News in brief - May 24/31, 2004

Wisconsin doctors see statewide work force shortage - Medical boards group gives awards - Residents say no to Pennsylvania - Report questions assisted-suicide law's safeguards

Wisconsin doctors see statewide work force shortage

Wisconsin is short 506 primary care physicians, according to a study released this spring by the Wisconsin Medical Society and the Wisconsin Hospital Assn.

The study attributed the shortage to a lack of growth in the number of physicians even as the state's population ages and demands more care.

To avert a major crisis, the study recommended expanding the class size of Wisconsin's two medical schools, developing new models of health care delivery to improve physician resources, attracting more physicians to Wisconsin while retaining those already in the state, improving funding for medical education, and creating an advisory council to guide medical education and track data on physician supply and demand.

Medical boards group gives awards

The Federation of State Medical Boards honored seven people at its annual meeting in Arlington, Va. The awards recognize federation and state medical board service, leadership and journal writing excellence.

This year's recipients of the Distinguished Service Award were George C. Barrett, MD, and Larry D. Lessly. Dr. Barrett is past president of the federation and the North Carolina Medical Board. Lessly is executive director and special counsel of the Nevada State Board of Medical Examiners.

Raymond J. Albert and Anand G. Garg, MD, were co-recipients of the John H. Clark, MD, Leadership Award. Albert is a public member of the State Medical Board of Ohio. Dr. Garg is past president of the Ohio board and served on the federation's examination and special purpose examination committees.

Winners of the Meritorious Service Award were Janet D. Carson, general counsel for the National Board of Medical Examiners, and I. Kathryn Hill, a former federation executive. The Ray L. Casterline, MD, Award for Excellence in Writing went to Richard A. Cooper, MD, for his article "The Expanding Scope of Practice of Nonphysician Clinicians and Implications for Medical Practice" in the Journal of Medical Licensure and Discipline.

Residents say no to Pennsylvania

Young doctors are training at eight medical schools in Pennsylvania, but most aren't sticking around after that, according to a 2004 Assn. of American Medical Colleges survey. Residents say they believe the practice environment is deteriorating in Pennsylvania.

Less than half (41%) of internists plan to stay in the state after residency, as do 28% of obstetricians-gynecologists and 10% of anesthesiologists. None of the residents in neurosurgery, radiology or orthopedic surgery intend to stay.

Report questions assisted-suicide law's safeguards

A psychiatrist with Physicians for Compassionate Care, a group opposing Oregon's Death With Dignity Act allowing assisted suicide, has released the medical history of a 63-year-old cancer patient, which he said offers proof that the law's safeguards meant to protect the mentally ill or incompetent are not working.

According to N. Gregory Hamilton, MD, cancer patient Michael Freeland had suicidal thoughts ever since his mother had committed suicide some 40 years earlier. He had been prescribed Zoloft for depression, but still obtained a lethal prescription in 2001. Dr. Hamilton notes that the lethal prescription was not revoked after Freeland was hospitalized for depression plus suicidal and homicidal thoughts.

Dr. Hamilton reported that he and his wife Cathy helped Freeland live until Dec. 5, 2002, when he died of cancer complications -- 18 months after receiving his lethal prescription. Because the law states that patients who receive lethal prescriptions must have only six months or less to live, Dr. Hamilton said this was further proof that the Oregon law is faulty.

Dr. Hamilton presented his paper May 6 during the American Psychiatric Assn. meeting in New York City, and said that Freeland allowed his medical records to be released "out of a wish to help others."

Compassion in Dying of Oregon Executive Director George Eighmey questioned how Freeland could be considered too mentally incompetent to request a lethal prescription but competent enough to agree to have his records made public. He added that, since Freeland and others do occasionally live longer than expected, it shows that people who request a lethal prescription are not necessarily suicidal but are seeking a "safety net" in case their terminal illnesses become unbearable.

Dr. Hamilton's report is available online (www.pccef.org/articles/art28.htm)