AMA: Repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell"

(CBS/AP)  The nation's largest doctors' group has agreed to join efforts to repeal the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and rebuffed dissident members who sought to turn the doctors' group from supporting any health care reform legislation that included a government-back health insurance plan.

The American Medical Association also voted to declare that gay marriage bans contribute to health disparities for gay couples and their children.

Both gay-rights policies were adopted Tuesday at the AMA's 2009 Interim Meeting of House Delegates in Houston.

The AMA says the "don't ask, don't tell" law creates an ethical dilemma for gay service members and the doctors who treat them.

The other measure declares that marriage bans leave gays vulnerable to being excluded from health care benefits, including health insurance and family and medical leave rights.

The new AMA policy stops short of opposing the bans.

The AMA also voted to stick with its support for ongoing health reform efforts, while reiterating wariness over proposals that threaten doctors' pocketbooks and independence.

The action at the group's semiannual meeting in Houston could be seen as a vote of confidence for AMA leaders who voiced support for the $1.2-trillion, 10-year bill the U.S. House passed Saturday.

Several dissident doctor organizations within the AMA had urged the group to reverse its position and come out with a strong statement opposing Democratic-led reform efforts. Some urged the AMA's 544-member House of Delegates to vote to oppose any health overhaul that includes a public insurance option and Medicare payment cuts to doctors, and that excludes tort reform.

Another resolution stating that the AMA should oppose the just-passed House bill also was soundly defeated by a 350-167 vote, again showing delegate support for a previously-stated AMA stand.

Other policies adopted at the meeting include:

Ban Hand-Held Cell Phone Use While Driving

The AMA, whose policy already supports a ban on text-messaging while driving, said it supports expanding law to ban the use of all hand-held devices by drivers, to help prevent accidents.

A 2002 study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis estimates that 5 percent of all traffic accidents involve a driver talking on a cell phone. [And since then the number of cell phone subscribers in the U.S. has nearly doubled, from 140 million in 2002 to 264 million in 2008, according to CTIA-Wireless Association.]

1 in 20 Crashes Linked to Cell Phones

Guidelines for "Online Professionalism"
A new AMA policy calls on the AMA to develop, with partner organizations, an updated ethics code to take social networks and other online communications into account, to further online professionalism.

"Casual online communication has become the norm for many people through social media, so it's important for physicians to understand the implications their online presence may have for the patient-physician relationship, their professional reputation and the reputation of the greater medical community," said AMA Board Member William A. Hazel, MD.

[Airborne_Ranger]

Repeal the damned thing already. Commanders and First Sergeants by and large don't enforce it anyways, because they know better. I'm proud to serve beside several gay and lesbian soldiers, but you know what.... we're all soldiers. We all volunteered to be here and fight for our country. I trust them all with my life, and I would gladly give my own life to defend theirs. Just the mere fact that they volunteered in the first place, knowing about DADT, makes them even more brave and courageous in my book.

[Sloughfoot]

Repeal it and id every gay in the military and unite them into units similar to the "Sacred Band of Thebes". Good idea, these bands of gays were concidered to formadable foes by their enemies, perhaps we whould learn from history.

[hakori]

Sloughfoot, I think you are trying to be nice, but what you are proposing is segregation not unlike the militray used to impose on black soldiers.

[watch_wolf]

Today the AMA voted to reverse its longstanding endorsement of cannabis? Schedule I prohibitive status.
As newly amended, the AMA?s official position regarding the medical use of cannabis no longer ?recommends that marijuana be retained in Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.? Rather, the Association now resolves ?that marijuana?s status as a federal Schedule I controlled substance be reviewed with the goal of facilitating the conduct of clinical research and development of cannabinoid-based medicines.? -Norml website

[rf35]

Unusual that I actually agree with AMA policies. Since they normally support whatever cause pays them the most, they usually end up endorsing stances that favor big, corporate interests and scew the average American. Still, I think the organization wields far too much influence and power. Trim the fat and maybe it will become what it should have been all along...a group of medical experts who first and always have the best interests of the American people in mind.

[hockeymom441]

The rule is such a slap in the face to those that serve whom happened to be gay. If people are brace enough to give their lives to our country, the very least we can do, is recognize and legitimize their sexuality. We don't have to agree w/ it from a religious standpoint, but certainly society at large should NOT presume to play God and judge those who walk this path.

[velma179]

I agree.

This ill advised law should be repealed immediately OR we should just get out of the "war business".

Actually I'd like BOTH of those things to happen.