‘Malpractice--the Doctors’ Rx’

Robert Steinbrook’s article (Oct. 23), “Malpractice--the Doctors’ Rx,” made me ashamed to be a physician. It is offensive to imagine a doctor sneaking into the back room to call a computer in order to determine if his patient-to-be has exercised his constitutional right to bring a civil lawsuit. It is even more abhorrent to learn that these doctors do not represent a lunatic fringe of paranoid physicians. Rather, the Los Angeles County Medical Assn. itself has not only endorsed and recommended this practice, but also reaps a share of any profits obtained.

The computer tells a physician if his patient has ever sued anyone for personal injury, which includes automobile accidents, injuries from defective products, slips and falls, etc.

The implication is that a physician will refuse to treat, or be paranoid about treating, a patient who has brought a lawsuit against someone else in the past. This undercuts the doctor-patient relationship. It can only be detrimental to patient care.

Moreover, citizens have a fundamental right to seek redress of grievances in the courts. They should not be inhibited from doing so for fear of having their medical care compromised. Indeed, this conduct is typical of the irrational frenzy that physicians have been driven to by their own insurance companies--who, like the oil companies of the 1970s--use scare tactics to drive up their own rates, and fatten their own pocketbooks.

If anyone has a legitimate interest in past lawsuits, it is the patient. The patient has a substantial interest in knowing if his doctor has been sued for medical malpractice. The California Board of Medical Quality Assurance will not provide this information to an interested patient; and there is no computer service for the patient to determine how many times his doctor has been sued.

Having read your article, as a lawyer, I am seriously considering providing a similar service for patients about their doctors. This service would at least provide some socially useful information. And, after all, what’s good for the goose is good for the gander.

RUSSELL S. KUSSMAN

Beverly Hills