A Florida doctor posted a sign on his clinic door last week warning patients to seek treatment elsewhere if they voted for Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. The sign also read, “Changes to your health care begin right now. Not in four years.”
Dr. Jack Cassell, a urologist from Lake County, told the Orlando Sentinel that he is not refusing care to any of his patients, “but if they read the sign and turn the other way, so be it.”
Under Florida law, Cassell is not doing anything wrong. He is only expressing his opinion, which he is allowed to do under the First Amendment.
All of us at the Daily Cougar share a different opinion on the new health care law, but we are all in support of free speech.
Just as supporters of the law have the right to celebrate its passage, those who oppose it have the right to openly criticize it, even if they are doctors.
Some people are outraged Cassell would do this, primarily because of his profession, and the oath he is under, but we applaud Cassel for standing up and exercising his right to free speech.
This issue will likely affect his practice, but this is an issue that affects him professionally and personally. He and others have every right to say what they want to say, regardless of their profession.
The sign has caused a lot of controversy, as expected, but by posting it on his clinic door, Cassell has opened a vital forum. After all, not many people have discussed how doctors might feel about the new health care law.
Perhaps this will make people want to better educate themselves on all aspects of the law so that they can share a more informed opinion.
If the good doctor’s sign had been simply an expression of his dissatisfaction with President Obama and/or his policies, the issue would have been confined to his right to say whatever he wants. The phrasing of his sign, however, takes the discussion beyond freedom of speech, which I believe was a red herring from the beginning. The issue now becomes his refusal to treat patients who didn’t cast what he considers a correct vote in a national election. I don’t know whether the law or the requirements of his profession have been violated, but I believe his action was morally reprehensible. Consider this: What if ALL urologists followed his lead? Would you have the same opinion?
It is one thing to criticize a law — that is well within First Amendment expression. It is another proposition to turn away (or imply that you are turning away) patients. Consider that he is a specialist who probably has some long term patients (my father has been seeing the same urologist for 2 decades). To inject this venom into the doctor-patient relationship strikes me as unprofessional, if not unethical. The First Amendment protects his speech – not any violation of medical ethics!
^In the end its his business and his clinic and overall a private matter. Yeah its unprofessional but like I said, his clinic, his rules.
^yes, but as a physician, shouldn’t your primary goal to treat patients, and at least make their practice conducive for patients.
“If you voted for Obama, he won’t touch your penis. But if you voted for McCain *wink* he’ll tooootally touch your penis.” – John Stewart