Why did so many German doctors join the Nazi Party early? Haque et al. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry Volume 35, Issues 5–6, September–December 2012, Pages 473-479

My friend Dr. Harvey Risch shared this with me and others today and I found very informative so wanted to reshare with you...we are having a discussion on the AMA and and its corruption

Why did so many German doctors join the Nazi Party early?

During the Weimar Republic in the mid-twentieth century, more than half of all German physicians became early joiners of the Nazi Party, surpassing the party enrollments of all other professions….This article lends insight into this paradox by exploring some major vulnerabilities, motives, and rationalizations that may have predisposed German physicians to Nazi membership—professional vulnerabilities among physicians in general (valuing conformity and obedience to authority, valuing the prevention of contamination and fighting against mortality, and possessing a basic interest in biomedical knowledge and research), economic factors and motives (related to physician economic insecurity and incentives for economic advancement), and Nazi ideological and historical rationalizations (beliefs about Social Darwinism, eugenics, and the social organism as sacred). Of particular significance for future research and education is the manner in which the persecution of Jewish physician colleagues was rationalized in the name of medical ethics itself.