`the Fact The Storm Hit On A Holiday Was A Benefit' 
White Christmas With A Bang 
Interstates Closed; 19,000 Lose Power

10 Reasons Santa Should Come To Town

By M. PAUL JACKSON michaelj@leader.net
 Wednesday, December 25, 2002 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 1A 





WILKES-BARRE - Appendicitis caused the pain in Todd Ginder's abdomen. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But, the anxiety caused by a physician's refusal to treat him might have
been worse, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Ginder, 36, was diagnosed with appendicitis last month by emergency staff
at Mercy Hospital in Wilkes-Barre, yet was forced to wait for hours as nurses
struggled to find a surgeon to treat him, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ginder says he is a victim of the state's medical malpractice crisis that
is forcing doctors to pay sharp increases for malpractice insurance or reduce
or close their practices. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I never thought they would turn away emergency patients,'' said the
drafting instructor at the Wilkes-Barre Area Vocational-Technical School.
``Who would ever imagine?'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ginder arrived at Mercy's emergency room on Nov. 16, complaining of intense
abdominal pains, he said. He was diagnosed with possible appendicitis, an
inflammation of the appendix, and was told surgery was necessary. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But, hospital staff members were unable to find a surgeon willing to
perform the appendectomy, Ginder said. Because he was a new patient, no
surgeons were willing to treat him - including the physician on call at that
time, Dr. Brian Marien, Ginder said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Ginder could not say how many surgeons were called. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 After waiting two hours, Ginder's family physician suggested moving him to
Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Plains Township, where doctors
discovered his appendix had ruptured. It was removed Nov. 17. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Citing privacy issues, Geisinger officials declined comment on Ginder's
surgery. Mercy officials did not return a call seeking comment. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Physicians could not determine whether his appendix ruptured while waiting
for a surgeon at Mercy Hospital, but ``the question is out there,'' Ginder
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Medical liability insurance premiums - the insurance that covering
physicians in case of malpractice lawsuits - have risen more than 100 percent
for high-risk specialists since 2000. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As many as two dozen Luzerne County physicians have closed or scaled back
their practices. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As a precaution, physicians such as Marien have begun limiting their
practices to established patients, believing new patients are more likely to
sue. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``Of course I would have wanted to do (Ginder's surgery), but we don't have
insurance,'' Marien said. ``Believe me, this isn't fun for us. We're not
trained this way.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Marien, a member of Community Surgical Group, was dropped by the group's
insurance provider, GE Medical Protective Co., in October. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The four-member group announced a few weeks ago it would no longer treat
new patients, although Marien recently found more affordable insurance and
began seeing new patients in early December. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The other three physicians are still looking for affordable insurance, and
are not seeing new patients, he said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Without insurance, ``ethically, we're not able to establish new
doctor/patient relationships,'' Marien said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Marien said Ginder's condition at the time was not immediately
life-threatening. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Generally, a hospital emergency room is required only to stabilize an
emergency patient, who then becomes the responsibility of the surgeon who
treats him. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Because there are fewer surgeons treating newer cases, the remaining
physicians often have trouble wading through the backlog of patients, Marien
said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Sometimes physicians ``cannot physically get to somebody,'' Marien said.
``There's no doctors here. The limits have been exceeded.'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Gov.-elect Ed Rendell has formed a state task force to find ways to reduce
physicians' malpractice costs. In the meantime, patients such as Ginder are
sometimes at a loss to find a new physician. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The incident has changed the way he feels about physicians' malpractice
problems, Ginder said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 ``I was much more sympathetic to the doctors' problems before this,'' he
said. ``Who would have ever imagined they'd turn away patients needing
emergency surgery?'' &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 M. Paul Jackson, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 829-7134. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Area Man Feels Pain Of Malpractice Crunch 
Todd Ginder Went To Geisinger After Mercy Doctor Wasn't Willing To Treat Him
For Appendicitis Because Of Liability Worries.

Area Man Feels Pain Of Malpractice Crunch Todd Ginder Went To Geisinger After Mercy Doctor Wasn't Willing To Treat Him For Appendicitis Because Of Liability Worries.