This is a tough and unfortunate issue. Dr. Cassell's posting is in my opinion legal and does not break the Hippocratic Oath. He said he would not refuse to treat any supporters of the President or his health care plan which is a key point; he therefore shouldn't have his license removed. However, as a person who also strongly disagrees with the new health care law, I do not think the sign is appropriate and his statement that he "would prefer not to treat people who support the president" is troubling. My advice, if he or someone else were to openly post their political views (which may be dangerous from a business standpoint in most areas) would be to educate those about the laws and try to persuade them to see why the new law will do more harm than good. As doctors we should put the politics aside when focusing on treatment, but not be shy to tackle political issues that affect our profession. That is how the President was able to portray physician support for the bill even though most in practice opposed it but just were not as organized and vocal as the AMA (which represents < 14% of doctors).
Despite the article mentioning that most of Dr. Cassell's patients have been "overwhelmingly supportive" of his political stance, his profound outspokenness has the potential to offend and distance the same people he is obligated to be caring for. I think the article makes a good point that the patient-physician relationship could very well be compromised by Dr. Cassell's actions, and any patients with an opposing viewpoint would at the very least be made uncomfortable. This feeling would not be ideal in a place of healing, and is unnecessary in this case. I agree that his actions are probably not illegal, but personally I don't think he should be bringing politics into the professional office to the point of preferring to serve certain patients over others due to their ideology. Every doctor, as a contributing citizen, of course has the right to attempt to sway voters, I just don't see the doctor's office as the appropriate place for it. Part of being a doctor is acting as the neutral, objective scientist in search of the "right" answer. If a physician chose to begin educating his patients on the health care bill, I think it would be important to offer both the pros and cons rather than just sharing personal propaganda. My advice would be the same to a doctor completely in support of Obama and/or the health care bill.
That being said, I think it's also worth noting that historically doctors have been opposed to most types of health care reform (see addition of Medicare in the '60s, for example) because, I would argue, it is legitimate threat to their salary to expand coverage to consumers who would otherwise be unable to afford it. Perhaps it is a balancing act to keep the care-givers adequately content and providing equal access to care for all. The fact that many doctors are dissatisfied with the bill probably is an important point, but in my opinion, expected. Dr. Cassell has gone too far in discriminating which patients he would and would not like to give care to.
First, I think Dr. Cassell should be commended for taking such a risky venture. I think it's important to say that he's speaking/offering his point of view and probably the point of views of many other physicians about the bills. We hear about politicians and regular citizens' point of views everyday-but I think it's important to hear from the side of doctors and medical personnel.
Despite this, his approach of doing such an act is inappropriate. It's not necessary to display such a sign in front of his office to the public, and especially, to his patients. At the end of the day, he is a physician, and patients should be his number one priority. He should put his professional obligation first in this case-his expression will probably alter his relationships with his patients-and this is unacceptable and unnecessary. The fact that only three patients have complained or the fact that the majority has been supportive of his action does not deem it appropriate in the end. Even though his actions are not illegal, his medical office is not an appropriate place for such actions, and that there should be a separations between politics and health care in his office.
I think that, while Dr. Cassell is not breaking any laws, he is probably doing more harm than good socially. I feel that there would be a much more appropriate and effective way to protest Obama's Health Care instead of suggesting that he would rather not help people who support the new health care bill. If he feels so strongly about this, wouldn't it be better to take in those patients who supported Obama and talk to them one on one in the hopes that he can make them see his side of the argument. Simply shutting others out will not be as proactive as a more humanitarian view could be.