Dr.'s on strike?!?

it's already happened in pennsylvania. privates are closing up shop all over the state. a caution to those interviewing at temple...the community hospital where their residents spend a full 12 months of their pgy 2-5 years has lost its level II trauma center. also, no operative ortho, neurosurg, or plastics is being done. most elective g-surg has also been cancelled. and, to add the proverbial insult to injury, the outgoing secretary of the commonwealth issued a letter to PA docs just before Christmas threatening to sue them if they continue to leave the state due to malpractice premiums. guess we know where he stands in the whole trial lawyers vs. docs debate!
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I was just reading that the Gov. elect in PA signed some bail-out clasue to prevent the docs from striking there. Apparently, it is cutitng the premiums by 2/3 by making insurance companies pay into a fund. It will be interesting to see how all this pans out over the next few years.

as an update...as of 12.01 am january 3rd, the trauma center i mentioned has been reopened. it is true that this is largely because of gov-elect ed rendell's proposal. however, it is only a proposal, ie nothing has been signed and no premiums have been reduced. docs are trusting that rendell is sincere in pushing through this legislation. whether or not the legislators will approve his proposal is yet to be seen. also, these are short-term actions that, right now, are only applicable to the immediate 2003 crisis. supposedly, long-term plans are being considered. stay tuned.

Being somewhat politically active, I joined a group called AAPS (am. assoc. of physicians and surgeons--membership is free for students) who is working hard in behalf of docs and pts to turn the imminent malpractice crisis tide. Check it out, or get involved any way you can...no insurance=no surgery!

Good coverage in a major paper: