I don't usually comment on such news bites as this one, but this story left me a little too incredulous to not comment on it. A Salt Lake area physician was charged with several illegal acts after he was caught "trading" drugs for sex with two women. The story is short and not full of a lot of details. The content is below.
"A Payson doctor pleaded guilty Tuesday to giving two female patients prescriptions in return for sex. After months of negotiation between attorneys, Max Kent Cannon, 49, agreed to plead guilty to two counts of distributing a controlled substance, a third-degree felony, and two counts of prostitution, a class B misdemeanor. As part of the plea deal, eight more counts of the same charges were dismissed. As part of the agreement, the prosecution will recommend probation, said defense attorney Earl Xaiz, but they could still recommend jail time as a condition of probation. "I do not view the women involved as victims and I don't think the system should either," Xaiz said. "They were trading sex for drugs and he was trading drugs for sex." Cannon, a former general physician, had his license put on hold after the charges were made, Xaiz said."
While this story will be found to be shocking by most I can't help but wonder about the possible hidden meaning behind this type of event. I don't know if the women here were drug seekers but that is a likely conclusion I think. The hidden part of this has more to do with the future of accessing healthcare and paying for it. With the cost of care extending beyond many of our reaches and hospitals experiencing fiscal hardships of all kinds this type of story brings me back to the days of old when people used to pay for services with chickens, eggs, livestock and labor. While I am not advocating "trading" one's own body for healthcare services especially when it comes to illegal drug use and distribution the thought of turning back the clock to days of old was never the less there. Perhaps the future will bring us back to the past when business dealings, bartering for prices and negotiating services and fees was, well, much simpler. I wonder if retail clinics will take a dozen fresh eggs for this year's flu shot?
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune.
While this story will be found to be shocking by most I can't help but wonder about the possible hidden meaning behind this type of event. I don't know if the women here were drug seekers but that is a likely conclusion I think. The hidden part of this has more to do with the future of accessing healthcare and paying for it. With the cost of care extending beyond many of our reaches and hospitals experiencing fiscal hardships of all kinds this type of story brings me back to the days of old when people used to pay for services with chickens, eggs, livestock and labor. While I am not advocating "trading" one's own body for healthcare services especially when it comes to illegal drug use and distribution the thought of turning back the clock to days of old was never the less there. Perhaps the future will bring us back to the past when business dealings, bartering for prices and negotiating services and fees was, well, much simpler. I wonder if retail clinics will take a dozen fresh eggs for this year's flu shot?
Source: The Salt Lake Tribune.