The Doctors’ Choice is Americas Choice

Required Resources
Read/review the following resources for this activity:

• Textbook: Chapter 12
• Lesson 1, 2
• Link (library article):
• Link (article):
• Minimum of 1 scholarly source (in addition to the textbook and noted readings)

Introduction
The medical profession has a muddled and contradictory association with its approach toward the tobacco industry. While the profession now firmly opposes to smoking and vigorously publicizes the serious, even fatal, with smoking, this was not always so. Advertisements for tobacco products, including cigarettes “… became a ready source of income for numerous medical organizations and journals, including theNew England Journal of Medicineand theJournal of the (JAMA), as well as many branches and bulletins of local medical associations” (Wolinsky & Brune, 1994). Physicians and reference to doctors and smoking were once common in tobacco industry advertisements. The story of physicians and promotion of smoking can be found in “The Doctors’ Choice Is America’s Choice” (Gardner & Brandt, 2006).

The role of physicians in the current opioid crisis is now under scrutiny on television (Farmer, 2019) by trade publications (King, 2018), peer-reviewed journals (deShazo, et al, 2018), and by physicians themselves (Hirsch, 2019).

For the initial post, research the history of the association of doctors with tobacco companies and tobacco advertising. Read about the association of doctors with the opioid crisis. Then, address the following:

• In what way are the two situations comparable?
• In what way are they different?
• Apply the concept of moral equivalence. Is the conduct of doctors in relation to smoking and the tobacco industry morally equivalent to the conduct of doctors in the opioid crisis? Explain your position and be very specific.

Follow-Up Post Instructions
Respond to at least one peer. Further the dialogue by providing more information and clarification.

Writing Requirements

• Minimum of2 posts (1 initial &1 follow-up)
• Minimum of 2 sources cited (assigned readings/online lessons and an outside source)
• APA format for and list of references