ABLEnews MedNotes

                        AMERICAN MEDICAL NEWS (3/16/92)

HCFA Pressuring Doctors on Medicare Charge Limits (1)

  Facing a class action suit by senior citizens, federal officials are
  pressing physicians to give refunds to patients.

F D A Softens Proposal for Strict C M E Rules (1)

  Drug companies' role in continuing medical education would be reduced.

Medicare Can Extrapolate to Demand Repayment (1)

  Supreme Court upholds government's calculation of overpayments.

Reaction to A M A Gift Code Shows Rumblings in the Ranks (2)

  "I know it's better to give than to receive, but receiving something
  is nice." --Doctor Dennis Frazier.

Health Plan for Unemployed Is Broadened (3)

  Massachusetts health plan claims too much money, too few takers.

No Grades for Doctors on Nutrition (3)

  Institute for Science in Society rates primary care physicians
  "incomplete" in offering nutrition counseling.

Mink-Lab Attack Prompts New Research Fears (3)

  "They're terrorists." --Maynard Hogberg, chairman, Department of
  Animal Science, Michigan State University.

California Group Developing Doctor-Assisted Suicide Proposal (4)

  Aiding suicide "is not the kind of thing doctors want to bring into
  their cloak of goods." --Doctor Eilliam Andereck, California Medical
  Assocation.

Study Dims Hope Small-Group Reform Will Expand Coverage (5)

  50% subsidy stimulates few small businesses to insure employees.

Doctor Kevorkian's Attorney Moving to Dismiss Murder Charges in
Assisted-Suicide Case (5)

  Autopsy on victim shows no evidence of disease.

Doctors Should Not Fill the Role of Executioner, A M A's Doctor Ring
Says (5)

  "I have great fears for my profession if we become involved in the
  deliberate termination of human life, regardless of the motivation."
  --Doctor John Ring, president, American Medical Association.

Letter Criticizes F D A Handling of Gel Implant Issue (6)

  "The oath of a doctor is to do no harm--but Doctor Kessler...is doing
  immeasurable harm--to the public health and our patients." --American
  Society of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeons.

Perjury Charges Stem From Medical Expert's Testimony (7)

  Rare occurence may increase under tort "reform."

Coalition Wants Tobacco Regulated as a Drug (8)

  American Cancer Society, Heart, and Lung Associations join forces.

Irish Supreme Court Acts to Diffuse Abortion Crisis (8)

H H S Plan Would Mean $200 Million Loss for Hospitals (8)

Business Backing Being Sought for Managed Care (9)

  "We need the business community to help push the providers in the
  direction they need to be pushed." --George Halvorson, Group Health,
  Inc. CURE Comment: When providers are pushed, patients fall.

Poll Shows That 1 in 5 Internists Has Helped a Patient Die (9)

  2 in 3 would vote against the legalization of euthanasia.

Virginia Bill Would Let Doctors Refuse to Treat (9)

  Amendment requiring physician to continue treatment until patient is
  transferred to another doctor is defeated. CURE Comment: Patient
  "choice" should include the right to choose to be treated!

Survey Details American's Lack of Access to a Doctor (10)

  "Premature death and disability or controllable illness, high rates of
  such preventable conditions as infant low birth weight, and shameful
  infant and child mortality rates...all point to medical underservice."

Seniors' Own Health Care Costs Have Doubled in 30 Years (10)

  Out-of-pocket expenses jumped from less than $1600 in 1961 to
  more than $3,300 in 1991.

Children With Disabilities Not Getting Benefits (10)

  58% of more than 1,000,000 children eligible for S S I were receiving
  no benefits two years after the Supreme Court ruled in their favor.

Elective Surgery Has Too Many Transfusions, A C P Says (11)

  "The age-old transfusion trigger...is no longer defensible."
  --American College of Physicians.

Researchers Retract Results of Alzheimer's Study (11)

  Suitability of mice for Alzheimer's studies "remains to be assessed."

