PROFESSIONLiability crisis ends century of deliveriesA family of Ohio physicians has practiced since 1893, with no malpractice claims but rising insurance costs. Nationwide, only 24% of FPs delivered babies in 2003.By Tanya Albert, amednews staff. May 3, 2004. Perhaps one day the children of family physicians Jim Schwieterman, MD, and Tom Schwieterman, MD, will pick up where medical liability rates have forced the brothers to leave off. The duo is scheduled to deliver their last baby in September, stopping a more than 100-year run of their family bringing children into the world in Mercer County, Ohio. And in an ending that wouldn't have been more perfect if Hollywood had written the script, the brothers' last delivery will be the baby of a woman their father delivered. Their grandfather delivered the woman's mother. And the doctors' great-grandfather who founded the Maria Stein, Ohio, family practice, delivered the woman's grandmother. But the Schwietermans -- who their patients call Dr. Jim and Dr. Tom -- don't want people to interpret their fate as a "woe-is-me" story. They are saddened that they're being forced to give up a part of their practice that they love. But they'll continue to provide the cradle-to-grave primary care that patients in their rural county of 40,924 need. They're telling their story because they worry that patients who need obstetrical care may not be able to get it in the future. "Something is wrong when a legal situation is preventing us ... from doing a service for very little income and when we have good outcomes," Dr. Tom said. The brothers want people to know that even rural doctors in a practice with no lawsuit payouts in more than 100 years can be forced to cut back services to patients because of unaffordable medical liability rates. Only one lawsuit has ever been filed against the practice, and it was dropped a few days later. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2004 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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