October 13, 2003

Doctors Fight Malpractice Insurance

LIMA, Peru - Lacking neurosurgical instruments, Dr. Cesar Venero bored holes in a dying patient's skull with a power drill from a hardware store, carefully lifted out the bone with pliers from his car and removed the blood clots. Venero, who practices in a remote Andean city, says he didn't hesitate last July to perform the lifesaving operation, widely heralded for its ingenuity in a country where public hospitals lack basic equipment and medical supplies. Posted by Editor at October 13, 2003 10:04 AM