section_path: Consequences/Employment
section_name: Employment
paragraph_text: Employment
  
  In December 2023, "scores" of doctors closed their practices, and an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 more general practitioners were predicted to close in the next three years, with many striking due to worsening treatment and employment conditions. Reasons included the lack of new doctors to replace 80,000 doctors at or near retirement age, repetitive work, and expensive medical equipment. Several doctors issued complaints regarding comments made by the Health Minister of Germany Karl Lauterbach, who stated that doctors made over €146,000–230,000 in net salary, which they claimed was the case only for orthopedists and radiologists.