Most doctors don't have million dollar salaries

“If [high premiums] mean a doctor who is making $1 million [a year] now makes $700,000, does that mean he has to leave the state?”
More lawyer soundbites. I’m not making $1 million a year, and I don’t know very many physicians who make even close to that.

Comments

Anonymous
What a crackpot. Obviously the vast majority of physicians are not making 1 million dollars a year.
Even if they were this piece clearly has no moral ground to stand on. No one “has” to leave the state, but it is ridiculous to expect people to get bilked out of money (no matter how wealthy they are) when there are options at their disposal (such as moving) to stem their losses. He’s trying to justify what comes close to amounting to stealing by arguing that physicians can afford to be relieved of some of their income. What an absolutley ludicrous argument — let’s go pull some art work off Bill Gates’ walls because he won’t really miss it…
Curious JD
Why are you so quick to complain about hyperbole from the other side but at the same time so quick to utilize it yourself?
“What comes close to amounting to stealing”? Yes, people with devastating injuries who get money to pay their medical expenses and to compensate for the fact that they’ve lost their quality of life are just like theives.
Curious JD
Oops. “thieves”.
Anonymous
Frivolous lawsuits are nearly tantamount to stealing by the increases they cause in malpractice insurance.
However, even if you don’t agree that frivolous lawsuits cause malpractice increases, the medmal lawyer quoted in this piece is a terrible, albeit probably fairly typical, example of the entire profession. I’ll recite his statement again, just because it’s so ridiculous –
“If [high premiums] mean a doctor who is making $1 million [a year] now makes $700,000, does that mean he has to leave the state?”
Internal Medicine Doctor
More than anything it’s the feeling that you’re in the crosshairs that has all us physicians upset.
This is not why we got into this.
Curious JD
That’s all well and good, but this legislation affects all med mal suits, not just the frivolous ones. Anonymous, until you can tell me how much your insurer received in premiums over the last ten years, how much it paid out, what its overhead is, its return on investments, etc., then you probably aren’t able to speak intelligently on the causes of malpractice rate increases.
The attorney in question is probably using hyperbole to expose the ridiculousness of the physicians’ “I’m going broke” claim. Which is almost as silly as the “physicians are fleeing” claim. If you think ridiculous rhetoric is limited to one side of the debate, then you’ve not been paying very close attention.
Madhouse, I realize you feel like you’re in the crosshairs, but I think that your perception and the reality may be different things. Those people like that little boy in the story above this one didn’t go to the hospital to get horribly burned, did they? Or the people who get operated on and injured by a surgeon who is abusing drugs didn’t go to the hospital for that, did they?
You’re not the only victim.
Saint Nate
It’s sad, but with Rhode Island going into the red in the latest AMA medical liability crisis map and prblems like this in New Hapmshire and Vermont having “access to care” issues, I think we’re going to se a lot more of New England turn red.
And, unfortunately, I don’t see it getting better until the situations get out of control and people atart literally dying because many good doctors were judged by the examples of a few bad ones.
Curious JD
Nate, here’s a couple of articles on that subject. I sent them to Kevin for general posting. The AMA crisis map is about as useful as an ATLA non-crisis map. They are lobbying organizations, not research facilities:
http://www.insurancejournal.com/magazines/east/2005/05/09/features/55085
http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050514/NEWS/505140390/1002/NEWS01
Saint Nate
JD, I long ago learned arguing with you is as useless as shouting at a wall. I’ve got way too much going on right now to waste the energy on it. But what the hell?
The underlying fact is, I belive that judging all doctors by a few bad ones is like judging all lawyers by a few bad ones.
Counter it if you’d like. No strawman arguements about how you think I’m saying caps are the only solution to the problem; no putting words in my mouth; no dodging arguments you ca’t refute; that is my point, plain and simple. If you think that logic is wrong, please correct it.
Also, why are you sending all these stories to Kevin instead of posting them on your own blog?
Curious JD
It doesn’t appear we have a disagreement here. At least that is was I’m reading. Maybe I’m missing something.
As for my blog, I just didn’t have the time. I mostly post when I’m on the phone, and with a baby don’t have time for lengthy cogent thoughts.
Anonymous
The problem is : what if a doctor makes 120 a year ? How much of a cut will he accept before the whole lousy life schedule and stress won’t be worth it ?
shrinkette
What? Curious JD has a baby? Congratulations! Where are the photos??
Curious JD
You’re not the only one surprised that I was able to talk a woman into letting me get close enough to procreate.
Thanks though. Probably no pics on the ‘net at large, though, although Ofoto has them. I feel funny about doing that, don’t know why. Maybe just a privacy thing.

Most doctors don’t have million dollar salaries

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