John Launer: Doctors as activists
BMJ 2024; 385 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.q939 (Published 24 April 2024) Cite this as: BMJ 2024;385:q939
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Dear Editor
The GMC’s reason for Dr Benn’s suspension is that “the behaviour that Dr Benn had exhibited in not complying with the law on several occasions, disrupting public services and acting in a way that has led to a custodial sentence, would bring the profession into disrepute.”
This suggests that just because another authority found them guilty and they were given a custodial sentence that a doctor should be punished by the GMC irrespective of whether there is any risk to patient care. As the Post Office/Horizon scandal has revealed, a custodial sentence does not signify guilt. Furthermore, doctors may have demonstrated against apartheid in South Africa in the past and in Palestine nowadays. If a right wing government imprisons them does that mean that the GMC should also punish them? What if a doctor has been imprisoned in another country for protest - would that lead to GMC sanction? Surely the only reason for the GMC to act would be if patient safety is at risk.
Competing interests: No competing interests
Dear Editor
As suggested, there are many doctors who have been called to activism over the decades, having invested their knowledge and social capital into their advocacy work. The scope of activism explored by medical activists over the years encompasses sanitation, nuclear threats, health inequity, racism, reproductive justice amongst others, emphasising how much medics have an ability to change both the medical profession and society itself.(1)
To add to the work of Chekhov and Stone, it is important we spotlight the recent works of Lynne Jones, doctor and aid worker, in her book "Sorry for the inconvenience but this is an emergency: The nonviolent struggle for our planet's future" which offers a powerful and compelling account of her journey to activism.(2) She shares her 1980s experiences at Greenham Common, opposing nuclear weapons, through to her experiences with Extinction Rebellion today, offering a ground-level account of the important role of nonviolent direct action in meaningful social change. The book reminds us that we have more power than we realise and it's important to use it before it's too late.
Launer concludes with remarks of many of us being "in awe" of the courage of doctors who take personal and professional risks for such important causes. Dr Sarah Benn, who was suspended by the GMC after engaging in peaceful climate action has been clear, she does not want this to be about her, but about the urgency of climate crisis . (3) Similarly, I attended a book launch for Jones's book, and she barely talked about herself, and mostly about the urgency of the cause. The best compliment we can give people we admire for their activism is to be a part of the movement ourselves.
The are many struggles which have preceded us and many that will go on after us - it's our call how we engage with it when we're around. Very few people who advocate for others and meaningful change enjoy the praise they get. Other people's activism, if we engage authentically with it, should remind us to also do the work. This is what they would want too.
1) Podolsky S, Jones D. Medical activists as agents of change BMJ 2022; 379 :o3049 doi:10.1136/bmj.o3049
2) Jones,L. Sorry for the inconvenience but this is an emergency. The nonviolent structure for our planet’s future. Hurst & Company, London. 2024.
3) Lowden, S. Suspended climate protest doctor says fitness-to-practise rules need review. Doctors.net. 2024. Available at: https://www.doctors.net.uk/news/suspended-climate-protest-doctor-says-fi... (Accessed 29 April 2024)
Competing interests: No competing interests
Doctors as activists : Why not?
Dear Editor,
My letter, to you, refers to John Launer’s article titled “Doctors as activists” in the BMJ. To me, in a way it gives out the current state of affairs and implies that by the rules in force, wherein just because a person happens to be a doctor, he or she cannot be an activist. Pardon me, for I may be totally wrong in my interpretation, but is there any such gag order for any other professionals from any other field besides medicine, or for a common man who lives and is domiciled in a democratic country such as yours?
Aren’t doctors well educated, well aware, coming from the same society, well intentioned, and nearly as well intelligent to know/ realize/ guess what’s wrong and what needs attention by the law makers, and the law implementers, to set things right? Why be choosy and decide not to hear good counsel for the society, county, or the country, if that’s coming from a doctor? Are there any genuine reasons for concern, or is that purely a bias of sorts? Talking now for the environment is not considered wrong anymore, and so everyone else can, but not a doctor. Is that it? And then, there is this other point of being hanged twice for the same cause, one by the country’s law, and for the second time by terminating their medical licence. Why punish a doctor twice for the same “offence”, if that’s the interpretation of his / her act?
Not so long ago, the Berlin Wall was demolished. I certainly do not like to meddle in your country’s affairs, but I wonder if it isn’t time that such gag orders and constraints against activism by doctors be removed. Who gets to decide it? When? Your legal text and judgements have a sway over the whole world. I can only make a request and that would be to be a little more considerate in such matters for doctors as well, and equal justice may be allowed to prevail, please.
Best regards.
Dr (Lieutenant Colonel) Rajesh Chauhan
MBBS (AFMC, Pune), Master in Medicine in Family Medicine (from CMC Vellore), Post Graduate Diploma in Geriatric Medicine (from the study centre at Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi), Associate Fellow in Industrial Health (from RLI, FASLI, Govt of India), Diploma in Family Medicine (PGIM Colombo, through IMA), Post Graduate Diploma in Disaster Management, Fellow of the Indian Society of Geriatricians of India, Fellow of the Indian Society of Malaria & other Communicable Diseases (FISCD), Fellow of the College of General Practitioners of India (FCGP), Advance Diploma in Hospital Administration (ADHA), Diploma in Nutrition, & LLB (Bachelor of Law / Legum Baccalaureus)
Competing interests: No competing interests