Dr. Jack Cassell, a doctor in Lake County, Florida says he is opposed to the healthcare overhaul signed into law by President Obama a little over one week ago. Cassell is so opposed that he has posted a sign on his office door which says if you are an Obama supporter you must seek care elsewhere.
The sign on Cassell’s door reads: “If you voted for Obama . . . seek urologic care elsewhere. Changes to your healthcare begin right now, not in four years.”
“I’m not turning anybody away—that would be unethical,” said Cassell, reports the L.A. Times. “But if they read the sign and turn the other way, so be it.”
Cassell, a registered Republican, last night on CNN defended his right to post the sign saying that he was pleased with the attention it was receiving. He suggested too that, in view of the increased attention, persons would now think some more about healthcare reform and what it really means.
In addition to the door sign, in Cassell’s waiting room, there are photocopies of a healthcare time line that indicate when major changes are to be undertaken in the healthcare overhaul, the L.A Times reports.
Cassell, 56, is not concerned if patients are turned off by his sign. He says, patients’ politics have no bearing on the treatment and care that he provides, but he would prefer not to treat persons who support Obama.
But, Congressman Alan Grayson (D-Orlando) has an entirely different view on the doctor’s sign.
Speaking last night on CNN, Grayson said it is a violation of ethics rules and he is “disgusted by it”. Noting that he has to protect the people of his district in whose area Cassell’s office is located, Grayson said he has filed a complaint with the medical authorities.
Suggesting that Cassell might be a “confused individual”, Grayson opined that the doctor must not remember the Hippocratic Oath which he took to practice medicine ethically. He added, it would be difficult to tell how many patients after reading the sign on the office door, walked away.
While no mention is made of race in Cassell’s office sign, Grayson said that many persons who live in the area are African Americans. He believes that the doctor is exercising “poor judgment”.
Stick to your guns on this issue. You have not violated any oath and have the right to be selective on political grounds in the patients you choose to service. Grayson thinks he is the sole moral authority on all questions (a trait of all little dictators). He has proven to me that he is an intellectual failure and that he uses his political position to try and eliminate free speech that opposes his opinions. We need people like you to not back down when confronting legislators who try to force you to agree with them or be silent. Most of the doctors I know (and I know lots of them) agree with you and are looking to you to stand firm on this issue.