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Association of American Physicians and Surgeons

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Association of American Physicians and Surgeons
FoundedMay 1944
Typemedical group
FocusUpholding patient-physician relations, advocating private medicine and Oath of Hippocrates
Location
Websitehttp://www.aapsonline.org

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) is a politically conservative association of physicians, medical professionals and students, patients and others,[1] founded in 1943.[2] According to the AAPS's website, the organization is "dedicated to the highest ethical standards of the Oath of Hippocrates and to preserving the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship and the practice of private medicine",[3] and to "supporting the principles of the free market in medical practice."[1] The motto of the AAPS is omnia pro aegroto which means "all for the patient."

The group had approximately 4,000 members in 2005.[4] Notable members include Ron Paul and John Cooksey.[5] The executive director is Jane Orient, professor of clinical medicine at the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine.

Foundation

During the winter of 1943, the Lake County (Indiana) Medical Committee decided to take action against the Wagner-Murray-Dingell Bill, proposed legislation that would provide government health care for most U.S. citizens. Also opposed to the bill was the conservative National Physicians Committee. The committee began a membership drive in February 1944. By May 1944, the AAPS claimed members from all 48 states.[2]

Positions

A 1966 article in the New York Times described the organization as an "ultra-right-wing... political-economic rather than medical" group, and asserted that historically some of its leaders had been members of the John Birch Society.[6] According to the JBS website, several members of the JBS National Council are associated with the AAPS.[7]

Currently, the organization opposes mandatory vaccination,[8] universal health care[9] and government intervention in healthcare.[10] The AAPS has characterized the effects of the Social Security Act of 1965, which established Medicare and Medicaid, and socialized medicine as "evil" and "immoral",[11] and encouraged members to avoid participating in Medicare and Medicaid.[12][13] AAPS believes that there is no right to medical care, and opposes efforts to implement a national health plan.[14] The organization also opposes the use of evidence-based medicine and practice guidelines as a usurpation of physician autonomy.[15] Other procedures that AAPS opposes include abortion[16] and over-the-counter access to emergency contraception.[17] AAPS describes itself as "non-partisan".[18]

Legal activism

In 1993, the AAPS, along with several other groups, filed a lawsuit against Hillary Clinton and Donna Shalala‎ over closed-door meetings related to the 1993 Clinton health care plan. The AAPS sued to gain access to the list of members of President Clinton's health care taskforce. Judge Royce C. Lamberth found in favor of the plaintiffs and awarded $285,864 to the AAPS for legal costs; Lamberth also harshly criticized the Clinton administration and Clinton aide Ira Magaziner in his ruling.[19] Subsequently, a federal appeals court overturned the award and the initial findings on the basis that Magaziner and the administration had not acted in bad faith.[20]

In 2004, AAPS filed a brief on behalf of Rush Limbaugh, opposing the seizure of his medical files in an investigation of alleged misuse of prescription drugs.[21] In 1975, they went to court to block enforcement of a new Social Security amendment that would monitor the treatment given Medicare and Medicaid patients.[22] More recently, they have been involved in litigation against HIPAA, arguing that it is violates the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution by allowing government access to certain medical data without a warrant.[23] In 2006 the group criticised what it called sham peer review, claiming it was a device used to punish whistleblowers.[24]

In 2005, the AAPS helped appeal the conviction of Virginia internist William Hurwitz, who was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for prescribing excessive quantities of narcotic drugs after 16 former patients testified against him.[25] Hurwitz was granted a retrial in 2006, and his 25-year prison sentence was reduced to 57 months.[26]

Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons

The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (JPandS), until 2003 named the Medical Sentinel,[27][28] is the journal of the association. Its mission statement includes "… a commitment to publishing scholarly articles in defense of the practice of private medicine, the pursuit of integrity in medical research … Political correctness, dogmatism and orthodoxy will be challenged with logical reasoning, valid data and the scientific method." Articles in the journal are subject to a double-blind peer-review process.[29]

Some past articles and commentaries published in the journal have argued:

A series of articles by pro-life authors published in the journal argued for the existence of a link between abortion and breast cancer;[36][37] such a link was rejected by a National Cancer Institute workshop[38] and is not recognized by major medical organizations such as the American Cancer Society[39] or World Health Organization.[40]

The journal is not listed in the major literature databases of MEDLINE/PubMed[41] nor the Web of Science.[42] The World Health Organization found that a 2003 article on vaccination published in the journal had "a number of limitations which undermine the conclusions drawn by the authors."[43]

Quackwatch lists JPandS as an untrustworthy, non-recommended periodical.[44]

Investigative journalist Brian Deer wrote that the journal is the "house magazine of a right-wing American fringe group [AAPS]" and "is barely credible as an independent forum."[45]

