I noted with interest the recent Mercy Health Partners ad welcoming a half dozen new physicians to the Mercy network. It was the latest in a long line of recent newspaper ads welcoming new doctors to practices in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

The ads are further evidence that the threat of doctors leaving the area because of rising malpractice premiums was really just a public relations ploy to get people to give up their rights.

The General Accounting office recently found no evidence of a doctor exodus or crisis in health care in Pennsylvania because of malpractice pressures. Recent figures released by the state's MCARE Fund show an increase of more than 900 new physicians in Pennsylvania over the past five years.

Now that everyone knows their doctors aren't leaving, the medical lobby has launched a shameful attack on lawyers, using a baby as an example of a "potential lawsuit."

I find it ironic that lawyers, who stand to gain by more malpractice, are the only ones talking about reforms that would make patients safer. We never hear the medical lobby talk about the rampant medical errors that kill tens of thousands of patients annually in the United States. We also never hear the medical lobby talk about regulating the insurance companies that are laughing all the way to the bank.

Solving the malpractice problem requires a comprehensive approach to eliminating medical errors and regulating the insurance industry, which is the true culprit in today's "crisis." It also requires honesty.

Denise Gordon

Taylor