Monday, February 03, 2003

Last month, Viking Pundit took note of doctors walking off the job at three West Virginia hospitals to protest escalating malpractice insurance rates. The Sunday New York Times magazine, in a piece cleverly titled "Surgical Strike," offers unsettling testimony from six WV surgeons. Here are three of them:

Stephen Alatis, orthopedic surgeon, Weirton Hospital: "I was born and raised in Weirton. Whenever I spoke to other doctors, they kind of smirked at the fact that I was actually back in West Virginia. They thought I was an idiot for coming back."

Dante Marra, orthopedic surgeon, Wheeling Hospital: "Everything is in my wife's name. I can't even participate in the American dream of owning a home, because it would be fair game for a trial attorney."

Ahmad Rahbar, cardiothoracic surgeon, Wheeling Hospital: "I did not take the Hippocratic oath to practice medicine in this environment. I am always looking at the patient as a sort of potential enemy – and that is not a healthy situation to be in."

I'd like to believe these are isolated cases, but as the article concludes, it notes: "Their [the West Virginia doctors] protest has already inspired some of their peers: surgeons in coastal Mississippi have just walked out, and doctors in New Jersey are planning a slow-down this month."

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