Doctors oust leader for opposing
malpractice caps
Tuesday, November 18, 2003
BY CAROL ANN CAMPBELL
Star-Ledger Staff
A Jersey City doctor has paid a hefty price for opposing his colleagues on the contentious medical malpractice
issue.
Physicians at Christ Hospital in Jersey City yesterday ousted George
Ciechanowski, a pulmonologist, as president of their medical society because he opposes caps on malpractice payments -- and said so in a
letter that ended up being used as campaign literature in the recent legislative elections.
About 100 doctors gathered at the hospital yesterday, some angrily denouncing
Ciechanowski. The doctor, who said he was defending his right to express his views, described himself as a victim of political
persecution.
"We are here today to vote for political intolerance, the likes of which we have not seen in this country since the
Salem witch trials," Ciechanowski told the physicians.
They were not moved. More than two-thirds voted to oust Ciechanowski seven months before his term in the
unpaid but prestigious position was scheduled to end. The exact count was not available yesterday. The
president of the medical society acts as a liaison between the doctors and the hospital's administration.
Thomas Simpson, a surgeon who wrote the motion to push the doctor out, said Ciechanowski is entitled to his
opinion, but crossed the line "when he put that in a public forum, and in a vehicle for the trial lawyers. He lost his
ability to lead." Simpson is also president of the Hudson County Medical Society.
Ciechanowski tried to explain himself to colleagues in a letter yesterday. He said he was approached by
Consumers for Civil Justice, a Trenton-based group that describes itself as a coalition of consumer
victims. He then wrote a letter that said he supports an assembly plan that calls for subsidies to help doctors pay for liability
premiums. In a postscript, he mentions groups that "also oppose caps."
The consumer group then printed and distributed about 8,000 of the letters before the election earlier this month.
The flier included a photograph of the doctor. It did not mention Christ Hospital or his position there.
Ciechanowski said he thought the letter would be printed in a newspaper op-ed section and did not know it would
become campaign literature. In an interview, he said he doubted that caps would ever pass in New Jersey
and said that doctors had to be open to other solutions, such as subsidies, to help them stay in business.
"I think the medical society has a one-track approach to fixing this
problem," he said.
Doctors in New Jersey have been pushing for caps for nearly two years by striking and protesting at the
Statehouse in Trenton. Caps would not affect the economic damages a malpractice victim could win, only the
amount of damages for pain and suffering. Doctors said caps would lower liability
premiums.
Earlier this month, doctors from around the state knocked on doors to urge voters to throw out Democrats, whom
they blame for the failure to enact caps. The Democrats instead took control of both the Senate and
the Assembly.
The director of Consumers for Civil Justice, Peter Guzzo, said the group is not allied with lawyers and is "appalled"
by the vote at Christ Hospital.
"He (Ciechanowski) comes to this country from Poland. He leaves a
country suppressed by the Soviets and comes here to express his opinion and he's squashed," Guzzo said.
Mark S. Olesnicky, president of the Medical Society of New Jersey, said he objected to Ciechanowski's letter.
"To put that in writing in a communication with a group representing trial lawyers is hard to understand," he said.
He said doctors must "fight for the life of our practices."
Ciechanowski said he is being bullied.
"I think what happened is a trampling of the First Amendment that will really set a bad precedent," he said.
Carol Ann Campbell covers medicine. She may be reached at ccampbell@starledger.com
or (973) 392-4148.