Florida Doctor tells Obama supporters: "Go elsewhere for health care"

[Soul Crusher]

OrlandoSentinel.com
Sentinel exclusive
Doctor tells Obama supporters: Go elsewhere for health care
A Mount Dora doctor posted a sign telling Obama health care supporters to go elsewhere.
By Stephen Hudak, Orlando Sentinel

8:22 AM EDT, April 2, 2010
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MOUNT DORA — A doctor who considers the national health-care overhaul to be bad medicine for the country posted a sign on his office door telling patients who voted for President Barack Obama to seek care "elsewhere."

"I'm not turning anybody away — that would be unethical," Dr. Jack Cassell, 56, a Mount Dora urologist and a registered Republican opposed to the health plan, told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday. "But if they read the sign and turn the other way, so be it."

The sign reads: "If you voted for Obama … seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years."

Estella Chatman, 67, of Eustis, whose daughter snapped a photo of the typewritten sign, sent the picture to U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson, the Orlando Democrat who riled Republicans last year when he characterized the GOP's idea of health care as, "If you get sick, America … Die quickly."

Chatman said she heard about the sign from a friend referred to Cassell after his physician recently died. She said her friend did not want to speak to a reporter but was dismayed by Cassell's sign.

"He's going to find another doctor," she said.

Cassell may be walking a thin line between his right to free speech and his professional obligation, said William Allen, professor of bioethics, law and medical professionalism at the University of Florida's College of Medicine.

Allen said doctors cannot refuse patients on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation or disability, but political preference is not one of the legally protected categories specified in civil-rights law. By insisting he does not quiz his patients about their politics and has not turned away patients based on their vote, the doctor is "trying to hold onto the nub of his ethical obligation," Allen said.

"But this is pushing the limit," he said.

Cassell, who has practiced medicine in GOP-dominated Lake County since 1988, said he doesn't quiz his patients about their politics, but he also won't hide his disdain for the bill Obama signed and the lawmakers who passed it.

In his waiting room, Cassell also has provided his patients with photocopies of a health-care timeline produced by Republican leaders that outlines "major provisions" in the health-care package. The doctor put a sign above the stack of copies that reads: "This is what the morons in Washington have done to your health care. Take one, read it and vote out anyone who voted for it."

Cassell, whose lawyer wife, Leslie Campione, has declared herself a Republican candidate for Lake County commissioner, said three patients have complained, but most have been "overwhelmingly supportive" of his position.

"They know it's not good for them," he said.

Cassell, who previously served as chief of surgery at Florida Hospital Waterman in Tavares, said a patient's politics would not affect his care for them, although he said he would prefer not to treat people who support the president.

"I can at least make a point," he said.

The notice on Cassell's office door could cause some patients to question his judgment or fret about the care they might receive if they don't share his political views, Allen said. He said doctors are wise to avoid public expressions that can affect the physician-patient relationship.

Erin VanSickle, spokeswoman for the Florida Medical Association, would not comment specifically.

But she noted in an e-mail to the Sentinel that "physicians are extended the same rights to free speech as every other citizen in the United States."

The outspoken Grayson described Cassell's sign as "ridiculous."

"I'm disgusted," he said. "Maybe he thinks the Hippocratic Oath says, ‘Do no good.' If this is the face of the right wing in America, it's the face of cruelty. … Why don't they change the name of the Republican Party to the Sore Loser Party?"

Stephen Hudak can be reached at shudak@orlandosentinel.com or 352-742-5930.

Copyright © 2010, Orlando Sentinel

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Awesome!    I hope more docs keep doing this. 

[LurkerNoMore]

Awesome!    I hope more docs keep doing this. 

Of course you do.  You already said you were going to the DMV for health care.

 

[Soul Crusher]

Of course you do.  You already said you were going to the DMV for health care.

 

And so will you and everyone else eventually.   

[Eric15210]

He must be a racist according to liberal logic 

[Soul Crusher]

He must be a racist according to liberal logic 

No, just a small business person sick and tired of the marxist asshole in the WH, just like tens of millions of us are. 

[LurkerNoMore]

And so will you and everyone else eventually.   

I won't.

I have the best health care possible.

Sucks to be you I suppose.

[Soul Crusher]

I won't.

I have the best health care possible.

Sucks to be you I suppose.

What if your doctor was some secret RW crazy and did this? 

[LurkerNoMore]

What if your doctor was some secret RW crazy and did this? 

They would not be employed in our organization any longer.

[Soul Crusher]

They would not be employed in our organization any longer.

That wasnt my point.  What if your fav doc did this?  Would you still go to him? 

[LurkerNoMore]

My point is, I don't have to worry about docs mixing politics with their professions.  If the jackass wants to open himself to discrimination charges from his current clients that is his business. 

