Word: sosenko
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...Like Sosenko's patients, millions across America might turn up for an appointment one day soon and find the doctor is out--for good. Thousands have already lost their doctors to a malpractice crisis that, while concentrated for now in certain states and specialties, is spreading. Doctors are being handed malpractice-insurance bills that are double those of a couple of years ago, forcing many of them to move from high-premium states--like Florida, Nevada and Pennsylvania--to more affordable venues like California and Indiana. The crisis is compelling some doctors and medical students to switch from lawsuit-magnet...
...system is clearly broken, and there is no quick fix in sight. To doctors like Sosenko, the main problems are frivolous lawsuits and multimillion-dollar judgments awarded for tragic but sometimes unavoidable outcomes. (A banner at a rally read SICK? CALL A LAWYER) The waiting room at Sosenko's Midwest Pulmonary these days looks almost like a campaign headquarters. Banners declaring WE HAVE A CRISIS! hang alongside lists of politicians' names and phone numbers. Sosenko's patients have signed petitions calling on politicians to make malpractice reform a top priority...
...easy to see why they want to help. Sosenko is a native and a favorite son of Joliet, a middle-class town about 45 miles southwest of Chicago. The child of Ukrainian immigrants who fled a displaced-persons camp in Germany after World War II, Sosenko grew up in Joliet watching his father, Roman, serve the town as a family doctor. He wanted to do the same for his friends and neighbors, treating people suffering from diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and lung cancer...
Over the years, Sosenko and his colleagues at MPC have earned a reputation as not only capable but also unusually attentive. Phone calls are promptly returned, day or night, and doctors make house calls when necessary. "It's such a relief, just knowing he's here," says Pat Falkenberg, 48, a patient of Sosenko's who is battling pulmonary fibrosis and awaiting a lung transplant. During a stay in the hospital, Falkenberg says, Sosenko stopped by her room so many times that she "often wondered if he ever went home...
...math whiz with almost total recall, Sosenko is legendary around the office for remembering practically every one of the several thousand patients he has seen--and details of their conditions--even if it's been 15 years between visits. He personally coordinates most of his patients' care, calling other specialists for tests and appointments. "Any wheezing? How about panting?" Sosenko asks Richard Escherick, 61, during an office visit. In his blunt but friendly style, Sosenko quizzes the man about his nighttime cough. "Is it like this?" he asks, making a hacking sound. "Or like this?"--and he rattles his throat...