AAFP-Coke editorial was “music to [our] ears”

For decades I have been appalled by the AAFP Foundation’s choice of partners in producing health “education” materials that boldly display corporate names that are not consistent with the health message my professional organization should be sending. Your editorial was music to my ears.

John A. Patterson, MD, MSPH
Riverview Clinic
Irvine, Ky

Thanks for the great editorial. It reminds me of the AMA and Sunbeam product deal a while back.

The sad thing is, primary care is in such dire straits in terms of funding that this is what some people stoop to. For what it’s worth, here are a few of my suggestions for ways to begin fixing the US health care system:

1. Pay primary care physicians more (equalize the hourly rate for all doctors, that is), so we don’t have to be tempted to consider such unethical choices. An hour of my time is worth the same as that of a radiologist, a cardiologist, or a gastroenterologist.
2. Require the US Food and Drug Administration to regulate junk food (which is regulated in Great Britain).
3. Ban direct-to-consumer pharmaceutical marketing, which is clearly bad for Americans’ health.
4. Do not publish clinical trials that have been funded by pharmaceutical companies. (Better yet, require all clinical trials to be carried out by a neutral organization, such as a branch of the National Institutes of Health, so we can have more faith that the data have not been manipulated to get the “right answer.”
5. Adopt a universal single payer system or a public option, at the very least. As of today, this sadly looks to be a long shot. But maybe when the system completely collapses under its own weight in 10 or 15 years, we’ll finally have a chance at real change.

Bert Bieler, MD
Newark, Del

Thanks for shining a sunbeam on the AAFP-Coke deal. You may recall how several of us were ostracized in the 1980s for daring to question the Academy’s commercial ties to Philip Morris. The more things change….

Alan Blum, MD
The University of Alabama Center for the Study of Tobacco and Society

I agree that AAFP should not sell out to Coke, and have said so to the Academy. But it took me until the 5th paragraph of your editorial to see that the first 4 paragraphs were written sarcastically. Please consider putting your point earlier in the body of the article, or making the title more clear.

Brandan Hull, MD
Providence Medical Group
Central Point, Ore