Waltham – The Massachusetts Medical Society has adopted into
organizational policy several resolutions impacting public health and health
care delivery in the Commonwealth.
The society’s House of Delegates, comprised of
physicians and medical students, attended the organization's Annual Meeting May
2-4 at the World Trade Center Boston and considered a variety of resolutions
proposed by members of the organization. Resolutions accepted by the House of
Delegates became organizational policy.
Some of the newly adopted policies include:
Health care is a basic human right
The Massachusetts Medical Society asserts that
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health, in all its dimensions,
including health care, is a basic human right. The provision of health care
services, as well as optimizing the social determinants of health is an ethical
obligation of a civilized society.
Ending non-medical vaccine exemption for school
entrance
The Massachusetts Medical Society opposes non-medical
vaccine exemptions for school attendance and will advocate for legislation and
regulation that ends non-medical vaccine exemptions for school attendance in
Massachusetts.
Modern abortion laws and access
The Massachusetts Medical Society will advocate for
legislation and policies that would provide that the only criteria needed to
consent to abortion are pregnancy and medical-decision making capacity; expand
existing safety-net health coverage for pregnancy-related care to abortion and
update pregnancy and abortion-related medical terminology used in legal codes
to reflect the most scientific evidence and knowledge.
The
Massachusetts Medical Society has longstanding policy that states “abortion is
a medical procedure and should be performed only by a duly licensed physician
in conformance with standards of good medical practice and the Medical Practice
Act of his state.” Additional organizational policy states, “neither physician,
hospital, nor hospital personnel shall be required to perform an act violative
of good medical judgement or personally held moral principles. In these
circumstances, good medical practice requires only that the physician or other
professional withdraw from the case, so long as the withdrawal is consistent
with good medical practice.” Those policies are unchanged.
Excise tax on sugar-sweetened beverages
The Massachusetts Medical Society will advocate in
favor of legislation that establishes state and local excise taxes on
sugar-sweetened beverages and encourage the application of the resulting
revenues toward programs that support food security and improve access to
healthy foods.
Flavored tobacco
The Massachusetts Medical Society will advocate to the
Massachusetts legislature and regulators to ban the sale or distribution of any
flavored (including menthol and mint flavors) tobacco products, to include
combustible cigarettes and electronic nicotine delivery devices and systems, by
any retailer, retail establishment, or other person or entity to any consumer.
The Massachusetts Medical Society advocate, and recommend to the American
Medical Association to advocate, that the FDA extend the ban on sale or
distribution of any flavored cigarettes to include menthol and mint flavors and
electronic nicotine delivery systems.
Promoting physical
activity
The MMS recognizes the health benefits of daily physical
activity and the health risks of sedentary behavior. The MMS supports the
recommendations of the US Department of Health and Human Services Physical
Activity Guidelines for adults and children, for regular moderate or
vigorous-intensity physical activity and strengthening exercise, including
those with disabilities or chronic conditions as their age, abilities, and
conditions allow. The MMS will advocate for policies and programs that make
available regular, safe, physical activity for children and adults including
those with disabilities, older adults and those with socioeconomic barriers to
activity.
Oversight of home
health aides
The Massachusetts Medical Society will advocate for better regulation
of the home health aide industry to make it safer for the frail and aged
clients.
Prescription
monitoring program
The Massachusetts Medical Society will advocate, at the
state and national levels, to promote prescription drug monitoring program
(PDMP or PMP) integration/access within electronic health record workflows (of
all developers/vendors) at no cost to the physician or other authorized health
care provider.
Tobacco sales
The Massachusetts Medical Society strongly
advocate for statewide licensing to be required of all retail locations
that sell any e-cigarettes, nicotine liquids, and personal electronic
vaporizers, in a manner that allows local boards
of health to impose additional regulation. The Massachusetts Medical
Society work with appropriate local and state agencies to adopt
regulations to better enforce the current minimum legal sales age and to
further limit access to e-nicotine devices, liquid
nicotine, and other tobacco products to persons over the minimum legal
sales age. The Massachusetts Medical Society strongly advocate for
statewide adoption of regulations to limit the sale or the offer for
sale of e-cigarettes, nicotine liquids, personal
electronic vaporizers, and other tobacco products to age 21+ retail
tobacco establishments in order to provide ongoing monitoring of
under-age sales.
The Massachusetts Medical Society (MMS) is the statewide
professional association for physicians and medical students, supporting
25,000 members. We are dedicated to educating and advocating for the
physicians of Massachusetts and patients locally and nationally. A
leadership voice in health care, the MMS contributes physician and
patient perspectives to influence health-related legislation at the
state and federal levels, works in support of public health, provides
expert advice on physician practice management, and addresses issues of
physician well-being. Under the auspices of the NEJM Group, the MMS
extends our mission globally by advancing medical knowledge from
research to patient care through the New England Journal of Medicine,
NEJM Catalyst, and the NEJM Journal Watch family of specialty
publications, and through our education products for health care
professionals: NEJM Knowledge+, NEJM Resident 360, and our accredited
and comprehensive continuing medical education programs.
