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Letter to the editor

March 25, 2003

In reference to the editorial posted in Friday's Lariat, which favored doctors being able to practice without fear if a bill is passed that will limit jury awards in malpractice suits, I believe there should be no limit to the amount a patient receives in a malpractice suit.

The reason is both clear and simple. Doctors make the majority of their mistakes because they practice medicine carelessly and with one goal in mind: to maximize their net income at the end of the year.

Three weeks ago I went to a doctor and spent 45 minutes in the waiting room, beyond my scheduled appointment. Then, after I was taken to the room where he would see me, the first person to walk through the door was a physician's assistant. She asked me what symptoms I had been having, medical history, etc. Then the doctor came in and visited me for a quick four minutes. At the end of the appointment he billed me $295 for what was a quick consult. v

Thank goodness I have medical insurance. However, I think that it is absolutely outrageous. The reason he saw me for only four minutes is because he had other patients that were waiting. These days, doctors seem to care less about their patients and care more about overbooking patients in order to make more money.

Does it hurt that much to decrease your take-home pay from $400,000 per year to $300,000? Please don't give me the excuse that doctors deserve to make that much because they went through eight years of school and a residency.

More and more doctors are practicing medicine these days not for the true reason of providing medical care for sick patients, but rather for the luxury of making a nice salary.

Ashish Shah

Baylor Alumnus '01

BA-PreMed, MBA, MS