Outside Their Lane: Mission Creep in Medical Specialty Societies

Medical specialty societies (e.g. the American Psychiatric Association,
American College of Surgeons, and American Academy of Pediatrics) are key
players in American healthcare. Among other things, these organizations
develop clinical guidelines, provide continuing medical education, advance the
professional interests of members through outreach and lobbying, and publish
medical journals.

Because of the authority dispensed to these organizations in shaping clinical
practice, they are key players in upholding medicine’s social contract, an
implicit understanding that medical experts receive trust and autonomy in
exchange for high standards of professional conduct (e.g. technical expertise,
integrity, and accountability).

The promise of autonomy requires that it is not abused to inform or influence
matters unrelated to the practice of medicine. Similarly, trust is – or ought to be
– safeguarded by norms that medicine operates dispassionately and neutrally
from broader political and cultural conflicts. Patients should envision doctors
as healers, not stooges for larger political agendas.

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