Exclusive : Dr. John Brehany, of Catholic Medical Association, on Health Care Reform

Catholic Online was able to talk with Dr. John Brehany, Executive Director of the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) about health care.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - Physicians and Faith are in the news a lot these days as health care reform measures maliciously trespass on moral and theological grounds. On Friday The Catholic Medical Association (CMA), together with the Omaha Guild of the CMA, issued a statement of support for Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.).

The joint statement commended the Senator for his integrity in opposing federal funding of abortion in the Senate version of health-care legislation and called upon Catholic organizations to remain resolute in opposing federal funding of abortion.

Catholic Online spoke with Dr. John Brehany, Executive Director of the Catholic Medical Association (CMA) about health care and the state of medical practice in America.

Brehany, who received a Ph.D. in Health Care Ethics from St. Louis University, joined the CMA in 2006 after serving as the Executive Director of Mission Services and Ethics for Mercy Medical Center, Sioux City, Iowa.

On Monday, Dr. David Stevens, CEO of the Christian Medical and Dental Associations (CMDA), cancelled his membership in the American Medical Association and invited the 17,000 members of his organization to prayerfully re-consider their own membership. We asked Dr. Brehany for his thoughts on this action.

"We certainly respect and understand his action," Brehany stated. "The things he said about the American Medical Association are certainly true. That is a judgment call I know a lot of our physician members face and we encourage them to think it through clearly and carefully."

Like Stevens, Dr. Brehany also expressed the thought that the best hope for the AMA would be for faith-based physicians to stay and work for change. While Dr. Stevens stated that he no longer felt that change could come from within, Brehany still held out some hope.

"Our position has been, to our members, that we need good people to stay in and, even if they can't turn it around, to try to stop some of the bad things that are happening.

"When we exit these organizations that have a certain level of respect and a certain level of influence, we leave them entirely to people who want to manipulate them."

He referred to a time back in the early 90's where the Oregon Medical Association came out with a neutral position regarding assisted suicide which became a major factor in a lot of public debate. Through the hard work of some dedicated doctors, the issue was again brought up for debate and voted on, reversing the association's position.

"They came out opposing assisted suicide. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to turn around the public vote but they were able to overturn the influence of those who wanted to exploit the organization."

Dr. Brehany went on to say, however, that a lot of people, including Catholic doctors, have also left the AMA for similar reasons as Dr. Stevens. "It comes down to a judgment call. This is a reason why good orthodox Catholics and other Christians walk out."

He went on to say, "I don't think we can make the point too often that the AMA does not speak for most physicians. In fact, in this last battle over health care reform, they're not even representing the views of their own members who are paying dues.

"There are a lot of them who are very angry because in their House of Delegates they have passed principles of health care reform...the way they worked with the Obama administration its version and its bill of health care reform really has contradicted those very principles."

At their semi-annual meeting of the AMA in November there was a significant battle by members to force the board to retract its position which was unsuccessful.

Dr. Brehany expressed the same commitment as Dr. Stevens in seeing the two associations, as well as others, working together on issues such as they are on the Right of Conscience.

"People who take their faith seriously, anything from evangelical Christianity to Orthodox Jews, etc. and even, I would say, faithful Muslims, have much more in common, especially on core ethical issues, such as the respect for human life than with their liberal counterparts. A profound belief in God and respect for the dignity of human life is key... The cultural battles are not abating."

We asked Dr. Brehany about the Catholic Medical Association's resolution on health care reform adopted at their annual General Assembly on October 23, 2009. In the resolution, the CMA did not just go on record regarding what they oppose; they called upon Congress for a "reset" and to begin the process anew, with a reexamination of the actual legislation. They also earmarked key areas that should be covered in order for health care to incorporate the principles of human dignity.

In addition to opposition to abortion funding, there are other concerns about the bill from the CMA.

"Apart from those things we need to be against, we should be asking, what is it that is going to work? What is it that is going to effectively deliver health care that is consistent with human dignity across the board?"

He then explained a couple of their concerns. "How are we actually going to produce the health care products, say drugs, technology, services, you name it... How is it that you actually create those things and effectively distribute those things?

"A problem that I see with the big government approach is that they just think those things are lying around out there and their role is to take them and share them more equally.

"Really, they are not just lying around, people actually produce those. People go into medicine, people innovate, and if you simply take from some people and hand it out to others, it's a proven fact that people stop producing. One piece of this is pure economics.

"So, one question is how do you produce and, the, human dignity across the board."

"It seems to us, as the CMA, what's absolutely core and what often gets lost and taken for granted in health care is really the physician-patient relationship; it really is about that relationship of caring.

"It's about a patient in need, who needs to make a decision - who needs to care for himself or care for a loved one - and make an ethical decision in freedom about what to do."

"Ideally they will be making this decision and other the other side of the relationship is a professional who has prepared him or herself with knowledge, with training, and is there with knowledge and power to serve the good of the patient not to exploit them or merely to make money.

"On that side of the relationship, dignity is in they're being free to serve and to use their judgment as professionals to serve that unique person. Doctors will tell you that you've got all these diseases, all these drugs, all these things... you really need to apply them to each patient. It's not as simple as 'cookbook medicine.'

"What's absolutely characteristic of this plan that we've seen - 2000 pages in the House and the Senate - is that they think that government has to be making these decisions... [they are saying] we need to be in charge, we'll be objective, and we will say what people will get and how much it will cost and what will be done and how it will be done and what doctors will be paid.

"It will probably be a disaster because things don't work that way. It really violates human dignity on both sides of the physician-patient relationship."

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Randy Sly is the Associate Editor of Catholic Online. He is a former Archbishop of the Charismatic Episcopal Church who laid aside that ministry to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church in 2006.

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