Tufts University, as an academic institution, is no joke. If you doubt this statement, then ask any pre-medder, international relations major, or engineer how many grueling hours a week she spends writing papers, solving problem sets, and reading pages upon pages of text. I have even heard of a couple economics majors who have worked into the silent-study-only point of a Tisch late night. These are people breaking their backs to eventually compete in today's job market or apply to graduate school in hopes that someday all of the countless hours spent studying will pay off.
I, for one, am pre-med, and my goal of becoming a physician has been with me since childhood. But now, in my senior year, I am at a crossroads. On one hand, I have this drive to go to medical school and set up my own medical practice in order to better other people's lives. On the other hand, I have to look at the practicality of this career decision.
In today's world, being a physician is not all that it is cracked up to be. The costs of owning a private practice backs many doctors up against the wall and then out the door to places where practicing medicine is more affordable. The American Medical Association has identified over a dozen states in which skyrocketing medical insurance rates cause a significant exodus of physicians. The reality of the state of health care is making me second-guess my decision of entering medical school. Setting my childhood desires aside, the thought of putting myself $200,000 in debt, a consequence of a medical school education, before struggling financially in my chosen medical profession is not very appealing.
I have learned that holding a private medical practice is becoming exceedingly harder to keep and is not very lucrative. Therefore, it is not surprising that many physicians become specialists in their chosen medical field and are working in mega-hospital environments rather than becoming primary care physicians, a position which is lacking in numbers in the U.S. health system. This turns into a major economic and social problem when the lack of primary care is causing mothers to take their children to emergency rooms for flu symptoms and other problems, which should be left to the family physician. The result is clogged hospitals and greater healthcare expenditures.
The rising cost of medical insurance stems largely from the proliferation of medical malpractice lawsuits. In 1999 the average medical malpractice law settlement broke the $1 million mark and this figure has steadily risen, resulting in a rapid increase in health care expenditures. Insurance companies impose higher medical insurance premiums on the doctors to cover large payoffs. Doctors, in turn, practice unnecessary testing and additional procedures to prevent malpractice liability. The excessive usage of medical technology and lab work, along with other extraneous medical fees, contributes to the increasing national healthcare cost - approximately 15 percent of our nation's gross domestic product!
Whether or not I enter the medical field, I will be affected by this trend of increasing government expenditure as a taxpayer and as a consumer. This problem is not exclusive to doctors and should be considered by all voters during this year's Presidential election.
President George W. Bush proposes legal reform to prevent frivolous medical malpractice lawsuits by capping court settlements and creating boundaries to lawyers where there presently are none. Senator John Kerry and his running mate, Senator John Edwards, a former medical malpractice trial lawyer, do not propose a well-defined plan. They oppose frivolous lawsuits, but they do not have a solid plan for reducing such occurrences. Instead, they want to attack insurance companies and doctors and hold medical providers more accountable to the patient. They propose a "three strikes and you're out" program for lawyers who file frivolous lawsuits - meaning, if a lawyer were to present three frivolous medical malpractice cases, that lawyer will be placed on suspension. This plan lacks substance and offers two strikes too many for Edwards' "Learjet lawyer" friends.
In order to solve the healthcare problem, physicians need to take action against legal encroachment. Medical malpractice occurs, and those who are injured should receive the necessary compensation; doctors should be held accountable for their actions. I am not against money given to the plaintiff for economic damages (i.e. extra operations, drugs, loss of job) resulting from medical malpractice. However, when courts run away with lawsuits filed for millions of dollars in non-economic damages (i.e. pain and suffering, emotional damage) a line must be drawn.
I understand that it is almost impossible to put a price on a child whose death resulted from medical malpractice. The courts should not reward the sympathy invoked by monetary excess, however. To lawyers, it is just another million dollars that the multi-billion dollar insurance firm contributes to a family's suffering. Unfortunately, to the rest of us, malpractice insurance abuse has led to a loss of jobs for doctors and more money taken from the taxpayer's wallet.
Eric Zimmerman is a senior majoring in biology and a member of Tufts Republicans
