http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2004/06/06/iraqi_doctors_abducted_others_flee_nation/Officials say 100 physicians seized
By Edmund Sanders, Los Angeles Times | June 6, 2004
BAGHDAD
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For two months, someone has been kidnapping the best doctors in Iraq. Health officials and doctors estimate that as many as 100 surgeons, specialists, and general physicians have been abducted from their homes and clinics since April. Some were beaten and tortured. Most were released after the payment of $20,000 to $200,000 in ransom.
Already plagued by outdated equipment and drug shortages, Iraq's fragile health care system is buckling under this new security threat. Some doctors who have not been kidnapped also have fled Iraq, just as the nation most needs their help.
"We are losing the brain power of our most brilliant doctors," said Dr. Sami Salman, internist and medical director at the Special Care hospital at Baghdad's Medical City complex. "You can't just replace these people overnight."
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