Doctors in France resume strike to receive higher fees

PARIS -- Doctors in France resumed their nationwide strike Saturday to demand higher pay from the government, with some openly defying state-mandated caps on fees they can charge patients.

The strike should last until Monday. It is the latest in a swelling series of work stoppages by 55,000 general practitioners that has burdened France's health care system in recent weeks.

"The strike action is going very well today, there's not a single doctor working today -- except for those who have been requisitioned by the government," said Michel Chassang, president of the UNOF union, the largest union representing general practitioners in France.

Last week, the French government requisitioned 5,000 doctors to provide medical services during the strike. Union leaders say it's the first time the government has done so since World War II.

UNOF and another union representing general practitioners want a 14-percent increase in the office fees the government allows public-sector doctors to charge, and a 46-percent increase in home visit fees.