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Frank E. Jones, MD
Nashville (Tenn) Orthopaedic Associates, PA

JAMA. 1993;269(14):1789.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.

—I am disappointed that you saw fit to publish the article entitled "What Are We Teaching About Indigent Patients?"¹

Miles treats this case as if it were clearly a matter of financial greed with the surgeon refusing to treat a patient because he would not be paid. It is apparent to me that this was not the case. Miles presumes the worst motives for this surgeon, but does not tell us whether this surgeon refuses to treat all Medicaid patients or whether he ever treats some patients who have no insurance coverage at all. We are not told what sort of encounter there was between the patient and the surgeon. The patient was obviously not someone whom any of us would want to assume responsibility for. The sort of self-destructive behavior that she exhibited indicated a high probability that she would not be compliant with her . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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