Correspondence

Compensation of Lawyers and Doctors

N Engl J Med 1996; 335:1691November 28, 1996

Article

To the Editor:

I recently saw two lawyers. The first was my own attorney, who did some work for which he charged me $185 per hour. I did not consider this unreasonable. The second was a patient in my internal-medicine practice. His law firm belongs to a health maintenance organization that will pay me $156 to provide him with comprehensive medical care for the entire year. For this sum I will be available as his physician 24 hours a day, see him in the office as frequently as needed, and care for him in the hospital if required.

An hour of legal work is now worth more than a year of medical care.

Richard G. Williams, M.D.
4556 Stonehaven Ln., Suisun, CA 94585