\n<\/p>\n
The debate regarding the \u201cGoldwater rule\u201d has intensified following President Trump\u2019s recent rambling presentation in Pennsylvania (Trump rails on affordability \u2018hoax\u2019 and flings racist attacks in rally-style speech, 10 December). As a physician with decades of experience in health policy, I believe the current discourse misses a vital distinction: the difference between prohibited diagnosis <\/em>and legitimate observation<\/em>.<\/p>\n The Goldwater rule was designed to prevent irresponsible \u201carmchair diagnosis\u201d based on hearsay. However, Dr Allen Dyer, a psychiatrist instrumental in developing the original rule, clarified in October 2024 that it was never intended to serve as an absolute gag order. It does not preclude responsible discussion of observable public behaviours, particularly when a public figure voluntarily displays these patterns on a national stage.<\/p>\n We must allow medical expertise to inform public discourse. When behaviour that bears on the national welfare is publicly exhibited and extensively documented, discussing it within ethical boundaries is not a violation of professional standards \u2013 it is a contribution to the nation\u2019s understanding. Have an opinion on anything you\u2019ve read in the Guardian today? Please <\/em><\/strong>email<\/em><\/strong> us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our <\/em><\/strong>letters<\/em><\/strong> section.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The debate regarding the \u201cGoldwater rule\u201d has intensified following President Trump\u2019s recent rambling presentation in Pennsylvania (Trump rails on affordability \u2018hoax\u2019 and flings racist attacks in rally-style speech, 10 December). As a physician with decades of experience in health policy, I believe the current discourse misses a vital distinction: the difference between prohibited diagnosis and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37805,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[964,20824,1156,81],"class_list":{"0":"post-37804","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-donald","9":"tag-goldwater","10":"tag-rule","11":"tag-trump"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37804","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37804"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37804\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37805"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37804"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37804"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37804"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Robert Krasner<\/strong>
New York, US<\/em><\/p>\n