Pain Treatment Verdict Should Be Challenged

Re “Doctor Found Liable in Suit Over Pain,” June 15: This indictment of elder abuse against Dr. Wing Chin sends a chilling message to the medical profession. I simply cannot imagine that any other profession would be held to such an unreasonable standard. If judges were not immune to suits in carrying out their duty, would they be held responsible by the defendant for having handed out too heavy a penalty and by the plaintiff for not having punished the guilty severely enough? If Chin was not treating pain aggressively enough, he should more appropriately have been required to enroll in a pain-management program, instead of being subjected to a $1.5-million fine based on the emotional whim of a jury.

This new legal principle must not be left unchallenged by the health care profession. Since the Supreme Court has ruled the use of medical marijuana illegal even for alleviating the discomfort of terminally ill patients, I am puzzled as to why Chin alone is being penalized.

John T. Chiu MD

Newport Beach