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Doctors sue HMO; cite decisions in patient care
By Jeannine Lee
USA TODAY

A group of New York doctors Monday took the USA's third-Iar health insurer to court, charJ in Aetna Life and Casualty doesn't allow th m p'roper say in patient care. The federal lawsuit, by 20 Long Island hospital anesthesiologists, is believed to be the first time doctors have sued over efforts to dictate standarcis of care, said Whitney Seymour, their lawyer. The anesthesiologists charge Aetna's health maintenance org,anization threatened to get them fired if they didn't 2ive up final say on patient care. The doctors wanted mediators to settle disputes on patient care, but Aetna refused thirdparty advice, Seymour said. When they tried negotiating, Aetna threatened to cut business with the hospitals where the doctors worked. "Aetna used economic coercion," said Seymour. "They told hospitals to fire doctors if they didn't sign." But Aetna spokesman Walter Chemiak said the suit is "without merit. . . We categorically reject the charge that any patient is in danger by our contracting practices." The lawsuit is another si2l1 of the owing tension between doctors whose control over patient treatment is being restricted by cost-conscious managed health-care companies.

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