Censored By ABC, Obama's Longtime Doctor Speaks Out

7/16/09
To watch the video;
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3839

The doctor who served as Obama's personal physician for 22 years speaks out about how ABC disinvited him from their healthcare forum two days before the prime-time event where he was planning to ask about single-payer healthcare.

Watch FAIR's exclusive video interview with Dr. Scheiner and add your name to FAIR's petition demanding that the networks include single-payer in the healthcare debate here.


Many experts see single-payer national health insurance as the most sensible solution to expand coverage to the uninsured and to reduce costs.

This proposal polls well with the public, who preferred it two-to-one over a privatized system in a recent survey (New York Times/CBS, 1/11-15/09). It is also preferred by 59 percent of physicians, according to a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (4/1/08).

Yet a recent study by FAIR found that of hundreds of stories about health care in major outlets earlier this year, only five stories included the views of advocates of single-payer--none of which appeared on the television networks.

The insurance lobbies and many politicians may not want to talk about single-payer. But that makes it all the more important that the media do.

Please cover single-payer healthcare proposals, and stop silencing their advocates.


Thousands of people have signed onto this petition, including Harvard medical professors Steffie Woolhandler and David Himmelstein and Dr. Quentin Young of Physicians for a National Health Program; Donna Smith of the California Nurses Association; filmmaker Michael Moore; former MSNBC host Phil Donahue and actor Mike Farrell.

Considering the climate around health care, pursuing single payer would be even harder to deal with. If we think the fight to shut down the current ideas is bad, just try going for single payer at this time.

Could be what ABC was thinking. It's bad enough that people think what is being proposed 'now 'is single payer now, adding it to the conversation will only reinforce the idea that it's all about single payer when it is not. Can't say I blame them for dis-inviting this conversation at this time. Though I do think it should be discussed at some point if for no other reason but to stop all the disinformation about single payer.

Does his doctor have the birth certificate?