References

  1. ^ a b "AAPS membership information". AAPS website. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  2. ^ a b "Portent". Time. 1944-05-08. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  3. ^ "AAPS Online". AAPS website. Retrieved 2006-01-30.
  4. ^ "Doctors Who Hurt Doctors". TIME magazine. 2005-08-07. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  5. ^ AAPS (2002). "Volume 58, No. 10 October 2002". Retrieved 2007-02-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  6. ^ New Power in A.M.A.; Milford Owen Rouse, published June 30 1966 in the New York Times. Accessed March 16 2007.
  7. ^ "National Council". John Birch Society. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  8. ^ "AAPS Mandatory Vaccine Factsheet". AAPS website. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
  9. ^ "AAPS Petition". AAPS website. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
  10. ^ "AAPS Letter Against Healthcare Reform". AAPS website. Retrieved 2007-02-23.
  11. ^ Principles of the AAPS, from the AAPS website. Accessed March 10 2007.
  12. ^ Medicare Boycott Urged for Doctors, published August 5 1965 in the New York Times. Accessed March 16 2007.
  13. ^ Notes on Opting Out of Medicare, from the AAPS website. Accessed March 10 2007.
  14. ^ RESOLUTION 2001-1: Medical Care Is NOT a Right, from the AAPS website. Accessed March 10 2007.
  15. ^ The Standard of Care, from the AAPS website. Accessed March 10 2007.
  16. ^ Resolution passed by the Assembly - Affirming the Sanctity of Human Life, from the AAPS website. Accessed March 12 2007.
  17. ^ Comments re: Docket No. 2005N-0345, RIN 0910-AF72, from the AAPS website. Accessed March 12 2007.
  18. ^ "Membership Information". AAPS. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
  19. ^ Judge Rules Government Covered Up Lies on Panel, By Robert Pear. From the New York Times, December 19 1997; accessed January 3 2008.
  20. ^ Court Clears Clinton Aide In Lying Case, by Neil A. Lewis. Published in the New York Times, August 25 1999. Accessed January 3 2008.
  21. ^ "Doctors Group: Limbaugh Medical Records Seizure Unlawful". NewsMax.com. 2004-02-22. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  22. ^ "Review for Doctors". TIME magazine. 1975-12-01. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  23. ^ Peters, S. (2001). "Physicians File Lawsuit To Overturn HIPAA". Internal Medicine News. Retrieved 2007-02-14. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  24. ^ Lawrence R. Huntoon (2006-05-09). "Sham Peer Review: A National Epidemic". Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  25. ^ "Why Is The DEA Hounding This Doctor?". TIME magazine. 2005-07-18. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  26. ^ Washington Post story, July 14th, 2007.
  27. ^ "Medical Sentinel". Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  28. ^ "Major Changes to AAPS Peer-Reviewed Journal". AAPS website. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  29. ^ "Manuscript information for authors" (PDF). JPandS website. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  30. ^ The FDA and HCFA (Part II): Unconstitutional Regulatory Agencies, by James A. Albright, MD. Published in Medical Sentinel, 2000;5(6):205-208.
  31. ^ Conspiracy --- Part III, by Curtis W. Caine, MD. Published in Medical Sentinel, 1999;4(6):224.
  32. ^ Environmental Effects of Increased Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide by Arthur B. Robinson, Noah E. Robinson, and Willie Soon. Published in The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, 2007; 12(3), 79.
  33. ^ Questioning HIV/AIDS: Morally Reprehensible or Scientifically Warranted?, by Henry Bauer. Published in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons 2007: Vol 12, No. 4, p. 116.
  34. ^ AIDS - A Heterosexual Epidemic? by Michael Fumento and AIDS - Inventing a Virus? Commentary by Peter H. Duesberg, PhD. From Medical Sentinel, Volume 2, No. 3, Summer 1997. | duesberg.com
  35. ^ Homosexuality: Some Neglected Considerations, by Nathaniel S. Lehrman, MD. Published in Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Volume 10, Number 3 (Fall 2005), pp. 80-82.
  36. ^ The Abortion-Breast Cancer Link: How Politics Trumped Science and Informed Consent, by Karen Malec. Published in Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Volume 8, Number 2 (Summer 2003), pp. 41-45.
  37. ^ Induced Abortion as an Independent Risk Factor for Breast Cancer: A Critical Review of Recent Studies Based on Prospective Data, by Joel Brind, Ph.D. Published in Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons, Volume 10, Number 4 (Winter 2005), pp. 105-110.
  38. ^ Abortion, Miscarriage, and Breast Cancer Risk. Fact sheet from the National Cancer Institute. Accessed March 11 2007.
  39. ^ Can Having an Abortion Cause or Contribute to Breast Cancer?, from the American Cancer Society. Accessed March 31 2008.
  40. ^ "Induced abortion does not increase breast cancer risk". World Health Organization. Retrieved 2007-12-24.
  41. ^ "[[PubMed]] database". Retrieved 2007-02-14. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  42. ^ "[[Web of Science]]". Retrieved 2007-02-14. {{cite web}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
  43. ^ "Position of the Global Advisory Committee on Vaccine Safety regarding concerns raised by paper about the safety of thiomersal-containing vaccines". WHO. Retrieved 2007-02-14.
  44. ^ Barrett, S., M.D. "Nonrecommended Periodicals". Quackwatch. Retrieved 2007-02-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  45. ^ "Bitter Heather Mills defends credibility as Wakefield anti-MMR campaign crumbles". BrianDeer.com. Retrieved 2007-02-14.

External links

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