Editor, Times-Union:

As a physician with over 30 years of post-graduate practice experience, I have had the opportunity to observe, and be a member of, the American Medical Association over a prolonged period of time. An enigmatic, conflicted, declining, yet powerful and wealthy organization, it has, in my opinion, finally crossed the line, and abandoned the prime directive of promoting the patient-doctor relationship. Instead, it has now become securely entrenched as part of the Medical-Industrial Complex and the secular-progressive political agenda.

So offended by the political, anti-constitutional policies and resolutions adopted by the AMA at its recent 2018 meeting, my wife and I both immediately terminated our memberships. Why? What did the AMA do to deserve this level of response?

The answer is quite simple. They have now become a political organization by endorsing a variety of anti-Second Amendment measures to combat their self-proclaimed “public health crisis” of gun related violence. Abstracting one of their communications, the AMA endorsed policies that included banning “the sale and ownership of all assault-type weapons, bump stocks, and related devices, high capacity magazines, and armor piercing bullets … requires licensing of owners of firearms including completion of a required gun safety course, and registration of all firearms … support banning the possession and use of firearms and ammunition by unsupervised youth under the age of 21 … oppose Federal concealed carry reciprocity legislation.”

What does this have to do with cost, quality and access of medical care in the United States? The answer is:  absolutely nothing.

The AMA is finished. It has no remaining credibility as a patient advocate organization.

Therefore, I would urge all freedom-loving Hoosiers and their physicians to completely reject the AMA. The protection and promotion of the patient-physician relationship must remain a prime, non-political directive.

There are a number of non-partisan physician organizations that exist, and they espouse true patient-centered, free market driven medical care solutions. One of them, of which I am a member, is the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPSonline.org). They will be hosting their national convention this October in Indianapolis. Again, I urge all Hoosiers and their physicians to pay close attention. Medical care is too important of an issue to be entrusted to the newly unmasked “political hacks” at the AMA.

Christopher J. Magiera, M.D.

Warsaw, via email