The lead article in the Sun Journal April 10, “Some Maine doctors paid millions by Medicare in ’12,” represents an embarrassment to serious journalists.

While technically true, the initial thrust of the article suggests a completely false premise: that some Maine doctors are taking home millions of dollars in Medicare payments. It’s not until the 10th paragraph that the reader begins to get the true story — that Medicare is reimbursing most of those doctors for payments they made to obtain drugs for their patients.

It would have been illuminating to discuss the real issues, such as: What’s the difference between the doctors’ costs for these drugs and the Medicare payment? If questioned about that, the doctors could have easily provided the information (or decided to keep it confidential … now that would be an interesting story, wouldn’t it?).

Serious journalism practically mandates that amount of research before such an article is released, doesn’t it? As it stands, the reader doesn’t even know if most or all of the doctors listed are receiving a percentage of their Medicare payment for services to patients or simply for costs of the drugs.

The story could, of course, have focused on another vital issue: Why are these drugs so expensive, and how much profit should pharmaceutical companies receive for such medications? That certainly merits a serious in-depth discussion.

Instead, the Sun Journal went for the sensational but misleading headline. That’s an embarrassment to the paper and a disservice to the readers.

Disclaimer: Yes, I am a local physician, and, yes, I receive Medicare reimbursement for service to patients. I’m actually fairly proud of the fact that I accept Medicare’s deeply discounted payments for my services. And no, I’m not even close to being on the Sun Journal’s list of doctors who got a million dollars or more from Medicare in 2012.

Gregory D’Augustine, MD, Lewiston

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