One Way to ‘Normalize’ Exorbitant Doctor Fees

George Lundberg--like almost all medical doctors--misses the big point (“Former JAMA Editor Laments the State of Medical Care,” March 26). HMOs, business, etc., were/are involved in health care to reduce outrageous fees charged by doctors (especially those who own interests in “testing” labs) and pharmaceutical costs.

Medical doctor fees will be “normalized” only when we switch most initial analysis to reasonably paid registered nurses, aided by computerized symptom analysis. The tough cases will be referred to the fewer medical doctors that exist, and these tough cases will justify the current exorbitant fees applied to all cases.

SID TURKISH

Beverly Hills