News 15. High Malpractice Insurance Debate Continues.

<STYLE>P{margin-top:2px;margin-bottom:2px;}</STYLE> [NEW WORDS]   ♧ deliver : v. 분만/해산시키다   ♧ obstetrician : n. 산과 의사   - n. obstetrics : n. 산과학, 조산술   ♧ malpractice : n. 의료 과오, 오진   ♧ miscarriage : n. 유산, 실책, 배달착오   ♧ premature : a. 조산의, 너무 이른, 시기 상조의   ♧ panic : v. 당황하다, 공포에 질리다   ♧ delivery room : n. 분만실   ♧ hard-hit : a. 심한 타격을 입은, 피해/상황 등이 심각한   ♧ dwindle : v. (수, 규모 등이)점차 감소하다, 줄어들다   ♧ break even : (장사노름 등에서) 득실(得失)이 없게 되다, 비기다   ♧ practitioner : n. 개업 의사, 변호사, 특정 업에 종사하는 사람   ♧ gynecology : n. 【의학】 부인과 의학     - gynecologist : n. 부인과 의사   ♧ litigation : n. 소송, 기소   ♧ in practice : ad. 개업하여, 운영하여   ♧ push for : 힘쓰다, 강행하다, 압박하다   ♧ liability : n. 책임, 부담, 의무     There are few doctor-patient relationships more important than that between a pregnant woman and the doctor who will deliver her baby. In some places in the U.S., finding the right obstetrician is becoming difficult. The high cost of medical malpractice insurance is forcing some of the best doctors to quit the field. That is causing a crisis for mothers-to-be in many states.   Suzy Marvovik says she's had a lot of bad luck: two miscarriages and a baby born prematurely. Now, the doctor she's come to trust is getting out of the baby business. "At first, I panicked a little bit, because I feel so safe with Dr. Streicher."   Dr. Lauren Streiher has never been sued in her 17 years' practicing obstetrics in Chicago, but she says she can no longer afford the malpractice insurance or the constant worry. "Every single time you walk into the delivery room, you are thinking ' Is this the baby that's going to have a problem?'"   Washington D.C. is also particularly hard-hit. Dr. Nabil Asterbadi is one of an ever-dwindling number of obstetricians practicing here. "I calculated once, under the present malpractice rates, you've got to deliver over 150 babies a year to break even. And..um..that's a lot of babies."   In big cities, women can still find someone to deliver their babies especially if they can afford to drive to the suburbs, but lower income women may be left with what doctors call the "B-team".   "You're losing the most experienced practitioners in obstetrics."   The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says twenty states are in crisis. A recent survey found 15 percent of OB/GYNs nationwide had dropped their OB part of their job because of the risk of litigation or the cost of insurance.   "Certainly, they should have the right to sue. However, we need a system that keeps doctors in practice."   Suzy Marvovik has found a new doctor, but obstetricians are pushing for national reforms, hoping limits on liability will keep doctors from dropping out of the delivery room.