Philanthropist George Soros has announced his Open Society Institute will launch a three-year, $15 million program to "combat the corrupting influence of money in medicine." Soros unveiled the program during a speech last week to Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons.

The $15 million will fund the new Medicine as a Profession initiative.

MAP will have two priorities: bringing medical groups and consumer organizations together to monitor the health care industry and promote quality care and ethical issues; and teach medical students and new physicians "how to advocate for their patients" in the face of for-profit medical policies, Soros said.

"There is unanimity among doctors, deans, historians, and health economists that money has never been so much in the forefront of medicine or potentially so powerful in determining medical decisions," Soros said. "But I am convinced that medicine is too important to be left to the mercy of the marketplace."

Full text of the article is currently found at:
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104
&STORY;=/www/story/04-15-1999/0000910058&EDATE;=