Media Matters has debunked the myth that a “New England Journal of Medicine study” found 46 percent of physicians prepared to “leave medicine or try to leave medicine” if health reform passes. But there is no Journal study. The numbers come from a “doctor search” company called The Medicus Firm. Investor’s Business Daily produced another slanted poll with a similar number of “doctors ready to quit,” however, and as the debate over health reform has demonstrated time and again, any “study” or two produced by vaguely named groups with websites will convince lawmakers looking to be convinced.
Florida U.S. Senate candidate Marco Rubio, Tea Party favorite, is the latest example– a man with a cause, a twitter account and really bad research staff, apparently. Rubio actually believes that half of the country’s doctors are saying they’ll quit medicine if health reform passes.
According to Dave Weigel at the Washington Independent, Rubio writes his own tweets.