Is It Time to Call in a Consultant? (12)

  On average physicians take home a higher net income than virtually any
  other sole proprietor yet may know less about business issues and
  practices than the typical shoe retailer or convenience store owner.

Large California H M O Switches to For-Profit Status (13)

  Health Net had about $1.2 billion in revenues in 1991.

Though Gender Gap Narrows Practice Differences Remain (14)

  "Trying to balance home and professional life continues to be the main
  issue for women." --Phyllis Kopriva, A M A Women in Medicine Services
  Department.

How to Access Prospects for Expanding Your Practice (16)

Students to Spend More Time With Patients (18)

  "In the past we've spent a lot of time with passive lectures. Students
  learn better if they take an active role." --Charles McCart, senior
  medical student, Oregon Health Services University.

Hospital Probed Over Medicaid Billing Practices (18)

  North Central Health Care Facilities, a psychiatric hospital in
  Wassau, Wisconisn, is charged with billing state at least $300,000 for
  nonexistent or inadequate services.

New Discoveries Revealed on Muscular Dystrophy Gene (19)

  Myotonic dystrophy affects one in 7 to 8,000 persons.

Idaho Universal Health Insurance Bill Killed Unanimously (20)

  First time a bill reaching floor has received no support.

Pediatricians Seek State Help in Ensuring Care (20)

  "These children will bounce around from health departments to
  emergency rooms." --Doctor David Tayloe, North Carolina Pediatrics
  Association.

U S Seeks to Stop Use of Liquid Silicone Injections (21)

  60,000 injections were done in 1990 alone.

Less AIDS Funding Will Delay Cure, N I H Official Says (22)

  "Scientifically, we're not able to do everything we feel is
  justified." --Doctor Anthony Fauci, National Instutes of Health.

Ohio Seeks Simpler H I V Test Consent (22)

Area Tries Voluntary H I V Contact Tracing (22)

Hop on Board A M A Tort Reform Express (editorial) (23)

  CURE Comment: Train or railroad?

Let's Never Forget the Personal Touch With Patients (op ed) (26)

  "We can try to stem the swelling tide of depersonalization that seems
  to be upon us." --Doctor Leonard Laster, Professor of Medicine and
  Health Policy, University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

Bill Would Force Abortion Clinics to Have Liability Insurance (27)

  Approved 5 to 0 by Alabama Senate Banking and Insurance Committee.

Bill Would Allow Surrogate Pregnancies (28)

  California Assembly Judiciary Committee limits price paid to mother
  for her baby to $15,000.

Reinventing the Commute (29)

  Drive time can be prime time.

Indirect Route to Medicine Proved and Inspiring Journey (31)

  Joshua Sharfstein will enter Harvard Medical School next fall.
  (first-person account)

Indian Alcohol Policy on Reservations Questioned (33)

  Increased risk of death from hypothermia and pedestrian-motor vehicle
  accidents cited.

Cultural Factors Pose Big AIDS Threat for Indians (33)

Treatment Is Promising for Autoimmune Disorders (34)

  Positive results of photochemotherapy challenged by cost-cutters.

Death Toll High for Rural Residents Needing Emergency Care (38)

  Rural residents are four times more likely to die than city dwellers
  for the same imjuries or conditions.

Kentucky Lawmaker Fights for Tobacco Restrictions (40)

  "There is no other legal crop known to man that produces $5,000 per
  acre." --Representative Donnie Gelding, chairman, General Assembly's
  Tobacco Task Force.

HCFA Report: Employer Spending Up On Health Care (41)

  Households accounted for the largest share at $224.7 billion.

[The above listing, prepared for ABLEnews by CURE, includes all major
articles in the cited issue and a representative selection of the rest.]

...For further information, contact CURE, 812 Stephen Street, Berkeley
Springs, West Virginia 254511 (304-258-LIFE/5433).
