Association of American Physicians and Surgeons

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons is an association of physicians founded in 1943. According to the AAPS's website the organization is "dedicated to the highest ethical standards of the Oath of Hippocrates and to preserving the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship and the practice of private medicine." The motto of the AAPS is omnia pro aegroto which means "all for the patient." The group had 4000 members per 2005. [2]

A 1944 Time article stated that the organizations initial aim was to "defeat of any Government group medicine" [3].

Investigative journalist Brian Deer states that the organization is " ... of a right-wing American fringe group, the Arizona-based Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, which campaigns against US vaccination policies. The association is also vocal in opposing moves to combat fraud by private doctors, and medical professional efforts to reduce deaths from domestic firearms. ... [AAPS] is barely credible as an independent forum for such material. No objective medical scientist with important information of any standard would submit it to such a publication, unless they couldn't get it published anywhere else."[4]

In a 2005 article, Time magazine labeled AAPS "an ultra-conservative political-action group" [5]

AAPS helped appeal the conviction of Virginia internist Dr. William Hurwitz, who was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison after 16 former patients testified against him [6]. In 2004, they filed a brief on behalf of Rush Limbaugh[7]. In 1975, they went to court to block enforcement of a new Social Security amendment that would monitor the treatment given Medicare and Medicaid patients.[8]

Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons

The Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (JPandS), until 2003 named the Medical Sentinel [9], is the journal of the association. It's mission statement includes "…a commitment to publishing scholarly articles in defense of the practice of private medicine, the pursuit of integrity in medical research…Political correctness, dogmatism and orthodoxy will be challenged with logical reasoning, valid data and the scientific method.” Articles in the journal are are subject to a double-blind peer-review process [10].

The journal is not listed in the major journal databases of PubMed[11] nor Web-of-Science. Quackwatch lists it among untrustworthy nonrecommended periodicals.

WHO found that a 2003 article published in the journal had "a number of limitations which undermine the conclusions drawn by the authors" [12].

References

1. ^ "AAPS Online". Retrieved 2006-01-30.