GUEST COLUMNIST Week of July 26, 1998 |
SAVE THE DOCTORS
by Charles Krauthammer
Syndicated Columnist
FULTON'S COMMENTARY ON THIS ARTICLE: |
In a free society, you may live your life as you please, without seeking anyone's permission, so long as you do not violate the right to life and liberty of another. In a totalitarian society, you must seek permission of your statist rulers before taking a certain action. Today, in America, physicians, as far as their practice of medicine is concerned, are living under what is tantamount to totalitarian rule.
Krauthammer, in his article, is pleading for statists to permit physicians to charge for time they spend on the telephone providing consultation to their patients. Without the freedom to charge for such time, the practices of many physicians are going to collapse financially, sending such doctors into early retirement. It is outrageous that physicians are now so hog-tied by regulations, prohibitions and restrictions that they must seek permission from the state to charge a fee for their time spent on the telephone. Physicians, like anyone else, should be free, free from the forcible interference of others, free to charge whatever the market will bear for their services. If we do not restore freedom to the practice of medicine, we are going to pay a terrible price: the eventual loss of freedom for all.
Fulton Huxtable
July 26, 1998
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