Political Hypocrisy and Hippocratic Oaths

As a physician, Sen. Bill Cassidy violated his oath by voting to confirm a conspiracy-monger like RFK Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary.

I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug.

I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.

I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help."

This is the modern version of the classic Hippocratic oath, taken by physicians as they assume their duties as MDs. Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana graduated from LSU Medical School in 1983. In 2014, after three terms as representative from Louisiana’s Sixth Congressional District, Cassidy won the election to the U.S. Senate, defeating Democrat Mary Landrieu.

As a physician, Dr. Cassidy was one of the founders of a free health clinic in Baton Rouge. The Greater Baton Rouge Community Clinic. Its mission statement reads: "To provide healthcare and dental services to the working public that cannot afford insurance or healthcare and do not qualify for public assistance."

In 2012, Congressman Cassidy helped deliver a $500,000 grant to help schools provide student vaccinations through the nonprofit Health Center in Schools (HCS). The Baton Rouge Parish School System wrote in a press release describing the ceremony to award the grant. "Congressman Cassidy spoke about his historic relationship with HCS as a Baton Rouge physician in beginning the Hepatitis-B vaccinations and subsequent Flu vaccinations in EBR schools. Dr. Cassidy said he believes that school-based health centers and their services keep students healthy and in school and therefore help keep their family members healthy and at work."

The CEO of Health Center in Schools, Sue Catchings, described Dr. Cassidy's long-time interest in school vaccination programs: "I remember Bill [Cassidy] calling me from the floor of the Louisiana Senate when he was in the state legislature asking me if I knew about the flu immunization studies from a doctor in Texas — I had just read that same article myself. So, with Bill's help, we launched the flu vaccinations in East Baton Rouge schools the same year."

That was then. Now, Bill Cassidy is a United States senator. But he remains a physician, and sadly, tragically, it's clear he's violated his Hippocratic Oath with deadly consequences.