ABSTRACT
Physicians are in turmoil. Their historical control of medicine is increasingly being challenged by outside forces, including government regulation, giant health insurance corporations, and salary-paying hospitals and health maintenance organizations. The American Medical Association is primarily a trade organization. As such, it has used the concept of "professional ethics" to promote its members' reputation as caring and responsible practitioners. The explosion of expensive medical technology led to the emerging focus of health care in the hospital and in the freestanding technology-based facility and to the concentration of ownership of health care systems by corporate enterprises. Fee-for-service physicians have a wide array of means at their disposal to increase income. Medical malpractice is the negligent treatment of patients by health care providers, including physicians. Public health institutions in both the private and public sectors are starved for resources and have minimum access to the powerful media machines that churn out public opinion.
