Stephan, funny, since the best part of the Beltway-beloved Milton Friedman’s best book, Capitalism and Freedom, calls for an end to medical licensure.
Why should it be a jailable offense, Friedman wanted to know, for an experienced nurse to open, say, a well-baby clinic in a ghetto, and not pay a hefty commission to a controlling MD?
My favorite licensure story involves dentists. Oklahoma was considering the legalization of denturism, the making of false teeth without paying a hefty commission to a DDS. At the hearings, the head of the dental society denounced the idea as dangerous and anti-patient. Why have their been no suits against denturists, one (primed) state senator asked. Well, said the official dentist, the denturists are sneaky. If the teeth don’t fit, the patient gets his money back and can keep the teeth.
We’ll know we have a free market when a dentist or physician gives you your money back for unsatisfactory results.
12:24 pm on February 7, 2006
