Totals, as measured by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, still are historically high.
Example of Category Blog layout (FAQs/General category)
New York Leadership Development Reception, January 19, 2012
On January 19, 2012, the Benjamin Rush Society hosted a Leadership Development Reception at the historic 3 West Club in mid-town Manhattan. The goal of the reception was to introduce the Society to leading physicians in the nations' largest city, and to invite them to collaborate with us in establishing chapters at medical schools in New York City and the surrounding area.
Deroy Murdock, syndicated columnist, member of the Board of the Society, and long-time resident of New York, gathered a group of the city's leading physicians to meet with the Society's leadership. We were also joined by Felicia Horton, Executive Director of Doctors for Patient Care (D4PC), a physicians' membership organization that is collaborating with the Society across the country.
Sally C. Pipes, Chairman of the Board of the Society, and John R. Graham, Executive Director, joined Mr. Murdock and Mrs. Horton in explaining our goals and activities.
Still photos of the event are available at the Society's Facebook page. A short (and, we must confess, amateur) video of Mr. Murdock's, Ms. Pipes', and Mr. Graham's presentations explains the Society very effectively. Please share it with your colleagues who might be interested in getting involved in the Society.
The Society is very grateful to Deroy Murdock for volunteering his time and energy to make this event a success, as well as Mrs. Horton for her collaboration. Cindy Chin, events manager at the Pacific Research Institute, was not able to participate in the event, but she's the one who discovered the 3 West Club and arranged the reception, for which we are also grateful.
Expect big things from Benjamin Rush Society chapters in New York!
Last Updated (Wednesday, 25 January 2012 17:25)
Speaker Series at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, January 18, 2012
The Benjamin Rush Society's University of Cincinnati, College of Medicine chapter held its inaugural event on January 18, 2012. Dr. Michael Pryce, MD, spoke to an audience of over thirty medical students and faculty on the topic of defensive medicine and medical-malpractice reform. Dr. Pryce is a U.S. Navy veteran and practicing orthopedic surgeon from Kent, Ohio. He is currently running for the U.S. Senate in the 2012 election. Dr. Pryce is also the author of the book Anathema: America's War on Medicine.
In his presentation, titled "Defensive Medicine: How Malpractice Litigation is Raising Costs and Harming Patients", Dr. Pryce used numerous examples from his thirty years of experience in private practice to illustrate some of the problems caused by today's medical-malpractice system, which causes doctors to act according to their own need to avoid lawsuits - rather than strictly in the best interests of their patients. This increases costs, reduces access to care, and increases risks due to unnecessary tests and procedures.
Dr. Pryce described his proposal to define medical malpractice more accurately in line with to truemalpractice, which would constitute a miniscule percentage of current lawsuits - only those characterised by gross negligence or blatant errors, but not all procedures that have adverse outcomes.
Dr. Pryce argued that his proposal would reduce medical-malpractice insurance premiums. He also proposed that patients could, themselves, buy insurance against sub-optimal results of treatment. Dr. Pryce also described the "state of play" of med-mal reform at the state and federal levels.
According to Tom Boone, the founding president of the Benjamin Rush Society's chapter at the University of Cincinnati, the medical students responded to Dr. Pryce's somewhat bleak outlook on the state of med-mal reform with a higher understanding that they need to be involved in public policy.
According to Tom, the medical students understand that "physicians can't allow trial lawyers to write medical-malpractice laws that harm their ability to take care of patients."
See photos from the event at the Benjamin Rush Society's Facebook page.
The University of Cincinnati chapter of the Benjamin Rush society plans a number of future lunch events for this term's speaker series.
Last Updated (Wednesday, 25 January 2012 17:05)
Speaker Series at University of Colorado School of Medicine, January 10, 2012
55 students and faculty members joined the Benjamin Rush Society and the Colorado Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) for the first of their monthly speaker series, featuring Dr. Mike Fallon and Dr. Linda Gorman, on January 10, 2012, at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. The title of the presentation was:
Spats, Stats, & The Rising Cost of Health Care
Dr. Fallon, a former Congressional candidate, addressed the following:
Why is health care so expensive?
What is the role of Medicare and Medicaid liabilities in the national debt?
How have technological advances and the federal regulator climate contributed to rising costs?
Dr. Gorman, Senior Fellow and Director of the Health Care Policy Institute at the Independence Institute, discussed issues will international comparisons of health-systems performance using sources such as
The World Health Organization (WHO) surveys
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) reports
The European Union (EU) health-basket results.
Photos of the event are posted at the Society's Facebook page.
Last Updated (Monday, 23 January 2012 13:57)
Speaker Series at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, November 2, 2011
The Robert Wood Johnson Medical School chapter of the Benjamin Rush Society held its inaugural event on Wednesday, November 2, 2011, hosting Dr. Alieta Eck, President of the American Association of Physicians and Surgeons.
Dr. Eck spoke to medical students about how the costly but ineffective Medicaid program can be replaced with real charity care. As in many other states, Medicaid in New Jersey chews up a a large portion of the state budget with little to show for it. Patients are left struggling to find a doctor who accepts Medicaid.
She proposed that the solution to the problem of access to care for the poor can be achieved through real charity care. Dr. Eck has been working with the New Jersey state legislature to pass the NJ Volunteer Physicians Protection Act. This Act would would subsidize medical-malpractice coverage for physicians who volunteer four hours per week, deliver two babies, or perform two surgeries monthly. Dr. Eck believes that this could save New Jersey taxpayers millions of dollars.
Dr. Eck concluded with a case study that compared the Zarephath Health Center, a private charitable clinic founded by her husband and herself in 2003, with a nearby federally qualified health center, Plainfield Health Center. Zarephath Health Center operates at a fraction of the cost of Plainfield Health Center, and dispenses medicines donated by pharmaceutical manufacturers. The medical students, receptive to the idea of volunteering to care for the poor, peppered her with questions about her experience and proposals.
According to Lou Magdon, president of the Society's chapter at RWJ Medical School, "It was great to kick off the chapter with a speaker who is such a great role model. Our medical school, like others, lacks professors who believe in freedom and support free-market solutions to our health-care challenges. We plan on balancing the conversation at RWJ. What better way to begin the journey than by starting a conversation about how to better care for the most vulnerable of our neighbors?"
Speaker Series at Duke University School of Medicine, September 23, 2011
The Benjamin Rush Society, Duke University Chapter presents a discussion with Joe Coletti of the State Policy Network, who will give a talk titled: "Access to Healthcare Under the Healthcare Reform Bill (PPACA) and After". This is a topic that touches all medical students - we welcome everyone to come by!
What: Benjamin Rush Society First Meeting with Guest Speaker Joe Coletti
When: Friday, September 23, 2011 at 5 PM
Where: Duke South Amphitheater, Duke University, Durham, NC
In addition to the stimulating discussion, we'll also be providing food. Please RSVP if you plan to attend so we can order enough for everyone
In his presentation, titled "Defensive Medicine: How Malpractice Litigation is Raising Costs and Harming Patients", Dr. Pryce used numerous examples from his thirty years of experience in private practice to illustrate some of the problems caused by today's medical-malpractice system, which causes doctors to act according to their own need to avoid lawsuits - rather than strictly in the best interests of their patients. This increases costs, reduces access to care, and increases risks due to unnecessary tests and procedures.