Opinion
Antitrust case reveals what government thinks of physicians
LETTER — Posted Aug. 20, 2007
Regarding "Refusal of new Medicaid patients spurs antitrust suit" (Article, July 23/30):
Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, in her antitrust case against two clinics that are declining to accept new Medicaid patients, has laid bare the naked power-lust of those who use nebulous antitrust laws to persecute individuals for making business decisions that the government deems a violation of its arbitrary dictates.
This case illustrates that the government views physicians fundamentally as slaves, subject to compulsion when they act in "collusion" to protest the bureaucratic morass of Medicaid.
Compulsion of physicians toaccept Medicaid (or face stiff penalties) is only the beginning of the nightmare that awaits this nationif it embarks on any single-payer national health care plan -- a fact not mentioned by the presidential candidates who advocate for this dangerous idea.
Amesh Adalja, MD, Butler, Pa.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/08/20/edlt0820.htm.
