12
University Daily Kansan
Nation/World
Wednesday, Feb. 5, 1986
Traces of cocaine and pot found in body of Nelson
United Press International
WASHINGTON — Tests have revealed traces of drugs or alcohol in the bodies of singer Rick Nelson, his fiancée and five band members who were killed in a New Year's Eve airplane fire, officials said yesterday.
Reports released by the National Transportation Safety Board showed small amounts of metabolized cocaine and a compound of the prescription painkiller Darvon in Nelson's blood and urine samples. His blood samples also showed traces of metabolized marijuana.
Everyone on the plane except
the pilot and co-pilot had some evidence of drugs or alcohol in their blood, said a spokesman for the University of Utah's Center for Human Toxicology.
Metabolized means the drugs has already been consumed by the body and the amounts detected were left after use, the spokesman said.
"We cannot, however, determine when the drugs were taken, but it was probably up to 24 hours prior to the crash." he said.
Nelson, his fiancée, Helen Blair,
and five members of his Stone Canyon Band died in a fire that forced his propeller-driven DC-3 to make an emergency landing.
BOSTON — A mounting number of doctors joined a work slowdown to protest the state's soaring malpractice insurance premiums yesterday while officials rushed patients who were refused orthopedic surgery at affected hospitals to major medical centers.
United Press International
With 25 to 50 percent of the obstetricians and orthopedic surgeons in Massachusetts withholding services, hospitals arranged to transport patients by helicopter if necessary to other facilities for treatment.
"It was gut-wrenching for me to transfer two patients with fractures," said Dr. John T. Stinson, an orthopedic surgeon in Medford. The patients were transferred from Winchester Hospital to the New England Medical Center.
Doctors protest by stopping work
"Having practiced orthopedic surgery all my adult life, it went against every fiber of my being," Stinson said.
tors are not involved in the slowdown, reported a significant increase in cases, noting patients with broken bones were transferred from facilities where orthopedic surgeons refused to perform surgery. Teaching hospitals pay the premium costs and are not involved in the job action.
The New England Medical Center, whose doc-
The exact number of physicians participating was not known. The Massachusetts Hospital Association said more than 250 doctors had stopped performing surgery or accepting new obstetric patients. But the Massachusetts Medical Association estimated the number to be around 600.
Dr. William McDermott, executive vice president of the physicians' organization, said, "We believe many more doctors have had to do this — about half of the people working in each of the two specialties (orthopedics and obstetrics)."
"We hate doing this," Stinson said, adding how surprised he was when both patients he referred said they completely understood.
" "Stick to your guns, one woman told me," Stinson said. He also said he could not afford to $50,000.
he would owe on April 30.
Richard Pozniak, spokesman for the Massachusetts Hospital Association, said the association was appealing to doctors to go back to their normal practice patterns until the Legislature can take action on the malpractice issue. The Legislature has vowed to address the crisis by April 30. Doctors are particularly angry over a Dec. 27 ruling by the state Division of Insurance that hiked some malpractice premiums by more than 60 percent retroactive to 1983.
"The Legislature has known about this for two years," said Dr. Barbara Rockett, president of the Massachusetts Medical Society. "We informed the state a crisis like this would occur.
Patricia Jones, spokeswoman at Cardinal Cushing Hospital in Brockton, where all 10 orthopedic surgeons say they will not respond to emergency room calls or perform elective surgery, said four Boston hospitals and one in Rhode Island were on standby for emergency helicopter services or ambulances.
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