Dear Ann Landers,
resent your sarcastic reply to Cali-fornia Yell For Help, the woman who lashed out at the surgeon who removed her friend's healthy breast. According to you, it simply could not have happened. You said all sur-geons must do a biopsy first and that no reputable physician would perform such an operation unless the biopsy showed a malignancy. You as much as called the woman a liar. May I direct your attention to the word "reputable." I would not argue the point that the majority of physicians are reasonably honest, some are highly principled, and a few are totally dedicated, but that still leaves a number of knife-hungry scoundrels, not to mention chronic alcoholics who bury their mistakes and no one is any the wiser. So please, Ann Landers, don't try to give the public the impression that every physician who hangs out a shingle is incapable of error. Tell it like it is.-Calling Dr. Kildare

Dear Calling,
There are incompetents, phonies, and bad actors in every field, and the medical profession is no excep-tion. Unfortunately when a physician is unscrupulous or botches a job, someone becomes severely ill or dies. I know of no profession, however, that does such a conscientious job of policing its own members. Peer approval among physicians is of utmost importance. Medical organizations, county, state, and national, are persistent and diligent in their fight against charlatans and quacks. Medical standards are constantly being elevated by medical audit committees in the nation's hos-pitals. Additional safeguards are provided by tightening the requirements for hospital certification involving total patient care. When one considers that before the Abraham Flexner Report in 1910, "doctors" in some states were permitted to practice medicine by virtue of a certificate purchased for as little as five dollars, I say the medical profession has made enormous strides. All professions should do as well.