As an obstetrician who finds delivering babies to be one of the most gratifying and fulfilling things in my life, I must warn our community that unless there are major reforms made in our medical liability system many obstetricians will be forced out of practice.

The medical liability insurance crisis is the number one topic of conversation among many physicians, particularly those handling high-risk patients including obstetrics. Everyone agrees that people who have been damaged by medical mistakes are entitled to reasonable and fair economic compensation. But there is a difference between legitimate compensation and the huge sums that are routinely awarded by juries who are emotionally manipulated by skillful trial lawyers who stand to gain a major percentage of these awards.

Please call our assembly members Tom DiNapoli at 516-482-6966 and David Sidikman at 516-822-5590 and urge them to fix our broken medical liability laws so that doctors can continue to treat patients in an atmosphere free of intimidation.

Monique DeFour Jones, MD