Professional medical societies exist to supply a public voice for physicians in areas concerning legislation, education, and medical practice. This is all the more important in the current climate of health care in the United States, where media reporting of medicine is often atrociously poor, and related politics are bogged down in special interests and agendas that have nothing to do with the scientific underpinnings of medical practice.
As such, it gave me great pleasure to learn of the formation of The Institute of Science-Based Medicine. From their website:
The ISM is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to promoting high standards of science in all areas of medicine and public health. We are a watchdog group of medical professionals who believe the best science available should be used to determine health policy and establish a standard of care that protects and promotes the public health. We oppose legislation that seeks to erode the science-based standard of care and expose the public to potentially fraudulent, worthless, or harmful medical practices or products.
The ISM was founded by an impressive roster of physicians and scientists, and has already started their legislative work with a press release about how the current health care reform bill endorses monetary support for pseudoscience and bad “medicine”. I look forward to what this group can accomplish, and fully support their efforts.
