FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 27, 2000
Contact: Tim Clarke, Jr., AMSA Director of Public Relations
Daytime Phone: (703) 620-6600, ext. 207

Reston, VA-The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the nation's largest, independent medical student organization, is concerned about the results of a recent study on physician lobbying. The study, published in the November 27, 2000 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, demonstrates that physicians are frequent and effective lobbyists to the U.S. Congress but that their lobbying efforts do not generally address major public health issues.

"America's future physicians are committed to advocating on Capitol Hill for solutions to tough public health problems, such as 44 million uninsured Americans and disturbing racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in health," said Sindhu Srinivas M.D., AMSA national president. Srinivas continued, "Physicians have a professional responsibility to lobby for improvements on broader public health issues that impact patients, not just for improvements in reimbursements."

According to aides on Capitol Hill who responded to the survey, physician lobbying more often focuses on Medicare reimbursement, managed care reform, and biomedical research funding. By contrast, health concerns such as care for the uninsured, tobacco control, abortion rights, and violence prevention are rarely discussed, according to the study by Steven Landers and Ashwini Sehgal, M.D. of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.

"Like any other group, physicians have a right to inform legislators about issues that affect their livelihood and working conditions," said Mr. Landers, a medical student at Case Western Reserve University. "However, because of their unique qualifications and the trust society places on doctors, physicians need to educate members of Congress about how legislative action in Washington affects patient care and public health." Mr. Landers is currently studying at the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.

"This is the first known study to systematically look at how physicians lobby members of Congress," said Dr. Sehgal. "Policymakers told us they want more input from physicians about public health issues. We urge both individual physicians and physician organizations to work with legislators to improve our health-care system." Dr. Sehgal is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University and a member of the Division of Nephrology at MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Sehgal received AMSA's National Golden Apple Award for Teaching Excellence in March 2000.