Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | D | Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL)

Fence Post.

Article Excerpt
Alarming shortage of neurosurgeons

I want to compliment the Daily Herald for running the article "What if you have a stroke?" in the Health and Fitness section on June 21. The wake-up alarm has sounded with the catastrophic drop of practicing neurosurgeons in Illinois from 161 to 136 just in this year. Citizens south of Springfield awake every morning knowing there are no neurosurgeons due to the professional liability crisis.

To shed some light on this problem, I pose a question: What does it say about society's expectations when 90 percent of the neurosurgeons have been named in a suit and that the average number of suits per neurosurgeon in Illinois has climbed to five?

Some trial lawyers have said that only the "bad" doctors are repeatedly getting sued. Given that illogical argument, does that mean Illinois has cornered the market on dumb neurosurgeons?

Would it surprise you that the national average for neurosurgeons is to be named in a suit every 24 months? Do the residents of Naperville want to see what would happen if we got rid of 90 percent of the neurosurgeons?

Do you think you would be able to get TPA (a clot busting medication given to patients who have strokes) at Edward Hospital without a neurosurgeon to take care of the possible complication of TPA causing a bleed in the brain?

I am a resident of Naperville, and I know the dedicated neurosurgeons who...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!