Jersey M.D.s Plan Feb. 3 Walkout

"There will be several thousand doctors participating statewide, primary care doctors and specialists alike, uniting for a common cause," Dr. Zaccaria told National Underwriter. "This has never been done before in our country, so we are truly making history."

He continued, "What we will be doing is closing our offices?there will be no scheduled elective surgeries." The majority of the participants, he said, will be private practitioners, but hospital-based doctors will also take part.

The job action will last at least three days throughout the state, but some offices and counties are calling for one to two weeks, Dr. Zaccaria said. Some of the doctors and officials from the Medical Society of New Jersey are still talking with state officials, but no resolution has been reached yet.

He explained that most doctors will most likely participate for three days, which will affect all hospitals in the state because there won't be elective surgeries and because the overflow of patients from private practitioners could go to hospital emergency rooms. "But no one will be denied emergency care," he said.

Dr. Zaccaria added that doctors on the walkout will be taking part in several demonstrations and marches as well as legislative meetings.

On Feb. 3, at 10 a.m., "we will be having a very large demonstration-rally at the Jersey Shore Medical Center in Monmouth County, which will be attended by 800 to 1,000 doctors," he said. The program will be comprised of speakers including legislative officials and patients "who want to preserve quality health care in our state," Dr. Zaccaria said.

The top demand from doctors, Dr. Zaccaria said, is for the state legislature to enact a $250,000 cap on jury awards for non-economic damages for victims of medical negligence.

"A decade ago, only a handful of claims were more than $1 million each year, but now, there is more than one such claim per week," he said.

Gov. James E. McGreevey, however, has been critical of the impending work stoppage.

Ellen Mellody, spokesperson for Gov. McGreevey said the governor "believes it is a monumentally bad idea for doctors to strike while he's trying to fix the problem."

She added, "The Governor has made this issue a priority. He has been working closely with doctors and insurance companies to work on this issue, and he is making progress,"

Bruce H. Stern, president of the New Jersey chapter of the Washington, D.C.-based Association of Trial Lawyers of America, also denounced the job action. "It's outrageous that doctors would jeopardize the health of their patients in an attempt to extort legislative changes," he said.

Still, he agreed doctors have one legitimate complaint and pointed out that physicians' medical malpractice insurance premiums often increase even when doctors are let out of the case after getting sued.

"I believe that should be fixed," he said. "But the real cause of rising medical malpractice insurance cost is medical malpractice. And they can't really prove there have been excessive awards."

He argued that, "Even the $250,000 cap on non-economic awards would, at best, save five to 10 percent of premiums, and doctors are saying rates are going up by 50 percent and higher."

Furthermore, there are other factors like stock market losses and mismanagement by insurers that contribute to increasing premiums, he charged.

"I don't think victims should have to pay for bad business decisions by insurance companies and errors made by doctors," he said.

But this week, three other states saw their physicians voice their concerns on medical malpractice insurance costs. On Monday and Tuesday, some 800 Florida doctors skipped work to attend a two-day conference in West Palm Beach, Fla., to learn more about rising medical malpractice premiums and to talk about possible remedies.

In Mississippi, a dozen surgeons took leaves of absence to protest high insurance costs. Additionally, some 750 doctors in Missouri staged a rally Wednesday to ask the state legislature for changes that would lower their medical malpractice rates.