Letters to the Editors

Lodge should cut smoke for kids

Editor: Re: Moose means family for today's lodge, July 11 Times:

If Moose Lodge 521 is focusing on a new family-friendly lodge, it would seem reasonable to me that they would want to protect the children who will be attending the center. The smoke is intolerable! Children breathing in the air will be coming home with all types of lung infections.

If they are so concerned about losing membership, the lodge should try focusing on the nonsmokers in the area who would love to be a part of this organization, but who, for health reasons, cannot tolerate the smoke.
-- Lillian Pulver, Spring Hill

Give up the struggle, Wal-Mart protesters

Editor: Re: Suit seeks to stop Wal-Mart, July 6 Times:

The people in the Coalition for Anti-Urban Sprawl and the Environment (CAUSE) have got to be a bunch of sore losers. They have been beating a dead horse to stop Wal-Mart for months, and still refuse to listen to all the boards, etc., that say Wal-Mart can be built.

It's time they find a new "environmental monstrosity" to harass us with. What does it take for them to give up this obsession? Maybe a statement from Governor Bush that says Wal-Mart has met all the requirements and can proceed with construction.

You people in CAUSE should like the same bunch (of sore losers) who still claim Al Gore won Florida and should be president. It's time for the Erdrich Brigade to find another dragon they can try to slay. Give up the CAUSE.
-- Art McIntyre, Spring Hill

Guest column raised serious medical concerns

Editor: Re: A doctor's problem is Florida's, July 1 guest column by Dr. Ravindra Nathan:

We are both physicians who have recently moved to Florida after practicing for several years in a community clinic in Rockford, Ill.

Dr. Nathan's article has shed some light on the facts relating to rising malpractice insurance and its implications on the future of health care in Florida and the United States.

After moving here, we were surprised to find that many physicians choose not to see patients in nursing homes, for fear of increased litigation due to reasons clearly beyond their control. Because of this, nursing homes are finding it difficult to convince doctors to see their patients in the facility and instead have to transfer patients to the hospital, even for minor problems.

Dr. Nathan's point was precisely that: Frivolous lawsuits and high jury settlements have increased the cost of health care, affecting doctors and patients. If this continues, doctors will find it hard to afford malpractice coverage, and patients in most need for health care will be affected.

Having said that, we found some of the responses to Dr. Nathan's commentary quite irrelevant and misinformed. For instance, Dominick Ruggiero wrote that doctors have only themselves to blame for increasing cost of malpractice insurance. He presented an unusually bad picture of physicians, which is not reflective of what a majority of the physicians stand for.

We both have been very fortunate to have had patients who truly appreciate the care provided to them and this, we believe, is the biggest incentive to all physicians to do their very best, regardless of what challenges they face. We also respectfully disagree with Mr. Ruggiero when he states there is not enough oversight in issuing licenses to some foreign-educated doctors. He made it sound as if any physician can come from any foreign country and he or she will be given a license routinely. In reality, a physician who is even the chief of cardiology in a different country will have to undergo the same internship and residency training in the United States as any student fresh out of medical school, and then undergo further fellowship training in cardiology before getting any license to practice cardiology. (We think editors should verify information like this so that it is not misleading to readers.)

Most of us are aware of the problems surrounding health care. Long hours in residency training have been recently acknowledged and addressed by the government. We are now working to solve the nationwide problem of a nursing shortage.

Dr. Nathan pointed out another problem, which definitely will have an impact on the future of health care. Should we not think about it, or should we wait for it to get bigger and then look back at what we could have done differently?

We guess the answer is quite clear to an intelligent observer.
-- Dr. Seema Nishat
Dr. Syed Ali
Spring Hill

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