Tuesday, July 10, 2001
Chilling Effect
In his letter (Opinion, June 24), Dr. Val Johnson asserts
that the Utah Medical Association recognizes the state's
legitimate interest in regulating the practice of medicine,
"even via the criminal courts." Neither prosecutors nor juries
have any expertise in medicine. It is not their function to
regulate the practice of medicine. Citizens do not want them
to be second-guessing decisions made by their doctors.
One misguided criminal prosecution of a physician for
providing pain management will cause all physicians to
hesitate before providing needed pain relief. They will have
to consider what a prosecutor might do -- such as withhold key
evidence, as the judge found in the case of Dr. Robert
Weitzel. Moreover, when powerful officials such as prosecutors
are not held accountable for misdeeds, it has a chilling
effect on all thinking citizens.
JANE M. ORIENT
Association of American Physicians
and Surgeons, Inc.
Tucson, Arizona
© Copyright 2001, The Salt Lake Tribune