Elderly Virginia doctor accused of massive illegal oxycodone scheme
As I write this, I am spending the week in London for fun. One of the interesting things I’ve discovered is the way the Internet is different here in the UK. Even sites like CNN are different than in the US.
I discovered the story quoted above and was deeply upset by the way it was worded. My attempts to access the story a day later were strangely blocked because I was in the UK. It literally says “You do not have access to this story.”
First, some personal information. My practice partner just turned 65 this past week and I will soon be 65 this Fall. How long will I practice medicine? If I am not becoming demented, I plan on working into my 70s. Why? I like what I do. Yes, the hassles of running my own practice are increasingly difficult and I will likely choose to be an employee for my final years, but I still believe I am doing good for others. I feel like I am still “on top of my game.”
Thus, the story linked above caused me great distress. First, it is awful to see a doctor somehow falling into another drug scheme. It is awful how this impacts others. Yet, the story held a deeper and more horrifying implication for me personally.
The story basically made it appear that the perpetrator doctor was elderly and, presumably, impaired, though this was not stated. “How old was the doctor? Clearly, this was an argument for mandatory retirement!”
Answer: The doctor is 68 years old.
68 years old is “elderly?”
Living in the shadow of the Defense Department, I have many patients, well into their mid 70s, working with complex electronic and mathematical systems which require great precision. I know many doctors who have only recently retired, well into their 70s.
When I see a healthy older person who is fit and exercising, I often say something like: “70 is the new 50!”
Yes, I have patients in their 70s and, heaven forbid, in their later 60s who are showing signs of dementia, but these are still a minority. I focus on the productive people who enjoy their work and still do it well.
Elderly at age 68? Later versions of this story have scrapped the “elderly” word. Obviously, an editor must have noticed the error. Perhaps I cannot easily access the original article here in the UK because some sort of internet AI has blocked it as ageism.
Should there be a mandatory designated retirement age? Be careful. Some of the most productive Primary Care doctors are well into their sixties. It is very obvious that every mature PCP that retires will require at least two (or more) newly trained doctors to cover the workload.
Or, worse, thanks to the shortage of PCP’s, the replacements will come in the form of PA’s or NP’s, probably working with minimal physician oversight.
In short, I feel a responsibility to keep doing my job so long as I am capable. I believe in Maintenance of Certification (MOC), which in the current form is a quarterly exam from the dreaded ABIM. When I am no longer able to do such tasks, that will be a warning that I need to step back.
The physician dean of my medical school continued seeing patients well into his 80s. He remained sharp.
We can’t predict how our lives will evolve, but I would be okay working into that age if I am able.
Hopefully, someone will take me aside and break the bad news gently if I am not able to do such a thing.
In IL, 60 is legally elderly. I was assaulted in our rural ED a few years ago and pressed charges. Part of the form required giving your birth date. I was 63 at the time, so the charges were increased to assault on the elderly and the penalty doubled. I had mixed feelings, glad the dirtbag was heavily penalized, not so glad about being ‘elderly’. As for retirement, I’d love to. At 65, the 24-hour shifts feel much longer than they did even 10 years ago. The recovery time has increased, as well. I am transitioning into retirement, and should be there within a few years. I very much look forward to that day!
Whether they’ll admit it or not, physicians are targets of a society that still has undue, anachronistic expectations. Everything about post-modern, interwebbed, risk-transference society is progressively constricting the individual, even more so the hapless doctors. Every interaction with any government authority (or quasi-government, like the contemptible ABIM) carries with it a percentage risk of negative outcome, with NO chance at a positive outcome above the status quo. You can only be penalized by the CMS, you can only be de-certified by failing another expensive and pointless board exam. None of them will put an extra dime in your pocket, give you a day off, or provided any level of positive protection.
Likewise, every patient encounter carries some degree of risk. I struggled trying to pass finite math, trying to comprehend the duality of a fixed percentage chance of an outcome for each discrete event, yet formulizing the additive effects of those percentages over time (the math geniuses on here will blow out that fumbling description, I’m sure). Looking ahead from all the long years, the risks keep growing, and the rewards keep shrinking. I’ll probably never be able to retire, but I hope one day I can work less to lessen that exposure.
I’m 40 this year. I think 60 is still “young”! Especially when people live up to a hundred or so these days!
I do know in UK, they refer to “pensioners” (elderly) as people in their 60s, which drives me crazy. Not sure if expectations for ability to work is different there or people are just forced to retire in their 60s. But for whatever reason, it’s aggravating!
As an Orthopaedic Surgeon I also wondered about the optimal retirement age, and went with the adage “I’d rather retire a couple years too early than 20 minutes too late.” I stopped doing surgeries, except for amputations, and went to part time, at 65, and retired 3 years later, just after turning 68. I still felt like I was at the top of my game, and won two teaching awards that last year. It was a difficult decision, but one I am happy with now. Planning for this started about when I turned 60, so the transition was smooth.
I do hear the phrase from time to time that 50 is the new 30. However, I hear that from 50 year olds, not 30 year olds. In 17 days my sister who is two years older than myself retires. I have no money for retirement and do not plan on retiring into my mid 70s at least. Probably not even by choice. I do tell people that my retirement plan is hoping that the heart attack takes me, not particularly encouraging, but reality.
A mandatory retirement age like exists for our airline pilots I don’t believe makes sense. It may have made sense in the past with sudden cardiac death being a huge problem, but nowadays, with a copilot and our auto pilot system being able to land the planes I don’t really see a reason. And if I drop dead in an exam room, I suspect the patient will be able to find the door and ask for help. if I was a surgeon, possibly a little more pressing.