Wisdom And Good Works Are Often Not Rewarded

Sue and I disagree about a lot of things. One of them is capital punishment.

In the comments section, she said this: "Doctors don’t want to be involved in executions anymore (Even if their concern is legal liability, I don’t care; somehow, I don’t think doctors should kill people. There’s that oath thing…)."

"That Oath thing". Yeah, I know lots about being done-in by the Oath . . . not to mention, good intentions and the road to Hell. But Sue is missing the real point about doctors in our current cluster-screw. My response:

The concern is NOT legal liability. Doctors take an Oath to First Do No Harm (although I’ve encountered a few of them who apparently crossed their fingers).

Doctors should not have been put in the middle in the first place, Sue. The state (i.e. the politicians and the lawyers) put physicians in the equation to soothe everyone’s consciences and cover their butts . . . meanwhile the so-called “leaders” of my profession (i.e. the bigwigs of the NC Medical Board) were asleep in their ivory tower.

Nothing new.

Ethics - medical, political, legal or otherwise - just hasn’t been a big thing in Raleigh for a very long time now.

Like MeBlogin, I believe there is a place for capital punishment in civilized society. It is a necessary evil that punishes the worst of evildoers. It’s also ugly. We as a society should stop trying to “sanitize” it with needles and sedation.

Someone a long time ago said something very, very wise (paraphrasing): Give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s. I personally believe it works here.

Of course He wound up executed by the state.

Evening Update: I was waiting for it. Sue brings up the "cruel and unusual punishment" business (and cries hyprocrisy without actually saying the word). My response:

Sue, whether you “buy” it or not, the difference is that doctors take an Oath not to do harm.

Of course, based on the beatings I’ve taken in these blogs (related to my own experience trying to adhere to ethical cannons in Asheboro and getting skewered for it), I realize that many people don’t get “that Oath thing”. And they don’t care.

I don’t think I’m “extrapolating”. If I were, the Medical Board would not be taking the (admittedly very belated) stand it has. And I don’t think the prison doctors sandwiched in the middle of this “state-sanctioned” mess would be doing all of the exotic contortions they’ve been doing to avoid “active participation” in the executions the state of North Carolina has forced them to “attend”.

I would submit that standing in another room - across the room from the moniter with your back turned is not “attending” the “patient”.

It’s a farce. And it’s a farce that we as a profession and society need to face. The lawyers and the politicians put doctors in the equation to suit their selfish purposes. It’s time to put at stop to it.

As you said, executions are an activity sanctioned by the state. The state has plenty of employees (besides the prison doctors) . . . that, in this “right-to-work” state, they “own”. And I daresay that, in our society, there are any number of people willing to step up and perform this duty.

We could argue all day about “cruel and unusual punishment”. The Framers of the Constitution (who, as one comedian said, were willing to KILL because King George taxed their breakfast beverage) specifically addressed the concept and right of DUE PROCESS to prevent the “cruel and unusual”.

Now, "due process" is a whole nuther concept that I could talk about all day long . . . especially as it pertains to doctors and medical-peer-review and even HIPAA.

But that's one for another day/night . . .