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Dr. Amesh Adalja has a new OpEd in Forbes: "Why Are Profits In the Healthcare Sector So Demonized?"
In particular, he makes both the moral and economic cases for profits:
[P]hysicians are often considered by the public to be part of an exalted class who labor tirelessly with no thought other than serving their fellow man and are, for the most part, paid well for their sacrifice. To ascribe profit-seeking to a profession that is heralded as an embodiment of self-sacrifice would offend the sensibilities of the public and many physicians. Moreover, the idea that a physician might refrain from life-saving action because of a concern for remuneration is considered akin to extortion by many. Indeed, amongst physicians, those who practice in such "elective" fields as plastic surgery are held to be crasser than, for example, the medical oncologist.(Read the full text of "Why Are Profits In the Healthcare Sector So Demonized?")
What is ignored by those who subscribe to this view of profits is the fact that profits are not just something to be tolerated; they are a vital—and completely moral—motivation for anyone engaged in productive activity. Without the prospect of earning a profit, all activity above bare subsistence would cease (or would never have occurred) and mankind might still be in the caves. Given that healthcare involves life-or-death decisions, it is all the more important that this indispensable factor be present...
