Dear Patients;
It is with deepest sadness that I retire from the practice of medicine in Tallahassee. I am in good health and I love caring for patients, but I can no longer afford malpractice insurance.
I have practiced in Tallahassee for 24 years, and my schedule is overfull everyday. I’m working longer hours than ever, I’m frugal with office expenditures, yet I cannot make ends meet. Insurance payments for patient care have stayed virtually the same for the last fifteen years while costs of doing business including health insurance, staff salaries and supplies have risen. I charge about $190 for a yearly physical. In 1993 CHP paid $50, now they pay $35. Malpractice insurance has quadrupled to nearly $120,000. I have taken a decrease in salary every year since1993, and for the last two months I have not taken my salary.
As the baby boom doctors retire and become consumers rather than providers of heath care we predict a shortfall of 20% in physicians in the next 10-20 years. I don’t want to see this happen in our town. The brutal hours and declining compensation has led many bright young minds away from medicine. Ob-gyn residencies have been able to fill only 60% of their positions with U.S. med school graduates in the last few years. (When I graduated, there were fewer slots available than there were students who wanted them!) The competition for qualified ob-gyns is significant. I have tried for many years to recruit new ob-gyn doctors to Tallahassee. However, when they see the salary potential they say that they can do better most other places.
I practice medicine because it is my calling. I love seeing my patients each year. They bring me the stories of their lives. I have found breast cancers that didn’t show up on mammogram and colon cancers that didn’t show up on colonoscopy because I am an old fashioned doctor that still does physical exams. I have saved the lives of many mothers and babies. Many of my patients would be shocked to know that I have been sued 4 times in 24 years.
Most cases of medical malpractice do not end up in suit and in many suits there is no malpractice. Patients sue when something bad happens and they feel that they deserve to be compensated for their loss. Plaintiff’s attorneys encourage this because they make enormous amounts of money. The last suit I was involved with, the insurance company told me. “We know this is not your fault, but the medicine is complicated so we don’t want to take it to court.” They settled against my wishes and paid the plaintiff’s attorney, for one day’s work, what I make in 6 months. (It takes 10 years after college to become a board certified ob-gyn; 3 years to become an attorney). I was devastated. Insurance companies settle because it is cheaper or less risky than going to court regardless of the merit of the case. They then pass the cost on to the doctor who cannot then pass the cost to anyone else. We can see more and more patients, but this only increases the risk of an error or oversight. There is nothing to limit plaintiff’s attorneys from filing numerous suits, being paid handsomely, and knowing that if they actually have to go to court, they can drop the case at the last minute.
We CAN have affordable health care for everyone in this country. We can train and RETAIN the doctors and nurses that we need to care for us in the twenty first century. We can stop paying insurance companies and plaintiff’s attorneys the billions of dollars that should go into patient care. We can develop a more equitable system that can compensate patients for misfortune without driving decent doctors out of practice. We can do this by spreading the costs of medical misfortunes over a much larger number of people.
I want to thank my patients for all you have given me over the years. You have shared your secrets and your dreams. You have given me books and treasures. You have brought me treats to eat and encouraged me not to skip lunch, and to get more rest. You have sent me thank-you notes and pictures of your beautiful children. You have shown me strength and resilience and wisdom. You have taught me patience and forgiveness. I will miss you more than you can imagine.
Sincerely, Tara Wah MD