American Medical Association emphasizes interrogation policy differences with APA

SAVE AS FAVORITE

VIEW FAVORITES

By Stephen Soldz (about the author) Page 2 of 2 page(s)

opednews.com Permalink

(2) Physicians must neither conduct nor directly participate in an interrogation, because a role as physician-interrogator undermines the physician's role as healer and thereby erodes trust in the individual physician-interrogator and in the medical profession.

(3) Physicians must not monitor interrogations with the intention of intervening in the process, because this constitutes direct participation in interrogation.

(4) Physicians may participate in developing effective interrogation strategies for general training purposes. These strategies must not threaten or cause physical injury or mental suffering and must be humane and respect the rights of individuals.

In developing its recommendations, I know that the members of CEJA deliberated the meaning of every word; I also know that the AMA Code of Medical Ethics does not use the words "must not" lightly. The guidelines, therefore, leave no room for confusion. The AMA has adopted a strict prohibition on physician participation in the interrogation of an individual, and only permits that medical knowledge be used to develop strategies that can be presented in the context of general training. This was clearly reiterated in the statement the AMA released on June 12, 2006 (copy enclosed).

The AMA is aware of the article published in the July/August issue of the Monitor on Psychology. We have found that the commentary analyzing the AMA and the American Psychological Association positions did not accurately represent our ethical guidelines. By arguing that the two positions are similar and by failing to point out critical differences, we believe the readers of the Monitor could be induced in serious error regarding the ethically acceptable role for physicians. For this reason, the chair of CEJA, Dr. Robert Sade, has submitted a letter to the editor of the Monitor to refute the proposition that the policies are similar. In his words: "AMA and APA policy differ substantially in ethical acceptability of supporting interrogation."

While important differences exist between physicians and psychologists, I sincerely hope that in matters of interrogation, our respective organizations can be united in making sure that professional expertise is used to heal and to protect only, and never to exploit the physical, mental or emotional vulnerabilities of other fellow human beings.

On a final note, let me thank your organization for giving voice to concerned physicians in matters related to human rights and the treatment of detainees.

Sincerely,

William G. Plested, MD
AMA President

Enclosure

cc: Robert M. Sade, M.D.

To be fair, it should be noted that Behnke refers to the "body of the report" and insists that this report must be read in its entirety. I have so far not been able to get access to the text of this full report. AMA officials state that the report is being prepared for publication in a medical journal. Most such journals have a strict policy against publishing papers that have already been reported in the popular press. Thus, they refuse to release the report prior to publication. [In cases like this, of public policy relevance, I find this journal policy to be quite upsetting and immoral.]

Additionally, I was told, however, that the report has no official standing with the AMA. It was not adopted, only the above Recommendations were adopted by vote, and that the Recommendations stand on their own. Only with the publication of this full report can we be certain, but, at this point, it certainly looks like the claim that the APA's and AMA's policies are virtually identical is yet another cloud thrown up to obscure the APA's long-standing policy of protecting psychologists' being able to participate in the abuses at Guantanamo and elsewhere.

1 | 2

http://psychoanalystsopposewar.org/blog/

Stephen Soldz is psychoanalyst, psychologist, public health researcher, and faculty member at the Boston Graduate School of Psychoanalysis. He is co-founder of the Coalition for an Ethical Psychology (more...)

The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author
and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.

Contact Author

Contact Editor

View Authors' Articles

Book Recommendations for "Guantanamo Prison"

The Guantanamo Lawyers: Inside a Prison Outside the Law
by Mark Denbeaux

$32.95
Lowest New Price $21.75
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: NYU Press