Posted on 01/30/2003 4:59:54 PM PST by Libloather
Worried New Jerseyans Expect Doctors Not To Be In
By ROBERT HANLEY and MARIA NEWMAN
As New Jersey braces for a work stoppage by doctors on Monday, physicians are canceling appointments, emergency rooms are planning for a sudden influx of patients, and many residents — including the governor — are beginning to fret about disruptions in health care.
A movement that began last summer with isolated grumbling about soaring premiums for malpractice insurance has drawn broad support from doctors across the state and now seems poised to interrupt the everyday interaction between them and their patients.
Whether those interruptions will last a day, a few days or longer is uncertain. But for Monday, at least, officials of the Medical Society of New Jersey, which supports the action, are predicting that thousands of doctors will cancel their office appointments for nonemergency care.
The president of the society, Dr. Robert S. Rigolosi, estimated yesterday that 5,000 to 10,000 physicians would participate. New Jersey has 22,000 practicing doctors.
"We're talking about thousands of doctors in New Jersey being involved," said Dr. Thomas Ahlborn, the director of surgery at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood. "There's never been anything like this in the country."
About two dozen surgeons in West Virginia staged a walkout earlier this month, prompting a state legislative committee to approve a cap on juries' malpractice awards, and inspiring doctors here to try the same strategy.
But Gov. James E. McGreevey's spokesman denounced the threatened job action as irresponsible and counterproductive as Mr. McGreevey and state legislators tried to resolve the thorny issue of helping doctors who face steep increases in their malpractice insurance premiums.
"The governor believes it's a monumentally bad idea for the doctors to strike while he's trying to fix the problem," said the spokesman, Micah Rasmussen. "That's not the way to solve this problem."
The doctors seemed in no mood yesterday to relax either their threat or their demands that the Legislature enact a $250,000 cap on jury awards for so-called pain and suffering damages for victims of medical negligence.
New Jersey's trial lawyers are adamantly opposed to any such cap, and Mr. McGreevey has expressed sympathy with lawyers' opposition to curbs on victims' rights to sue doctors for serious medical mistakes.
A coalition of groups, including the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group and Consumers for Civil Justice, rallied at the State House in Trenton yesterday to oppose any such limits.
Mr. Rasmussen said the governor favored the creation of a subsidy program to help those doctors who face the steepest increase in premiums.
But Dr. Rigolosi said the medical society was not interested in subsidies.
"The answer is to cap the award," he said, adding that doctors were not seeking limits on awards for a malpractice victim's medical costs or lost pay.
Dr. Rigolosi said the duration of the work stoppage would vary from doctor to doctor, with some participating one day, some several days, and some perhaps into the next week. For many, he said, the protest would last at least two days.
The doctors planned a demonstration outside the State House on Tuesday morning.
In recent days, doctors have been sending patients a version of a letter endorsed by the medical society that says their "ability to take care of your medical problems is in great jeopardy" because of a legal system that doctors say encourages patients to file frivolous lawsuits "in the hope of `hitting the lottery.' "
Dr. Ahlborn said he would close his office on Monday to all patients except those recovering from surgery or facing an immediate emergency. He also said that all elective surgery at Valley Hospital in Ridgewood would be canceled on Monday.
Dr. Thomas Pitoscia, an internist in Millburn, also said he had canceled appointments for Monday. He said he would see patients who need immediate care, "but if you want a physical or have a minor ailment, then you will have to wait a day."
"We are going to start with one day and see if anything comes out of that," he said. "I think doctors are prepared to do this again and again until we see results."
He and other physicians said hospitals around the state were increasing emergency room staffs in anticipation of the walkout.
Kerry McKean-Kelley, a spokeswoman for the New Jersey Hospital Association, which represents 106 of New Jersey's 117 hospitals, said contingency planning had been under way for weeks.
"We do expect to see added pressures in the emergency rooms," she said. "The physicians planning the job actions have been very cooperative with the hospitals ahead of time to make sure patient care is not compromised."
She said some doctors who canceled office hours plan to visit patients who are hospitalized. But, she said, many hospitals have canceled elective surgeries and nonemergency procedures.
Dr. Peter J. DeMauro, chief of staff at the Hackensack University Medical Center, said the hospital had staff physicians in all specialities prepared to handle an increase in emergency-room visits.
Still, some New Jerseyans were jittery.
Margaret Johnston, 68, of Union, said she heard about the potential work stoppage yesterday and quickly arranged to see her doctor on Friday.
"I don't really have any serious ailments, but I just want to be on the safe side in case they stop working for a while," she said.
But Carol Deus, 55, of Martinsville, a diabetic who is recovering from back surgery, said she was unaware of the job action.
"If I have a serious problem," she said, "I won't hesitate to go to an emergency room."
Michael Billington, 42, a construction worker from West Orange, said he sympathized with doctors facing high premiums. "While I understand their situation, I hope it's resolved quickly," he said.
so where is the problem? That they get sued or payout? 14% payout would seen to cover the hack-saw-bones out there.
You must be a Pitt alum yourself. I recognized that kneejerk problem-solving response "I'll kick his a**" anywhere. Only Pitt grads are too stupid to engage their brain while solving problems.
Well, that's a pretty silly statement.
But they ARE performing the services that really are needed-- emergency services are apparently still available. Nobody's gonna really hurt from this. So some fat chick's liposuction gets put on hold for a week-- call the wah-mbulance.
I say, more power to 'em. If I were an MD I'd be out there on the front lines sticking it to the insurance companies and especially to the lawyers. You would be seeing moon pictures of my nekked round Republican a$$ in the papers.
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