Response to “Doctors share responsibility for damaging discourse”
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* Noel Corser

I appreciated Dr. Kieran Conway’s response1 to the editorial by Dr. Matthew Stanbrook,2 as I believe there are many physicians in Canada who are supportive of the government’s attempts to address taxation inequities (even though we may take issue with some of the details). And I believe he’s quite right in saying that it harms our professional reputation when physicians and organizations are so very vocal on this issue without acknowledging the nuances involved.

Our reputation is already tainted in the public’s eye by modern medicine’s cozy relationship with the financially driven drug industry. Once our patients start to see us as more interested in the monetary aspects of medical practice than in our professional obligation to seek their welfare first, we will lose their trust.

Our business is based on trust, and it’s easier to lose it than regain it. As with much of politics, the details are what count in the end, and unfortunately the medical profession’s public discussion about these taxation changes is heavy on pressure tactics, light on nuance and even lighter on any constructive suggestions of our own.

## Footnotes

*   **Competing interests:** None declared.

## References

1.  Conway K. Doctors share responsibility for damaging discourse [letter]. CMAJ 2018;190:E21.
    
    [FREE Full Text](http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiRlVMTCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6NDoiY21haiI7czo1OiJyZXNpZCI7czo5OiIxOTAvMS9FMjEiO3M6NDoiYXRvbSI7czoyMjoiL2NtYWovMTkwLzI5L0U4OTAuYXRvbSI7fXM6ODoiZnJhZ21lbnQiO3M6MDoiIjt9) 

2.  Stanbrook MB. Tax reform plays politics with doctors’ reputations. CMAJ 2017;189:E1249.
    
    [FREE Full Text](http://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/ijlink/YTozOntzOjQ6InBhdGgiO3M6MTQ6Ii9sb29rdXAvaWpsaW5rIjtzOjU6InF1ZXJ5IjthOjQ6e3M6ODoibGlua1R5cGUiO3M6NDoiRlVMTCI7czoxMToiam91cm5hbENvZGUiO3M6NDoiY21haiI7czo1OiJyZXNpZCI7czoxMjoiMTg5LzM5L0UxMjQ5IjtzOjQ6ImF0b20iO3M6MjI6Ii9jbWFqLzE5MC8yOS9FODkwLmF0b20iO31zOjg6ImZyYWdtZW50IjtzOjA6IiI7fQ==)