I think its the malpractice insurance situation that drives doctors away, or at least keeps them from coming in. Many states are putting caps on the amount of malpractice awards simply because doctors can’t afford to settle in states where the laws are wide open. My brother the doctor moved to Missouri because of this and avoided some states. Some states are really hurting for medical care because doctors are leaving rather than paying the godawful premiums on their insurance.

I worked in a hospital for a brief period, and I learned that most malpractice is not cause by sloppy physicians but by breakdowns in a long chain of events. So I don’t think the docs are being coddled by the government when such protective laws are passed.

I don’t know how Massachusetts ranks as a litigious state, but I’d imagine it’s high. That could well be the reason why we don’t have enough physicians. Or that small private practices are prohibitively expensive to establish—I’m sure malpractice insurance is a large part of that. And the HMO situation.

My brother was a physician, too. Retired now and happily. The last few years of his practice were not not nearly as enjoyable owing to the regulatory paperwork involved and the general litigious nature of society nowadays which required documenting every minute detail to make sure one’s behind was covered.

Over the last few years of his career he was asked to sit on malpractice boards to help determine malpractice cases. He hated it, too. Retiring and leaving it all behind made him one happy man.

and even if one did hear your plea, it would be just a matter of time before the same thing would happen to him or her!

My 91 year old mom is still battling lyme disease (6 weeks of antibiotics and still suffering terribly). Has marched herself in and explained to her doctor that since the good Lord is obviously not ready for her, then someone needs to help her feel better cause if she is going to be around, she doesn’t want to feel the way she does.  He agrees, sees her, tries something else etc.  But here is the best (worst) part--whenever she has an appointment--regular or emergency type--she gets there and sits and sits and sits......last week took the cake, appointment was at 10:30, she was early of course, went in, they put her in an examining room and 2.5 hours later the doctor finally came in!!  She said she read him the riot act, not that it will change anything, but it is disgusting!!

I’m not a doctor… but I play one on the internets!

How in the world did you mother get Lyme disease, Cyn? Are deer ticks that rampant out there now? I’m guessing she didn’t pick one up hiking through the woods? That’s scary.

Ian had Lyme disease when he was about 5. He was out at Ipswich hiking one Saturday and I found the tick on him later that night. Looked like a tiny scab on a mosquito bite, but when I flicked it, the thing moved. Yikes! A couple of days later he started with the symptoms. It took about 14 weeks of antibiotic before he licked it. For the first couple of weeks he was in agony from the joint pain and a high fever. It affected his knees and elbows terribly. The long regimen of antibiotic did the trick, though, and he’s had no residual problems since. My best wishes to your mother. That’s a horrible disease to deal with.

If we could have back all the hours we’ve sat around in waiting rooms, we could probably tack on a few extra days to our lives.  Or at least regain them. I wonder if doctors have to sit around in waiting rooms, too.

Dave - have the big checks started coming in the mail yet? When they do, I wanna know so I can get in on the action, too.

No big checks yet, but I did have a big Czech show up at the door the other day.  Said he’d be sending me a lot of patients if I’d pay up on my “insurance”.  Funny, I thought I did that…

Apparently there are LOTS of people in Berkshire County with Lyme Disease - my mom said that she is constantly running into people who have it or have had it.  She is amazed.  The deer population there, as it is in Ipswich, is huge and so where there are huge herds, you also have ticks and lyme disease…

And no, she hasn’t been running around in the woods - that I know of anyway!! LOL SInce my dad died 9 years ago, the deer have come closer and closer to her house and have eaten every shrub, plant, bush they can get to; when he was alive, he was outside most of the time and so they tended to stay off in the distance, she isn’t out as much so they are no longer afraid.  Not unusual to see several munching away just a few yards from the house.......

My word, I didn’t realize. Having herds of deer roaming your backyard would certainly raise the risk of lyme disease to precarious levels. That’s a bit of public health hazard, isn’t it? And not much you can do about it, either.