|
medpundit |
||
 |
 |
|
Friday, February 13, 2004A former North Carolina obstetrician who served as an expert witness and consultant to Sen. John Edwards during his days as a trial lawyer, now accuses the Democratic presidential candidate of increasing the cost of medicine and forcing doctors into retirement in the senator's home state. 'What he has done with those lawsuits is increased the cost of medicine, and he has not changed the practice of medicine in a way that you can see that there are fewer cases of cerebral palsy." ...Brannan believes that Edwards did his part to contribute to the American Medical Association's listing of North Carolina as one of the "crisis states" for rising liability insurance. Many physicians in the state are opting to quit their practices because they cannot afford the insurance premiums, according to Brannan. The hospital that Brannan now serves as the chief medical officer also has been the target of Edwards and his law firm. "Our hospital (Mission Hospitals, formerly St Joseph's) had two major suits brought by [Edwards's] law firm -- one of which he was able to prevail and got a judgment, and another one his firm lost," Brannan noted. Brannan said he personally was forced to stop his obstetrics practice when his insurance premiums shot up. "My premium two years ago was $44,000 a year, and my insurance carrier notified me that if I wished to continue practicing, it was going up to $68,000 for this year," Brannan said. "I chose to discontinue my Ob privileges, because I would have to deliver 68 babies just to pay the premium before being able to pay any office expenses." He also said that his premiums were lower than those of many other doctors because of his affiliation with a hospital. The small practitioners are hit the hardest by rising insurance, Brannan said. "Liability premiums are the same whether you deliver one baby a year or 300 babies a year," he explained. "The town of Franklin, North Carolina, lost their sole Ob/Gyn practitioner, so now the women in that town are having to travel over a mountain pass to a neighboring city in order to get obstetrical care," Brannan said. Hmmm. On second thought, maybe that's why our infant mortality rate increased slightly. Fewer obstetricians to deliver babies. posted by Sydney on 2/13/2004 08:31:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
|
