The Pelican Brief - The candidate's position on the issues Our vision, our mission - our hope for the future.
Today I'd like to share with you a vision of hope.
Do you believe that together we can overcome the abuses of managed care? Do you believe that together we can protect
patient privacy? Do you believe that together we can overcome antiquated antitrust laws? Do you believe that together we can achieve a vision that would weed these challenges out at the very root - weed them out through our will
and power to change the framework of insurance coverage to patient ownership, defined contribution, choice, and an array of products?
I believe - and I ask you to believe.
Together we can make it happen. Together we will make it happen.
Today is Father's Day. I honor my father today and every day by remembering the advice he gave me after I failed my first gross
anatomy exam in medical school. The memory is still vivid. I was filled with doubt - convinced I wasn't smart enough to be a doctor. My Dad listened to my doubts and then told me he had no doubt at all. He said, ``Do your homework,
have courage, and don't give up!" I followed his advice then, and I will apply those same principles until our vision is a reality.
We stand on the threshold of a new millennium. But more important than
the calendar, we also stand on the threshold of an explosion of knowledge - a quantum leap in our understanding of the code of life and the tools that will enable us to convert that understanding into health for our patients. In
the skillful hands of you, my colleagues, this knowledge and new tools give us an unprecedented opportunity to allay - and conquer - diseases that have plagued humankind throughout history.
But these great advances will mean nothing unless we preserve ethical science-based medicine, respect for the dignity of the individual, and the sacred relationship between a doctor and a patient.
Choice for patients and physicians, medical records confidentiality, antitrust relief, individual responsibility: these are the keys to a bright future - a vision of hope.
Let us say no to opportunists, who only look at the bottom line...to defeatists who say all is hopeless...to Luddites who decry technology...and to certain politicians who promise the fool's gold of scapegoating honorable physicians with oppressive regulations, police state invasion and intimidation.
Let us refuse to follow these false prophets into the abyss - and let us instead offer a brighter path - a better path.
Choice for patients and physicians, medical records
confidentiality, antitrust relief, individual responsibility: we need leaders who will pursue this vision with courage, candor, and confidence.
There are many doubts about the AMA - even within
the AMA. Let us banish those doubts and replace them with a new vision as we march towards our Mission.
Sunbeam is over; the Governance Committee has completed its work. Before any more suns set, before
opportunists destroy the ethical science-based practice of medicine, before our children abandon the dream of practicing medicine, let us pledge to stand shoulder to shoulder and march forward toward our goal - our Mission: ``To
advance the art and science of Medicine and the betterment of the public health."
Unafraid, unashamed, so future generations will say of us: This was their finest hour.
Thank
you for allowing me to serve as your trustee for the past three years. It's been the greatest honor of my life. I respectfully ask again for your vote - for Palmisano: A strong voice. A proven choice. DJP |
