Article Considers The Supreme Court's Power Over the Medical Profession
The New England Journal of Medicine has published an article that evaluates the power of the supreme court to choose what is appropriate for doctors to prescribe and how theyshould practice. Examples range from abortion and assisted suicide legislation to prescription of steroids for body building or psychoactive drugs for recreational purposes. The article points out a trend of the supreme court deferring to the medical profession's understanding of its purposes, including "regard for ethical pronouncements by professional organizations when construing ambiguous legal terms, reliance on professional self-regulation (through licensing boards, second opinions, and peer review) to restrain errant practitioners, and dependence on individual doctors' clinical judgments to safeguard (and balance) patients' rights and government interests."