Benjamin Rush Society

<h3 align="left">What is the Benjamin Rush Society?</h3>

The Benjamin Rush Society aims to unite medical students, residents, fellows, and doctors across the political spectrum — as well as members of the general public — who believe that the profession of medicine calls its practitioners to serve their patients, rather than the government. We believe that the physician-patient relationship is a voluntary and mutually beneficial one. Both parties have a right to enter this relationship freely. The proper role of government is to protect this freedom, not to diminish it.

The time-honored profession of medicine calls for physicians to serve their patients, not a third party -- and certainly not one that wields the coercive force of law.  Doctors should not be required to base decisions on societal utility or the perceived marginal value of life; rather, their decisions should be based freely on the needs and desires of each individual patient.  The Hippocratic Oath reads, "I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievious."  The Benjamin Rush Society is committed to preserving the freedom to practice in this manner, according to the dictates of conscience and the interests of patients, and none other.

<h3 align="left">Why is the Benjamin Rush Society Necessary?</h3>

The Benjamin Rush Society is necessary because of significant interference by the government in the profession of medicine, in the payments made for physician services, and in the physician-patient relationship. Necessarily, medical schools and the medical profession primarily focus on the skills required to practice, rather than on how external forces will affect the profession. As a result, medical students are often not exposed to much discussion or debate about the role of government in medicine.

Sally Pipes

President & CEO

Pacific Research Institute

Jeffrey Anderson, Ph.D.

Senior Fellow

Pacific Research Institute

Robert F. Graboyes, MSHA, Ph.D.

Senior Healthcare Advisor

National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)

Clark Judge

Managing Director

White House Writers Group

Eugene Meyer

President

The Federalist Society

Deroy Murdock

Fellow

Atlas Economic Research Foundation

Grace-Marie Turner

President

Galen Institute

Bridgett Wagner

Director, Coalition Relations and Resource Bank

Heritage Foundation

<h1 class="entry-title">Doctors, Medical Students Abandon AMA in Search of Alternatives</h1>

<div class="entry-meta">Posted on <a href="http://www.912superseniors.org/2011/06/doctors-medical-students-abandon-ama-in-search-of-alternatives/" title="1:19 am" rel="bookmark">June 24, 2011</a> by <a class="url fn n" href="http://www.912superseniors.org/author/barbara/" title="View all posts by Barbara">Barbara</a></div>

The American Medical Association <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chibrknews-ama-debates-health-insurance-mandate-reports-membership-loss-20110619,0,2087008.story">lost 5 percent of its membership last year</a> as the physician group faced fallout from its endorsement of Obamacare and refusal to retreat from the law’s most controversial provisions.

As physicians and medical school students back away from the well-known organization, they’re turning to upstarts like <a href="http://docs4patientcare.org/">Docs4PatientCare</a> and the <a href="http://www.benjaminrushsociety.org/">Benjamin Rush Society</a>, two alternatives to the AMA.

Docs4PatientCare maintains contact with about 4,000 physicians who are primarily concerned about preserving the doctor-patient relationship. Many of them became active after the AMA’s endorsement of Obamacare in 2009. That endorsement was touted by President Obama and liberals in Congress to build support for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

The Benjamin Rush Society has 13 chapters across the country, mostly at medical schools. It was created to <a href="http://www.insideronline.org/archives/2010/winter/BenjRush.pdf">offer an alternative perspective to government-run health care</a>. The group’s members include medical students, residents, fellows and doctors.

Both groups are an alternative to the AMA, which has watched its membership erode in recent years. The recent one-year decline of 12,000 members is the latest indication of the <a href="http://www.medpagetoday.com/MeetingCoverage/AMA/27147">AMA’s waning influence</a>.

Even at the height of the Obamacare debate, the AMA represented only 17 percent of physicians in America. Of those members, about one-third are in training (residents or students) and a number are retired or in academic medicine. Physicians pay $420 to be an AMA member.

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he <a href="http://www.benjaminrushsociety.org/" target="_blank">Benjamin Rush Society</a> (BRS) was formed by medical students to support the liberty of doctor-patient care and stand up against the significant involvement of government healthcare.  The BRS firmly promotes the idea that both parties have the right to enter a doctor-patient relationship freely and not through government force.

“The proper role of government is to protect this freedom, not to diminish it.”

Unlike government forced healthcare, the Benjamin Rush Society believes that the proper role of medical professionals is to serve their patients, not the government.

Opposite to Obamacare, the BRS supports “the right of patients to control their own health-care dollars and to choose their own doctor.”

The society’s name sake, Benjamin Rush, was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and firm believer that “rights aren’t given by government but are inherent in human nature.”

According to our Founders, “It is the duty of government to secure these rights, not to create artificial rights while rationing our natural rights.”   The Founders’ desire was “to establish a government that would promote human happiness and — to them the same thing — secure the blessings of liberty.”

The Benjamin Rush Society follows Rush’s belief that “it [government] must be limited and must adhere to a principle strikingly similar to a guiding principle of medicine: First, do no harm."

The BRS actively exposes the leftist infringement of civil liberties on college campuses in regard to health care through forming new clubs and hosting debates.  They have already staged debates promote the proper role of government in medicine at Harvard, Columbia, George Washington, Duke, University of Colorado, Baylor, Texas A&M, and Stanford.

Are you going into the medical field and concerned about what direction this country is taking in regard to healthcare or know someone who is?  Contact your <a href="http://www.campusreform.org/about/staff" target="_blank">Regional Field Coordinator</a> to learn more about you can combat the infringement of civil liberties on your campus.   campusreform.org