January 22, 2024

ACR Opposes Interference in the Patient-Physician Relationship

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Kirang Patel, MD

During the 2023 ACR® Annual Meeting in Washington DC, a collective grassroots effort spearheaded by diagnostic and interventional radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians, radiation oncologists and medical physicists resulted in the successful passage of Resolution 11: ACR Opposes Interference in the Patient-Physician Relationship.

I was involved with the creation of this resolution and was grateful to share the resolution and its importance to the YPS Caucus before the meeting. YPS members unanimously voted to support the resolution, which was amazing!

What is Resolution 11?

Resolution 11 serves to solidify the ACR’s firm stance against any form of government or third-party interference that encroaches upon the sacred patient-physician relationship.

The ACR Council — composed of councilors representing state chapters nationwide as well as subspecialty societies, member sections, the U.S. Public Health Service, the Veterans Administration and military branches — overwhelmingly passed the resolution based on testimony from attendees, including many distinguished leaders in the field of radiology. These testimonies emphasized the complex decisions faced by our patients and personal anecdotes by ACR members revealing situations involving tough patient-care decisions that could be restricted by overreaching legislation or legal decisions.

All in all, it was impressive to see the strong and overwhelming support from the ACR Council to actively oppose government regulations or legislative actions that seek to criminalize physicians and other medical professionals. Resolution 11 also emphasized the importance of delivering evidence-based medical care based on nationally recognized practice guidelines while also considering each physician’s training and professional judgment.

If anyone is interested in making a change, we as YPS members can get involved in drafting another resolution to present to the Council. It is likely that many of us have the same interests and the ACR has plenty of mentors to help us along the way. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be part of the group that introduced Resolution 11 and am very proud of our YPS members and the ACR in general for successfully voting in support of this important matter.