Submitted by joan, May 6, 2008 15:28

New York State is on the brink of becoming a state without doctors. The malpractice problem and the runaway premiums that plague every doctor in the state will push many of the best and brightest to retire, move to other states and discourage young people from entering a field that rewards its healers with financial ruin.

And this has now become not just a doctor's problem, but a problem for everyone who needs that doctor in the middle of the night, for himself, for a child, for a parent. When doctors can no longer stay in practice because they cannot afford their malpractice premiums, where will their patients go for medical help? With doctors' offices packed already with patients because HMO's poorly reimburse them, when doctors start closing their doors for good, appointments within 6 months of need will become a luxury of the past.

As a medical office manager and the wife of an incredibly talented physician, I personally cannot wait for the day that push does come to shove and doctors lay their white coats down and walk away. Maybe then the public and the politicians who pretend to protect the interests of their constituents, will realize the extent of the sacrifice and the talent that physicians possess and have been forced to forfeit. I am tired of people saying doctors are rich and pampered. We work now to pay our malpractice premium; how sad is that? Doctors keep us well and keep us going; when will the time come for everyone to stop ignoring the problem, and step up and save the profession that we will never be able to repay and certainly never be able to live without?

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