News in brief - Sept. 13, 2004

Doctors form insurance firm - On Death and Dying author dies - Former UC medical student loses discrimination case - Arizona doctor named Indian Physician of Year

Doctors form insurance firm

Physicians in Dayton, Ohio, and Cincinnati this summer formed a new risk-retention group to provide medical liability insurance to physicians in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. TriState Medical Insurance Co. is one of a growing number of physician-owned insurance companies to start up in recent years, sparked by rising liability insurance rates and the number of traditional insurers leaving markets or tightening underwriting practices so many physicians have trouble obtaining insurance.

"As physicians, we need to take control of our professional liability insurance destiny rather than rely upon public companies whose primary concern is protecting investor interest," said Robert Smith, MD, TriMed's chair and president.

On Death and Dying author dies

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, MD, 78, a psychiatrist credited with changing how society views death, died in her Scottsdale, Ariz., home Aug. 24 after a long illness and several strokes.

With her 1969 book On Death and Dying, Dr. Kubler-Ross broke new ground in writing about the experiences of terminally ill people, including their stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

The first of triplet sisters born July 8, 1926, in Switzerland, she graduated from the University of Zurich medical school in 1957 and served her internships and residencies at hospitals in New York before moving to Denver in 1962 and beginning her work with dying patients.

From 1965 to 1977, she worked in the Chicago area before moving her practice to Virginia and then retiring to Arizona in 1995.

Her Web site (www.elisabethkublerross.com), states that Dr. Kubler-Ross was "appalled by the standard treatment of dying patients" and made it a point to sit with them and listen to what they had to say about what they were experiencing. "They were shunned and abused; nobody was honest with them," she wrote on her Web site. "My goal was to break through the layer of professional denial that prohibited patients from airing their innermost concerns."

In 1999, Time magazine named her one of "The Century's Greatest Minds," and the more than 20 books she wrote have been translated into at least 28 languages. Her books include: To Live Until We Say Good-Bye; On Children and Death; AIDS: The Ultimate Challenge; and her autobiography, The Wheel of Life. She is survived by a sister, son, daughter and two granddaughters.

Former UC medical student loses discrimination case

A federal appeals court recently found the University of California, Davis, School of Medicine did not discriminate when it denied a medical student extra accommodations.

According to the lawsuit, the school had been giving Andrew H.K. Wong several weeks off to read ahead but eventually denied his request for an eight-week reading period prior to his pediatrics rotation. Wong failed the clerkship and was dismissed from the school. Wong's suit said he had a learning disability.

A panel of judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco upheld a decision that Wong's past success demonstrated he did not need accommodations.

Arizona doctor named Indian Physician of Year

The Assn. of American Indian Physicians has named Yvette D. Roubideaux, MD, MPH, as this year's "Indian Physician of the Year."

Dr. Roubideaux is an assistant professor at the Mel & Enid Zuckerman Arizona College of Public Health and at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. She received the award at AAIP's 33rd annual meeting in Tulsa.

Dr. Roubideaux has been an active member of AAIP since 1989, when she earned her medical degree from Harvard Medical School. After earning her master's degree in Public Health from Harvard School of Public Health and completing the Commonwealth Fund/Harvard University Fellowship in Minority Health Policy in 1997, Dr. Roubideaux joined AAIP's executive board, serving as president in 1999-2000.

Her work at the University of Arizona College of Medicine involves teaching, research and program development on diabetes in American Indians and Indian health policy. She is director of the school's Indians Into Medicine Program, a partnership with the Inter Tribal Council of Arizona Inc. that works to recruit and retain American Indian students into health professions.

"I am honored to receive the Indian Physician of the Year Award from AAIP because this organization was an important source of support and inspiration for me as a student, and is now an important resource and network of support for me in my current career activities," she said in a statement. "I hope to continue to support the activities of AAIP in the future."