PENNSYLVANIA Doctors shut offices in protest

Some Mercer County physicians plan to take part in the protest beginning Wednesday.
STAFF/WIRE REPORTS
PHILADELPHIA -- Some patients needing routine medical care were out of luck Monday as doctors began a walkout to protest the high cost of malpractice insurance.
Thousands of white-coated doctors rallied in the Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Pittsburgh areas, calling for state government to ease the medical malpractice crisis that is prompting some of them to leave the state or stop performing high-risk procedures.
Number of participants
It was not clear how many of the state's 46,000 doctors closed their offices, but more than 2,000 attended a "Code Blue" rally in King of Prussia near Philadelphia, while about 500 more turned out for similar protests in Camp Hill and Pittsburgh.
Some doctors in Mercer County may close their offices for a day or several days during the protest, which will run from Wednesday through May 6, but they will make sure their patients have adequate coverage with other physicians, said Dr. James Perry, president-elect of the Mercer County Medical Society.
"This is not a work stoppage. It is not a strike. We're not putting any patients at risk," he said.
"The situation is serious enough that this kind of desperate action by the physicians is warranted," said Dr. Bret DeLone, 43, a Harrisburg general surgeon whose insurance premiums have tripled in recent years.
Countless elective surgeries and routine office visits were canceled in the eastern part of the state, but hospitals reported no major disruptions and said emergency-room volume was normal.
Pittsburgh
In Pittsburgh, about 250 doctors, nurses and patients gathered at the Sheraton Hotel for an hourlong rally, then marched over a bridge to the city-county building where they carried signs and chanted for reform.
Surgeons, obstetricians-gynecologists and internists are protesting in greater numbers than family physicians, whose insurance premiums haven't increased by as much.
Dr. Harry Sell Jr., a 49-year-old surgeon at Mercy Hospital who led the Pittsburgh rally, said he postponed about 25 medical procedures this week.
"It's not a strike; this is a protest," Sell said. "Many are not involved and we aren't coercing anybody. But we are getting the word out because patients are going to want to know why their doctor's office is closed."
Sell said doctors are seeking three changes: a $250,000 cap on jury awards for pain and suffering, a reduction in fees that attorneys may charge suing patients, and the elimination of the state's medical malpractice fund, which adds thousands to doctors' insurance bills.