WASHINGTON, D.C. – The American Association of Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS), a conservative non-profit organization, responded to the “door-to-door” campaign planned by the Biden Administration to nudge unvaccinated Americans to get the jab, claiming that the efforts essentially amount to coercion and stating that it is both “unconstitutional” and “unethical.”
The door-to-door campaign is planned for less vaccinated pockets of the country, and aims to inform people where to get the shot and to address safety concerns and misinformation about the vaccines. The Biden Administration is reportedly especially concerned over the more contagious Delta variant of the virus causing potential COVID-19 surges in these regions.
In response to the campaign, AAPS released a statement this week, claiming that the federal government interjecting themselves into people’s home to promote inoculation essentially amounts to solicitation, which they say “violates the ethical principles of protecting confidentiality and informed consent.”
The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) made the following observations:
- The U.S. Constitution provides no authority for the federal government to be involved in medicine, for example, by recommending, promoting, or mandating treatments.
- If the Ambassador knows a person’s vaccination status, the government has already been collecting personal health data and sharing it with agents having nothing to do with the person’s care, a violation of the Fourth Amendment. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) will not protect you—it allows very broad disclosure to government officials.
- States have the lawful authority to regulate the practice of medicine, but the Ambassadors are evidently not under any constraints regarding training, credentialing, documentation, or scope of practice, although they are collecting data and giving medical advice without supervision. Even medical assistants and medical scribes need to meet certain qualifications.
- Ambassadors are promoting an experimental product, with no information on risks. Even if a product is FDA-approved, advertisers and medical professionals must divulge risks, such as heart inflammation, paralysis from Guillain-Barré or other causes, miscarriage, or death. Contrast the Ambassador’s script with the disclosures on a television ad for a drug, say one to treat your dog’s heartworm.
“Health professionals need a patient’s implied consent even to be seen; they may not simply show up uninvited at a stranger’s home,” the AAPS said. “For both legal and ethical reasons, the program should be discontinued at once.”
AAPS made several observations in their release, including claiming that the U.S. Constitution does not grant the federal government the authority to promote or mandate treatments; that it is a violation of the Fourth Amendment if the government is aware of your vaccination status without your consent; and that the door-to-door Ambassadors are collecting data and giving medical advice without supervision or medical training.
AAPS was originally founded in 1943 and currently has approximately 7,000 individual members, according to their website. The group has been accused of promoting medical disinformation, such as denying a link between HIV and AIDS and claiming during the 2008 presidential campaign that Barack Obama was captivating his audiences through hypnosis.
However, the executive director of AAPS, Dr. Jane Orient, said the group doesn’t normally take positions on medical issues and merely attempts to highlight “non-mainstream” views.
“We just raise questions,” she said. “There is no settled science about anything. If you are working on the wrong hypothesis, how are you ever going to get the right answer?”
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