First this from Richard Cohen's column in today's Washington Post:
"Sen. Bill Frist watched a videotape last week of Terri Schiavo made by her parents in 2001. He did this in his capacity as Senate majority leader and as a renowned physician. In both roles he performed miserably. As a senator, he showed himself to be an unscrupulous opportunist. As a physician, he was guilty of practicing medicine without a brain.Then this.
After viewing the tape, Frist felt confident in questioning the several courts and many doctors who -- apparently handicapped by firsthand examinations -- had erroneously concluded that Schiavo was in a "persistent vegetative state."
What remains is a legal case that no longer is about Schiavo. Instead it's about the politics of abortion -- right to life -- and political opportunism. Terri Schiavo lives so that others, notably Frist, can run for higher office. I know that by watching the tape."
". . ."fairly dramatic developments," including a statement by Pope John Paul II that removing a feeding tube would be a sin except in rare instances, are proof that Schiavo's constitutional rights to freely practice her religion are being infringed upon. Refusing to resume her tube-feeding would "jeopardize her eternal soul."And finally:
David Gibbs III, the attorney for Terri Schiavo's parents.
"You may recall that last December, Liberal Oasis encouraged readers to contact the Nashville Academy of Medicine and request that Sen. Majority Leader Bill Frist have his medical license revoked."
That was because he violated the AMA Code of Medical Ethics by spreading misinformation about HIV transmission and condom use. This refers to Frist refusing, on national TV, to disavow the claim that AIDS can be transmitted by tears and sweat.
Now once again, he has violated his pledge to "be honest in all professional interactions," "advance scientific knowledge" and "maintain a commitment to medical education" by claiming to make a superior diagnosis than Terri Schiavo’s doctors by watching a few video clips.
Since LO’s earlier Frist post, LO has obtained the official Nashville Academy of Medicine grievance form from the academy’s executive director.
To file an ethics complaint, download the form, follow the directions, have it notarized, and return it to the address at the bottom of the form.
Feel free to roll all of Frist's ethical violations into one comprehensive complaint."
2 comments:
Yesterday (3-21)morning a conscientious Republican friend called me after learning of the intervention of Congress in the Terri Schiavo case. He said, "I am no longer a Republican." I did not question him on his sincere decision.
Brad Byers
My second comment: I wonder how much public funds have been spent in 15 years of keeping Mrs. Schiavo alive in a "vegetative state?" And I wonder how much public funding Sen. Frist is willing to provide to each child in the nation whose life is in danger from lack of medical care, housing, or food? How much is he willing to spend (perhaps by recapturing the revenue he gave away to Bill Gates, Bernie Ebbers, et. al. through tax reform)to save lives in "blue" states?
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