Lisa A. Smith, MD, FACS

The NYT's attack on Sen. Roger Marshall is outrageous. Why are doctors the only people in the country who don't deserve to be paid? How about editors and reporters - why don’t they give their salaries to these layabouts on "disability" who demand medical services, and then refuse to pay? The average OB/GYN sees a thousand patients a year. That means Dr. Marshall probably saw 25,000 patients and THE NEW YORK TIMES IS DISGUSTED that he submitted 700 unpaid bills to his lawyers. SEVEN HUNDRED out of 25,000 - that means he pursued unpaid bills from LESS THAN 3% OF HIS PATIENTS. I like the woman who refuses to pay for her C-section and complains she got served by a lawyer two years later WHEN SHE WAS PREGNANT AGAIN. Uh, miss — if you can’t afford to pay for the delivery of your first child, how about learning to use birth control? Not only that, but she irresponsibly failed to sign up for Medicaid which would have paid all medical bills related to her pregnancy FREE. ("Free” meaning: "Ann Pays More.”) Oops, she f-ed up, so the doctor doesn't get paid. And this arrogant, entitled narcissist complains about having to pay for the birth of her child: "I had to choose whether I’d pay my electricity or pay $50 to a doctor who didn’t need it.” After practicing obstetrics for a quarter century and being part owner of the hospital, Dr. Marshall’s combined salary was  $780,000.  What's Pinch Sulzberger’s salary? How about Maureen Dowd? Why don't you guys pay for these slackers, instead of a rural doctor who delivered thousands of babies and -- unlike a lot of doctors -- accepted Medicaid patients. Or Sarah Kliff -- who can't deliver babies, but DID review "thousands of pages of court records and interviewed eight people whom Roger Marshall sued over medical debt." The Times should refuse to pay you for your work, Sarah. It's bad enough that these layabouts think they have a God-given right not to pay doctors, but appalling that overpaid journalists think it's a moral crusade to back them IN NOT PAYING FOR SERVICES THEY ACCEPTED. Explore this gift article from The New York Times. You can read it for free without a subscription. nytimes.com/2026/09/08/us/po…