://ducknetweb.blogspot.com/
