Saturday, August 7, 2010

Doctors Going Bankrupt

You know an economy is bad when even doctors go bankrupt. This post is about eye doctors and would affect those who want/need Lasik eye surgery. This is from Glenn Hagele:

"A difficult economy can affect surgeons as well as main street and some medical clinics are using bankruptcy to stop creditors, but what if the creditor is a patient? Many elective medical procedures, including Lasik vision correction surgery, come with long-term warranties. Patients may pay extra for the promise of a lifetime of additional surgeries to “fine tune” their results. Unfortunately, these warranties may end when bankruptcy begins. - * -

In 2001 the nation chain Lasik Vision closed all of its offices without warning and filed for bankruptcy. Patients arrived at Lasik Vision offices for follow-up exams to find locked doors and no one answering their calls. In December 2009, national Lasik chain TLC Vision filed for Chapter 11 reorganization when its shares dropped to less than $0.02. LCA-Vision, which operates the Lasik Plus centers throughout the US, has closed many of its locations and recorded a multi-million dollar loss for the second-quarter of 2010. Patient advocate Glenn Hagele of the Council for Refractive Surgery Quality Assurance (USAEyes) warns a patient may want to check the stock price of a Lasik chain before having surgery there. - * -

Discussion Points: - * -

Should physicians be providing long-term “warranties”? - * -
Should patients ask for a potential doctor's financial statement? - * -
Should promised medical services be excluded from bankruptcy?"

All this and more at:

USAEyes

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