Doctors should be held accountable

The doctors of Illinois are teaming up to ask the Supreme Court to uphold the state's 2005 medical lawsuit reform law that puts a cap on medical malpractice suits. The "Keep Medical Lawsuit Reforms, Preserve Patient Access to Care" may not be good for any of us.

It is unfortunate that doctors believe that patients are reopening old wounds, as their ads suggest, but some of those wounds never close. Why shouldn't doctors take responsibility for life-altering or grave mistakes? Patient lives are priceless, and the penalty for those mistakes should be bottomless.

Doctors are leaving Illinois to practice elsewhere in an attempt to threaten us. It may be a good idea for those doctors to practice somewhere else, so they can come crawling back with a few lessons learned. Doctors would not survive too well in states that require impeccable standards.

As a resident of Illinois for the past four years, I can compare health care here with those in seven other states. Illinois is the worst state to receive health care for such things as: bedside manner, a correct diagnosis, treating poor patients, and refusal to uphold the Hippocratic oath, to name a few.

It is high time for these doctors to take full responsibility for patient care, including their own mistakes.

Do not protect doctors who have made these grave mistakes. Keep them out of Illinois, so we can stay alive.

Cheryl Myers

Elgin