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Mary LaskerMary Lasker
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of something; whether the something was adequate or not was not thought about.

Of course, the demand for care was so great that many of the doctors were, happily, overworked, but I imagine that by this time is adjusted to that getting very much or at least not getting more than they can give.

In the meantime in the fall of 1949 the AMA was really busy and was spending vast amounts of money with a team called Whittaker and Baxter for propaganda against so-called socialized medicine. I realized gradually that they were spending at the rate of over two million dollars a year in '50 and '51 and that we would not be able in any way to match their lies with effectively told truths with our existing spokesmen. I began to worry about the fact that health insurance plans that the Republicans were making in conjunction with the AMA for the campaign in '52 might be a serous handicap to the Democrats. Consequently, I started to think about how the President and the party could best be armed so as not to lose as a result of this terrific propaganda onslaught of distortions and lies.

Q:

While Mr. Lasker was still alive did he feel challenged by this team from the AMA?

Lasker:

Yes, he did, but in '50 he had his first cancer operation and he in '49 began not to really feel terribly well, and those





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