From the desk of Tomas F. Gamba

The use of waivers by physicians to require patients to accept binding arbitration in order to receive medical care is rapidly growing. I have refused requests to sign such waivers and, in one case, changed doctors as a result.

Recently, as I was waiting to see a new physician and completing the medical office's forms, I was presented with the waiver. I quickly reviewed it and indicated to the office manager that, as an attorney, I understood that signing the form would surrender one of my most basic legal rights, the right to a trial. I respectfully declined to sign it and was told that it was required to be accepted as a patient. I immediately discarded the forms and left, and I have since begun seeing a different physician who did not require a signed waiver.

Unfortunately, my reaction was probably rare, and the vast majority of new patients sign the doctors' waiver in order to receive the care that they need and avoid the inconvenience of seeking out a different provider.

Another doctor's patient signed a similar waiver after watching a detailed video explaining it, and then she wrote to Randy Cohen, who writes the weekly “Ethicist” column for The New York Times, asking if the policy was ethical. In his response in his March 30 column entitled “Doctor, Bully,” Cohen said it is not: “There are some rights we can be pressed into waiving. Confidentiality agreements limit our ability to express ourselves; non-compete agreements limit our employment choices. Other rights are sacrosanct.” He concludes that the “right to our day in court should be among the inviolable.”

As the use of these waivers requiring patients to accept binding arbitration to settle claims continues to grow, we encourage anyone who is presented with such a waiver to refuse to sign it and seek out the services of a different physician whenever possible. Although inconvenient, it is one way to stand firm on one of our most fundamental rights, that of a trial before an impartial tribunal or a jury of our peers.