Economic and legal analysis of medical ethics

Abstract

In the last decade, the antityrust authorities have stricken one after another of the ethical rules of professional societies. Underlying this pokicy is the widelyaccepted notion that ethics are simply devices designed by the professions to limit competition and thereby to benefit their pecuniary interests. The antitrust assault does not consider the longstanding, nearly universal consumer support for controls on the activities of certain professions. In this paper, the narrow view ofcompetition adopted by the courts is assailed. Focusing on the case ofrestrictions on interactions between physicians and other nonmedical health care providers, some procompetitive effects of medical ethics are analyzed. Generally, professional ethics can only change the form of competition but not eliminate it. A proper legal policy requires recognition of the consumer concern with the form of competition and therefore requires a careful balancing of the beneficial competitive effects against any attendant limits on intraprofessional competition.