Mugger has comments on Dr. Dean as well as excerpts from an article by Democrat Marjorie Williams:

She writes, with defiant logic: "Where else but in medicine do you find men and women who never admit a mistake? Who talk more than they listen, and feel entitled to withhold crucial information? Whose lack of tact in matters of life and death might disqualify them for any other field?… Consider the high-handed way Dean has tried to shield great portions of his gubernatorial records. Similarly, doctors seem bent on ensuring that you not read the runic scribblings they have made in your chart.

"During one hospital stay, as I sat in a wheelchair outside Radiology waiting to be pushed back to my room, I began idly flipping through my chart. A young female doctor-in-training I had never seen before stopped in front of me and said, ‘You know, you really shouldn’t be reading your chart.’ I thanked her for her advice and continued reading. She repeated her admonition. I explained that I was 43 and couldn’t possibly read anything worse there than I had already been told by five real doctors. Upon which she actually wrested it from my grasp."

It’s a tradition for Americans, when polled, to lump lawyers, politicians and journalists at the bottom of the heap when rating professions. That’s hard to argue with–and probably pollsters themselves aren’t too popular–but it’s inexplicable, at least to me, that the ayatollahs of medicine are held in the same high regard as rabbis, ministers, scientists, astronauts and soldiers.

There are exceptions, obviously, but most doctors are real assholes. Thirty years ago, while an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins, I was talking with a brother of mine who’d also attended the pre-med-dominated university. I told him there was no way, after observing the idiotic behavior of future MDs in my freshman dormitory, would I ever seek treatment from one of them. Doug correctly batted down that notion, saying, "Don’t be silly; when the occasion arises you’ll be glad to fatten their wallets."

Nice slam on Krugman. Mugger should blog or at the very least have links.