The California Medical Association issued the following statement today, attributable to CMA President Dr. Dev GnanaDev:

"CMA is deeply concerned about two examples of medical treatment recently used by President Obama to make his case for health reform.

"In the first example, he stated that surgeons make $30,000 to $50,000 to amputate a foot of a diabetic. This assertion is false. Medicare pays surgeons $589 to $767 for a foot amputation. Medi-Cal pays $420 for the same. Hospital and other associated costs may add up to the greater amount, but it is incorrect and misleading to suggest the surgeon's costs are responsible for that figure.

"We share the President's belief that we need to put greater resources towards primary and preventive care in order to keep people healthier and help address the nation's rising health care costs. However, preventive care will never obviate the need for qualified physicians and surgeons to take corrective action to improve or save people's lives.

"In the second example, the President suggested that physicians take out children's tonsils to make more money. This implication is inaccurate and offensive.

"Doctors treat patients based on the health needs of the patient, not the financial incentives. When science suggests overutilization may be occurring, the medical profession has responded with improved guidelines to more fully inform physicians of the risks and benefits of any treatment or procedure.

"The California Medical Association is committed to reforming our health system to increase access to quality care and reduce rising health care costs. To achieve health reform, the American people must be able to trust our elected officials and the statements they make regarding health care.

"Patients trust their doctors. That trust is critical to an effective and successful doctor-patient relationship. We urge the President to stick to the facts and avoid the kind of misleading and inflammatory rhetoric that would erode that trust and derail our efforts to increase access to quality care and control rising health care costs."

Dr. GnanaDev is a trauma surgeon and chief of the medical staff at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, San Bernardino County's public hospital.

Source: The California Medical Association

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