Lawsuit could gut resident Match program

Some experts believe the complaint, alleging the process restricts competition, stands a good chance of getting to trial.

By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff. May 27, 2002.

A lawsuit filed in federal court this month in Washington, D.C., aims to eviscerate the 50-year-old National Resident Matching Program, setting up a competitive system that could put some hospitals at a disadvantage and give residents more of a say in their salary and work hours.

The lawsuit, which was brought by three physicians, names as defendants the NRMP, its supporting medical organizations and hospitals that hire residents. It asks for class-action status, which, if granted, would put the number of plaintiffs at more than 200,000, according to the plaintiffs' attorneys.

"The current residency system puts patient care at risk and is clearly unfair to resident physicians," said Michael Freed, a Chicago attorney and one of a national team of lawyers on the case.

"This is going to be a lollapalooza if this goes through," said David Aron, MD, associate chief of staff for education at Louis Stokes Cleveland Dept. of Veterans Affairs Medical Center. "I don't think we can predict what all the consequences are going to be. Whatever they are, it will happen in the context of a health care system that's under a lot of stress already."

The lawsuit contends that the NRMP and those who employ residents restrict competition by assigning resident physicians to a single, mandatory position via the Match. Resident wages are artificially depressed through the exchange of salary information, says the complaint, which also alleges that the Match process deprives residents of the ability to negotiate other employment terms, including work hours. Lastly, the complaint said the regulations of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education are anti-competitive. [...]