Election Day has finally come and gone, and although it's true that the number of Democrat doctors in the U.S. House of Representatives will have tripled once the new Congress is sworn in, the statistic isn't all that significant—their numbers grew from one to three. In the Senate, Democrat docs saw no gain in ranks.
On the Republican side, there are currently 15 doctors in the House. Dr. Ron Paul of Texas ran unsuccessfully for president and didn't seek re-election to Congress, and New York ophthalmologist Dr. Nan Hayworth lost her re-election bid. Dr. Charles Boustany, a cardiovascular surgeon, won his race but faces a run-off against fellow Republican Jeff Landry on Dec. 8. No new GOP physicians were elected.
In the Senate, the only incumbent physician running, the GOP's Dr. John Barrasso, won handily with 75.9% of the vote. The only Democratic doc in a Senate race, Dr. Richard Carmona—a general surgeon and the former U.S. Surgeon General—lost his bid to win Arizona's open seat by a 50.4% to 45.2% vote to Republican Rep. Jeff Flake. Republican Senate Drs. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma and Rand Paul of Kentucky were not up for re-election.
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UPDATED 5:15 p.m.: If you can still find a telephone booth in Washington, it could probably serve as an adequate meeting room for the Democratic Congressional Physician Caucus, but that could change after the Nov. 6 election.
There are 19 physicians serving in Congress along with Dr. Donna Christensen, the nonvoting delegate representing the U.S. Virgin Islands. Christensen and Dr. James McDermott, a Washington state psychiatrist, are the only Democratic doctors in Congress—though they may soon have a lot more company. Of course, they both have to be re-elected first.
With the exception of Rep. Ron Paul, the Texas OB-GYN and erstwhile presidential candidate, all of the GOP doctors in the House are running for re-election. They are: Dan Benishek (Michigan, general surgeon); Charles Boustany (Louisiana, cardiovascular surgeon); Paul Broun (Georgia, family medicine); Larry Bucshon (Indiana, thoracic surgeon); Michael Burgess (Texas, OB-GYN); Bill Cassidy (Louisiana, gastroenterologist); Scott DesJarlais (Tennessee, family medicine); John Fleming (Louisiana, family medicine); Phil Gingrey (Georgia, OB-GYN); Andy Harris (Maryland, anesthesiologist); Nan Hayworth (New York, ophthalmologist); Joe Heck (Nevada, emergency medicine); Tom Price (Georgia, orthopedic surgeon); and Phil Roe (Tennessee, OB-GYN). Heck, by the way, is the only D.O., or doctor of osteopathy, in Congress.
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Just in time for the Republican and Democratic presidential conventions, the American College of Physicians has released a position paper telling the people who keep saying they don't want politicians to get between patients and their doctors to stop placing themselves between patients and their doctors.
"Some recent laws and proposed legislation appear to inappropriately infringe on clinical medical practice and patient-physician relationships, crossing traditional boundaries and intruding into the realm of medical professionalism," Dr. David Bronson, president of the ACP, said in a news release.
The ACP spelled out its stance in a 12-page Statement of Principles on the Role of Governments in Regulating the Patient-Physician Relationship (PDF). The statement noted that of particular concern were laws and regulations "that require physicians to provide care not supported by evidence-based guidelines and/or not individualized to the needs of the specific patient."
Approaching the subject politely, the paper begins by stating that "it may be difficult to distinguish between mandates that interfere with clinical practice versus those that promote good public health," but it goes on to basically say that unless you have scientific evidence supporting your position, don't tell us what to say and don't tell us what to do.
And it's about time someone said it.
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