The Scottish BMA is concerned UK welfare reform legislation will lead to poorer health in Scotland.
Chairman Dr Dean Marshall, of the BMA Scottish General Practitioners Committee, said the UK Welfare Reform Act was highly likely to significantly affect general practices, especially those with high populations receiving incapacity benefits.
He said: "More importantly we must keep an eye on the wider implications of these reforms. A reduction in income may lead to poorer quality of health for individuals and increased health inequalities for our nation as a whole."
The Welfare Reform Committee report published yesterday highlighted similar worries.
It stated: "The frequency of successful appeals seems to us to demonstrate the mechanism‘s shortcomings. There would not be a 60-plus per cent success rate with appeals if the system worked properly in the first place."
Mr Marshall said the assessments were having "devastating" effects on patients and new procedures should take into account the needs of the long term sick and disabled.
