FP Report -- September 1998 Reader's Forum
Vilification of tobacco is out of touch
To the editor:
The recent printing of letters decrying the vilification of tobacco is encouraging.
Groups like the AMA and AAFP seem to be out of touch with their members. Tobacco policy is adrift because it is one thing to remind citizens about the dangers of smoking; it is fraudulent, however, to use the courts as legalized extortion to transfer smokers' money to politicians and lawyers.
Trial attorneys are playing physicians for absolute fools, especially since vilifying tobacco might increase teenage smoking. Later, the very enriched trial attorneys will only intensify the malpractice attack against our colleagues through the fraudulent civil court system.
The Journal of the American Medical Association just reminded us that medical "over"-treatment is this country's fourth-leading cause of death. Life expectancies are plateauing, or even declining here in Minnesota.
Health insurance (easy access without risk regard) and trial attorneys (force incredible levels of defensive medicine) ensure Americans often receive too much medical treatment. Tort reform, not tobacco reform, is the true way to improve health.
Physician fools = smiling lawyers.
JAMES LONG, M.D.
Andover, Minn.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department. Copyright © 1998 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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