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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (March 12, 1975)
Page 6 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, MARCH 12, 1975 In a bind Malpractice claims popular; M.D.s defensive By MARY JEANNE QUEBE Staff Writer Doctors now take X-rays they would not have taken before mal practice claims became so popular, said Nena Harris, chief of staff at St. Joseph’s Hospital in a recent inter view. Harris explained that if a patient comes in with a broken toe, a doctor can look at it and tell it’s broken. With the high number of malprac tice claims today, a doctor would probably X-ray it. “With as many legal suits as there are, doctors have to protect them selves,’’ she said. Harris was referring to the 20,000 malpractice claims charging doctors with negligence in 1974. The majority of claims never reach court; eight out of 10 that do usually favor the doctor. Most of the cases are settled outside of court, according to a recent Newsweek magazine article. The average amount awarded in a successful suit has risen from $5,000 to $8,000 in the last four years, Newsweek reported. To prevent a suit some doctors practice “defensive” medicine and order extensive diagnostic tests, the article said. Research done by consumer ad vocate Ralph Nader showed that de fensive medicine accounts for nearly a third of the X-rays taken in the United States each year, at a cost of $1.4 billion. “Malpractice premiums and extra diagnostic procedures are costing the American public as much as $7 billion a year,” said HEW Secretary Caspar Weinberger. “Many doctor’s fees have risen 25 to 50 percent in the past year,” said Weinberger. Doctor’s fees are not that high in the Bryan-College Station area. They’ve doubled in the last 25 years to keep up with the cost of living, not due to malpractice threats, Har ris said. Dr. Claude B. Goswick Jr., direc tor of the University Health Center, said student health fees have not been raised even though there was a malpractice claim filed on the uni versity and one of the staff doctors last July. “The fees are set by the Texas Legislature with the maximum at $15; the students now pay $14,” said Goswick. Three malpractice suits were filed last year in the Bryan-College Station area. Dr. Raymond Buck, chief of staff at Bryan Hospital, said malpractice claims have been going on for years; but due to the increasing amount requested in damages, malpractice insurance premiums have gone up over 120 per cent in the last year. “It’s getting out of hand; patients are filing for any failure of treat ment, which is an unreasonable ap proach,” said Buck. In Texas some surgeons pay more than $20,000 for malpractice suit in surance coverage. United Press International re ported the high cost of malpractice claims are driving insurance com panies out of the medical malprac tice field. No-fault malpractice insurance or an insurance pooling plan may be future relief for doctors paying enormous premiums, according to the UPI dispatch. Such plans, the article continued, ■ could “limit payments to actual medical costs and put a ceiling on pain and suffering’ awards.” A spokesman from the Brazos- Robertson County Medical Society said he believes government con trolled insurance has little merit. The government will be able to put regulations on physicians and control their activities, he said. The spokesman explained a doc tor may be qualified to perform a specific task but if the government All members of ZETA TAU ALPHA please contact Laurie Ernest at 846-8148 IMMEDIATELY THE STEAK HOUSE Noon Special 11-2 Chicken-Fried Steak 1803 Texas 822-2430 $1.39 ALLEN Oldsmobile Cadillac SALES - SERVICE “Where satisfaction is standard equipment” 2401 Texas Ave. 823-8002 controls his practice, then the pa tient will have to seek a specialist which may cost more. With malpractice suits as they are now, doctors are staying on their toes, he said. “Doctors are learning a lot out of this (malpractice suits). They’re more skillful, enterprising and in ventive. It’s all for the best interest of their patients, ” he added. Dr. James Knight, dean of the new TAMU Medical Education Program, said he believes some thing must be done to help doctors avoid the enormous insurance rates. Knight said if a patient is injured by fault of a doctor or a research program then the patient should be compensated. He suggested a form similar to workman s compensation or a no fault insurance, adding that doctors must be protected also. “The majority of physicians are good, honest and sincere people, but there is a small per cent that don’t measure up to standards,” he said. The high cost of malpractice in surance is taking good physicians out of the practitioner pool, Knight added. He said doctors getting ready to retire and starting to cut back on their patients find their income lower but insurance premiums get ting higher. This forces them to re tire completely when they are still qualified to practice, he explained. Malpractice suits interfere »4 the physicians’ practice, Kni^ added, because it’s a threaten stantly in the back of their mint. He also noted that it makesti doctors more cautious and lelpi improve the already high standait of the medical profession. y\^yvvVkVyyVV^/Vv^ * a ^ ^ A At * i ^ ^ A a a a.a A A* A ■* - ■+ AA ^ -A Am ^ ^ -*■ ^ ^ A * A m Aa a