$300 An Hour For Private Medicine

Dr. Christian Hobden, a seasoned emergency room physician who just happens to own a $16,000 defibrillator to jump-start a stranger's stalled heart, admits he and his full-time nurse would have to save your life — for free. The law and the Hippocratic oath would compel him to do so. But don't push your luck. Show up in his swank, perfectly appointed waiting room with a nasty flu, a worrying lump or any other mysterious affliction that isn't going to immediately put you in the grave — well, then, you're flat out of luck if you're out of cash. "He's not my patient," he says. "He doesn't want to pay? Okay ... go somewhere else." Link: http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1100213409655&call_pageid=1012319932217&col=1012319928928