Letter writer Laurie Baker, in “Doctors’ behavior” (Voice of the people, June 9), has made a brilliant discovery! The reason for the skyrocketing “malpractice” insurance cost is simply the doctors’ behavior. As an obstetrician-gynecologist, in practice for more than 45 years, I can assure Baker that she is barking up the wrong tree.
When I started practicing, my yearly insurance premium was $224.
My first encounter with litigation was by a patient whom I examined in the emergency room; my impression was a possible kidney stone. I referred the patient to a urologist, who successfully operated on her and she was discharged with no complaints of any kind.
Months later, a well-dressed and extremely polite gentleman asked me if I was Dr. So-and-So, then handed me an envelope and wished me “good luck.” The claim was that I did not supervise, adequately, the nurse aid who gave her an enema and traumatized her hemorrhoids. After the ER examination, I did not participate, in any way, in her care; also she was not billed. The hospital record had my name as the admitting physician. I provided all the records, along with my personal narrative report, to the insurance company and one of the executives reassured me that I was not responsible for any of the claims.
Months later I received a letter from the insurance company to inform me that the case was “successfully” settled for $500. I was told that the company knew that this was a frivolous claim, but if an attorney had handled the case, it would have cost the company around $5,000, so we had to waste $500 and save the company $4,500.
The moral of the story: The outcome of each case has nothing to do with whether the lawsuit is justified or not; the only thing that counts is what it will cost the insurance company. Since the insurance company is there to make money, it has two considerations: what will cost less and how much will it have to raise the yearly premium.
By the way, the present cost for coverage per year in the Cook County area is $155,000. It has been a long, long time up since 1960.
