Malpractice Premiums and Doctor's Salaries
A large group of Warren (Ohio) area physicians donned their white lab coats Wednesday while lashing out at excessive malpractice insurance premiums that they say are caused by a larger-than-normal number of malpractice claims.
Without being specific in terms [naturally] of the actual number of malpractice suits in court, Dr. Morris Pulliam said the situation is causing doctors to close down practices and take early retirement.
''Health care in Trumbull County is on life support,'' said Pulliam, president of the medical staff at Valley Care Trumbull Memorial Hospital.
Health care in the county is on life support? I mean this is a problem. Are there going to be any doctors left in Trumbull County? Medical malpractice lawsuits continue to increase and the verdicts are getting higher.
Except they are not. A malpractice lawyer was on hand to witness this spectacle and he did provide specifics. ''Shouldn't their anger be directed at insurance companies? For four years in a row, the number of (malpractice) claims has gone down and the amount of money paid for those claims has gone down in Ohio. Why are the malpractice premiums going up?'' said Jim Crisan.
The article points out that medical malpractice premiums are high. Not mentioned: so are doctors' salaries. They are the highest paid professionals in the United States.
Look, they should be. Doctors’ salaries are high because supply and demand dictates their high income. And it makes sense, too. I want doctors to be our highest paid profession. All I'm asking for is that they put away the violin on how much they pay in malpractice insurance unless they are going to tell us how much money they make.
