DOCTORS DEBATE

I just finished reading the doctors' interviews ["The Doctors Are In"] conducted for the November issue. Well done! It's an important, complex subject. By letting the doctors tell their stories, you credibly capture multiple facets and demonstrated that there are no easy answers. It was an interesting read. -Bob Leonard

It was very interesting to read the discussion among five of our physician colleagues with respect to different "ailments" of the practice of modern medicine. We were intrigued by the wide range of opinions.

It was extremely disturbing to us, however, to hear Dr. Charles Loewe's groundless, simplistic and prejudiced assumptions regarding the "substandard quality" of American medical care, which he attributes to "chiropractory, osteopathic and other industries that tend to take medical care down a notch." Furthermore, I was appalled to read of his notion that the rising cost of healthcare is in some bizarre way caused by "foreign physicians," implying that their "profiling and submission of charges and how they operate" is somehow fraudulent, inferior and/or unethical.

It is disheartening to be reminded of the divisive ideology which frequently prevents our society in general, and our medical society in particular, from uniting to find solutions to our many true obstacles towards the betterment of American healthcare. -Emmy Satya, M.D. (Sarasota cardiologist) and K.R. Byju, M.D. (Sarasota gastroenterologist)

I was dismayed after reading the comments made by one of the panelists in the article "The Doctors Are In." As an osteopathic physician (D.O.) practicing in Florida with more than 40 years of experience, I found his remark about osteopathic medicine tending to "take medical care down a notch" to be the most appalling.

D.O.s are complete physicians who can prescribe medication, perform surgery and practice in any of the medical specialty areas. We work side by side with M.D.s to heighten the standard of care that America's patients receive. In addition, osteopathic medicine has produced several highly regarded physicians such as Col. Ronald A. Maul, O.D., former command surgeon of the U.S. Central Command, and Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O., the first African-American woman to head a U.S. medical school.

Considering that this doctor practices in Florida, a state with two osteopathic medical schools and 3,400 practicing D.O.s, I was truly surprised by his ignorance and disdain for osteopathic medicine and the more than 56,000 osteopathic physicians in the United States. I urge Sarasota/Manatee Business to further explore osteopathic medicine in future issues. -Philip L. Shettle, D.O., American Osteopathic Association, president

Dr. Loewe responds:

Dear Colleagues:

I would like to express my heartfelt apologies for the statements I made in the article. My comments were never intended to be derogatory nor discriminatory to those mentioned the article. I take full responsibility for the inappropriate remarks that were made and am truly sorry to those I offended.

It was never my intention to strike out at anyone who devotes their time, efforts and hard work to help others. Hopefully you can find it in your hearts to forgive me and accept my apology for my unfortunate lapse of judgment. I was wrong in singling out any individual, specialty or ethnic group in the discussion.

My hope is that my actions and my record of 20-plus years of respect for my fellow colleagues and service to their community speak for who I truly am. -With true remorse, Charles J. Loewe

CALIFORNIA DREAMIN'

After reading "Can Government Really Create Workforce Housing?" I am enclosing our newsletter on the "success" of inclusionary zoning in California, i.e., 35,000 homes built in 30 years.

Is this success? To have a statewide program, in a state the size of California, that provides 1,166 homes per year of "affordable" housing, through an inclusionary zoning law? When North Port issues more affordable housing building permits than does the entire state of California under its inclusionary zoning law, who is kidding who that this is a successful way to solve the problem?

According to the California Building Industry Association, the state faces a housing deficit of nearly one million homes. Until we recognize that it is the private sector that takes both market and financial risk to build housing, supported by local government that does not impose unnecessary rules, regulations and fees, we will never again have enough affordable housing either in California or Sarasota to meet the demand. -Kerry Kirschner, executive director, The Argus Foundation