Dear Editor:

As a practicing radiologist, I am amazed at some of the ideas that pass through the minds of people related in some way to medicine, including doctors. Patient control of her or his medical record seems to be another doozy (Good Marketing, Good Medicine, editorial, April 2003).

I lived through "instant" mammography results because it is "good marketing." It was hard enough to interpret mammograms without the added pressure of instant results and of course too many patients expect to have the results before their bra is on.

We are still living through the brilliant concepts of HMOs, PPOs, and other acronyms. Now, with decreasing reimbursements, and the increasing demands of mountains of paperwork exacted by every agency of federal, state, and local governments and myriads of insurance companies, comes the brilliant idea of additional expenses for the health care system that is drowning in red ink.

Considering the irresponsible way that many of us act relative to documents, losses will be in the millions and the whines of "unfair," when the individual is told that it will cost him more, will be heard throughout the land.

Please, give us 6 months of no new ideas, I beg you.

Romas Dovydaitis, MD
Scranton, PA