 

[Soul Crusher]

My point is, I don't have to worry about docs mixing politics with their professions.  If the jackass wants to open himself to discrimination charges from his current clients that is his business. 

 

Again, I'm just asking, if you personal doc who you liked turned out to be a member of the VRWC would you personally still go to him? 

Me, if I knew I was getting the right service and treatment, even though the doc was a commie, I probably would still go there. 

[LurkerNoMore]

My Health > My Political Views

Easy choice.

[240 is Back]

LOL!!!!!!

[Straw Man]

If I needed to see a urologist I'd go see this guy and then after I was treated I'd tell him I voted for Obama

If he asked me upfront I'd tell him it was none of his fucking business who I voted for

[BodyProSite]

Lurker , as more and more practices, and providers close down,  but more and more people expect service it is going to drastically increase  the load on existing practices, even the best of them.  And with the gov lowering what medicare and Medicaid pay back and when it takes longer and longer to get paid back even the best are going to close down,  thats  why its  crock when bambam says he isn't forcing you out of your current service.   He is going to force your current service out of business. That way you have no choice but to take whats out there.    I mean,  if you work,, i dont know if you do or not  but if you do  would you stay around  if your work load got quadrupled,  pay got lowered,  and they told you it was going to take longer to get your check to you??  I wouldnt...

[Tito24]

This should be a red flag for patients..This doctor obviously doesn't care about the patents well-being. The doctor is more concerned about the bottom line.

[Dos Equis]

Congressman Plans to File Complaint Against Anti-Obama Doctor
FOXNews.com
   
An outspoken U.S. congressman is planning to file a complaint against the central Florida urologist who posted a sign on his office door warning supporters of President Obama to find a different doctor.

A spokesman for Rep. Alan Grayson, who angered Republicans last year when he said they wanted sick Americans to "die quickly," told FoxNews.com that Florida Democrat is helping a constituent who was affected by the sign to file a complaint next week with the proper authorities. Grayson will also file additional complaints with all relevant boards or agencies,  Grayson spokesman Todd Jurkowski said.

The notice on Dr. Jack Cassell's Mount Dora practice says, "If you voted for Obama, seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years."

Cassell told Fox News on Friday he wasn't refusing care to patients but wanted to educate them on how the new health care law would affect them.

"I came across the timeline for implementation of Obamacare and I got a little discouraged when I got to next year when I found that most of the ancillary services and nursing homes and diagnostic imaging, all these things start to fade away," he told Fox News' Neil Cavuto. "And I felt that my patients really need to know about this. And the more I thought about it, the angrier I got until I finally felt like I'm going to put a little splash page on my front door and just get people thinking a little bit."


Cassell, 56, also provides Republican reading material in the waiting room -- probably not a risky move, given that Mount Dora's 10,000 residents and the surrounding area lean heavily conservative. Above a stack of GOP health care literature, a sign reads: "This is what the morons in Washington have done to your health care. Take one, read it and vote out anyone who voted for it."

A spokeswoman from the Florida Department of Health, which licenses physicians and investigates complaints, said Friday there was no law prohibiting Cassell from advertising himself this way.

"Because there is no statute, there would be no grounds for a complaint," spokeswoman Eulinda Smith said. "It would be legally deficient."

But Grayson appears undeterred, arguing the Cassell has violated the Hippocratic Oath when he turned away patients on the basis of political beliefs.

His spokesman, Jurkowski, told FoxNews.com that at least one person followed the instructions on the sign and there could have been more.

"I think a reasonable person would deemed that being turned away," Jurkowski said.

A University of Florida professor said Cassell is walking a thin line between free speech and professional obligation. William Allen, a specialist in bioethics, law and medical professionalism, said civil rights protections can prevent patient discrimination. But the law only provides for race, gender, religion, sexual orientation and disability -- not political opinion.

Allen said Cassell may be within his rights if he doesn't quiz patients about their politics and hasn't refused to see anyone.

"(He's) trying to hold onto the nub of his ethical obligation," Allen said. "But this is pushing the limit."

Cassell has been practicing in the area since 1988. His wife, Leslie Campione, is a lawyer and GOP candidate for the county commission.

Cassell told Fox News that most patients have been extremely supportive.

"Ninety eight percent are energized," he said. "And once they read this timeline, they can't believe it. I started out just trying to figure out how to educate my patients but think every doctor in the United States needs to put this in their office."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/04/03/congressman-plans-file-complaint-anti-obama-doctor/

[drkaje]

A lot more of this will happen but a little less availability really won't be a disaster unless OBGYNs start getting squeezed harder. Even then, hospitals will be employing younger ones.