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