Trump's Health Secretary Pick Tied to Fringe Medical Group That Defends Doctors Accused of Misconduc

[deminks]

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2017/01/tom-price-health-secretary-fringe-medical-group

Last week, the Senate health committee grilled Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), President Donald Trump's nominee to lead the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), on his plan to dismantle Obamacare and his extensive trading in medical stocks. But when senators on the finance committee question him on Tuesday before voting on his nomination, they might want to ask about a line in his resume that suggests he poses a much broader threat to government regulation of health care. Price has long been a member of the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, a fringe medical group that is deeply opposed to any government role in regulating doctors.

AAPS got its start in the 1940s, with the help of members of the John Birch Society, the extreme right-wing group known for peddling outlandish conspiracy theories. It has fought the government over health care ever since. Its statement of principles declares it "evil" and "immoral" for doctors to participate in Medicaid and Medicare.

AAPS has been a vocal player in the anti-vaccine movement. Its medical journal has attacked immigrants as the source of disease outbreaks, including leprosy, and suggested that HIV doesn't cause AIDS but that abortion causes breast cancer. The scientific consensus rejects all of these claims. AAPS was the primary source of rumors during the presidential campaign that Hillary Clinton was suffering from a major illness. It has opposed electronic medical records, calling them a form of "data control" like that used by the Stasi, the former East German secret police. Researchers estimate that medical errors kill more than 250,000 Americans a year, making them the third leading cause of death, but AAPS dismisses such reports as a bogus pretext for more government regulation of health care. AAPS was a prominent opponent of the Affordable Care Act, and Price appeared regularly at its protests and events, speaking out against the health reform bill.

(snip)

AAPS has long been a bad doctor's best friend. Over the years, it has waged concerted campaigns to protect doctors accused of misconduct.

In 2007, AAPS sued the Texas medical board when it tried to discipline some physicians for particularly egregious misconduct, including one doctor the board believed was injecting patients with jet fuel and formaldehyde as part of his "chemical sensitivity" treatments. (The doctor later explained that he was merely injecting patients with the "electromagnetic imprint" of carcinogens as part of his homeopathic treatments and was eventually allowed to keep his license, with some restrictions.) After six years of litigation, AAPS ultimately lost its lawsuit against the medical board. But in 2011, the group succeeded in persuading the Texas legislature to strip the board of much of its power.

(end snip)

Much more at the link. This is a criminally insane Clown Posse.

[marybourg]

1. I'll call/e-mail my Congresspeople about him

today. Was trying to decide which deplorable cabinet pick would be the subject of today's activity; he's it. Thanx for the post.

[Hoyt]

2. Ron Paul used to head up this group and he distributed a handwritten newsletter periodically that

was a racist screed. If you could get beyond that, the group is also against "socialized medicine" -- including Medicare, Medicaid and now ACA -- preferring to let patients fend for themselves with doctors and hospitals when it comes to payment.

[Mister Ed]

3. Wow. Kicked and rec'd. Folks, please read. n/t