News in brief - March 24/31, 2003

Pennsylvania MCARE relief guaranteed through June - Delta Regional Authority to seek J-1 visa waivers - New Hampshire Medical Society has new president - Doctors trusted to write right prescription

Pennsylvania MCARE relief guaranteed through June

Pennsylvania physicians will see relief from MCARE fund premiums until July 1, extended from the original April 30 end, the state's governor announced in late February. And Gov. Edward G. Rendell said he is guaranteeing a $220 abatement on the amount that physician pay into the state injured-patient fund for medical malpractice awards.

Rendell said he would ask the Legislature to eliminate the 2003 MCARE premium for obstetricians, orthopedic surgeons, neurosurgeons and general surgeons, who have been hardest hit by rising medical liability insurance rates. He called for a 50% discount for all other physicians. Rendell proposed asking health plans to offset the costs.

"Inheriting a budget deficit of close to $2 billion makes me even more resolved to offset the short-term relief for physician medical malpractice premiums from non-state sources," Rendell said in a statement. "That is why I am guaranteeing that the relief I promised doctors from our state's MCARE fund will be delivered this year, even if MCARE has to borrow the money to cover the promise."

Delta Regional Authority to seek J-1 visa waivers

The Delta Regional Authority is pursuing final approval from member states to bring international medical graduates into the region's underserved areas.

A test program brought in two physicians through the State Dept.'s Waiver Review Division to rural west Tennessee and to Clarksdale, Miss. Once final approval is granted from the eight member states, the DRA will begin to accept IMG applicants.

The program will allow IMGs who've worked in the United States on J-1 visas to seek a waiver from the requirement of having to leave the United States for two years once they've finished their graduate medical education. Successful applicants will agree to work three years in underserved areas in parts of Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri or Illinois.

Primary care physicians, including family practice, general internal medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology and psychiatry, are the DRA's first choice.

New Hampshire Medical Society has new president

Peter Forssell, MD, an internist and gastroenterologist in Peterborough, N.H., is the 171st president of the New Hampshire Medical Society.

Dr. Forssell, who was born in Boston, earned his undergraduate degree in chemistry from Williams College in Williamstown, Mass., and his medical degree from Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston. He completed his internship, internal medicine residency and gastroenterology fellowship at Dartmouth affiliated hospitals in Hanover, N.H.

Dr. Forssell is on the medical staff for internal medicine and gastroenterology at Monadnock Community Hospital in Peterborough. As medical society president for 2003, he will address issues such as medical liability reform, bioterrorism preparedness and Medicaid eligibility.

Doctors trusted to write right prescription

Patients trust doctors to prescribe the right drug for them, or at least 67% of them do, according to a Wall Street Journal/Harris Interactive Health-Care Poll released this month.

More than two-thirds of the 4,173 adults polled said they trusted their doctors on this question, but 23% said they believed doctors may be too influenced by pharmaceutical marketing efforts.

When asked to describe the way pharmaceutical companies market drugs to doctors, 30% called it "a little too aggressive," 26% said it was "acceptable and reasonable," 25% believed it was "much too aggressive," and 19% said they weren't sure.

In regard to drug companies sponsoring continuing medical education programs that describe their products, 72% said this practice should be allowed, 11% said it shouldn't, and 18% were unsure.