Punishment for Public Service
The tendency to paint the opposition as not only wrong but criminally wrong has added tremendous risk to public service. In the current environment, I often find myself asking for written reassurance that I will not be held liable or that my legal costs will be covered by the institution for service on any committee where decisions must be made. The committees on which I have served for which liability is a possibility have included investigations of scientific misconduct and personal misconduct of individual physicians as well as promotion and tenure committees.
Being confronted with the foibles and imperfections of my fellow scientists and physicians is not only distasteful but potentially financially ruinous if I find myself charged with libel as a result. Service on an advisory panel of the FDA is not lucrative and the major returns for this service are found elsewhere. If current trends continue, the result of any decision made in the name of an institution or in the name of the public will carry with it a requirement for legal defense.
