Pubdate: Mon, 10 Nov 2003 Source: Savannah Morning News (GA) Copyright: 2003 Savannah Morning News Contact: http://www.savannahnow.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/401 Author: Clare Parris-Wyrick DOCTORS CAUGHT WRITING ILLEGAL PRESCRIPTIONS Several months ago there were many articles in the Morning News about the dilemma doctors are facing because of the rising cost of insurance due to medical malpractice lawsuits. Doctors allege that the suits have caused fees for their services to skyrocket. Perhaps overbilling the patients' insurance companies have occurred, but doctors seem unwilling to realize the high cost of insurance premiums paid by their patients. I have no idea how to remedy that, but only 5 percent of civil suits are for medical malpractice. However, this letter is to address a problem much more serious than insurance. For the past eight to 12 months the Drug Enforcement Agency and Counter Narcotics Team have been arresting doctors in Chatham and other counties for drug trafficking, writing illegal prescriptions and perhaps using illegal drugs themselves. We won't be hearing much about it, though, as every effort is being made to sweep it under the rug to protect the guilty doctors. I urge all people who are patients of these doctors or who might know someone who is a patient, to speak out now. This is much too dangerous to allow them to go back with just a slap on the wrist. The irony is one can hardly get a doctor to prescribe pain medication to those who truly need it, yet they have no compunction about writing prescriptions for thousands of pills for profit. CLARE PARRIS-WYRICK Savannah - --- MAP posted-by: Larry Stevens