Doctors' income: Press Council reprimands Le Matin Dimanche

The article of September 11, 2016, entitled "Combien gagne un médecin en Suisse? Personne ne peut réellement le dire!" (How much does a doctor earn in Switzerland? No one can really say!) suggests that it is difficult to quantify the real wages of practicing Swiss doctors. Based on this observation, he suggests that their income has an important influence on the increase in healthcare costs.

The FMH accused the authors of the article of not having sufficiently sought the truth, of knowingly omitting information and of not sufficiently presenting the attitude of physicians. This resulted in an article that spread polemics by creating the impression that disproportionate incomes of the medical profession would cause health care costs to rise.

The Press Council partially upholds the complaint. It states that the article confuses the terms "salary," "income" and "sales. In addition, facts and commentary are mixed up in a certain point. On all other points, it rejects the complaint, according to a statement. In particular, Le Matin Dimanche took sufficient account of the doctors' position and did not distort any information, the press council said. (pd/hae)