MedCity Influencers

Torture doctors’ names should be public

JAMA this month has commentary piece on the ethical failure of physicians in the CIA Office of Medical Services (OMS) who helped organize, calibrate, and supervise the torture of unarmed, often innocent prisoners at Guantanamo. The principle of “do no harm” was abrogated by these lackey yahoos as they provided a professional cover to acts […]

JAMA this month has commentary piece on the ethical failure of physicians in the CIA Office of Medical Services (OMS) who helped organize, calibrate, and supervise the torture of unarmed, often innocent prisoners at Guantanamo. The principle of “do no harm” was abrogated by these lackey yahoos as they provided a professional cover to acts universally condemned throughout modern history as torture by all civilized nations.

My question is: Who are these doctors? What are their names? Are any of them practicing medicine in our country? When is anyone going to be held accountable for the despicable, embarrassing, morally devastating era of American torture?

The American Psychological Association has already mounted an attempt to strip the license of a Texas psychologist who participated in the “enhanced interrogation” of Abu Zubaydah:

If any psychologist who was a member of the APA were found to have committed the acts alleged against Mitchell, “he or she would be expelled from the APA membership,” according to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press. APA spokeswoman Rhea Farberman confirmed its contents.

We know that Captain John Edmondson, the former Commander of the Gitmo Naval Hospital, is on record as admitting that he countenanced the forced feeding of inmates on hunger strike (an ethical lapse condemned by 262 signatories to a letter to the editor in Lancet).

What else can Captain Edmondson admit to? Is he practicing emergency medicine now as a civilian? How many of the other doctors at Gitmo are now enjoying lucrative private practice careers? Have they all done as well as former Navy Surgeon General Donald Arthur (who now commands a salary north of $400,000 working as the chief medical officer for MainLine health)?

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Dr. Jeffrey Parks is a board certified general surgeon working in Cleveland who writes regularly at Buckeye Surgeon.

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