10
University Daily Kansan
Campus/Area
Friday, Jan. 31, 1986
Obstetricians sav they won't deliver
United Press International
BOSTON — Angry obstetricians vowed yesterday to stop accepting new patients in an effort to force the Massachusetts Legislature to grant them relief from increased malpractice insurance premiums.
Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis urged physicians to continue treating all patients, saving refusal to do so would be inexcusable.
The practice of medicine in the state is headed for disaster, according to one obstetrician, Dr. Henry Lerner, estimating that 70 percent of the obstetricians would turn away new patients starting Monday.
Obstetricians treat women during pregnancy, childbirth and the period immediately following.
"I strongly urge all physicians to maintain their current relationship with their patients
solution to this problem. I understand that there are many reasons for physicians to feel frustrated and pressured, but to deny patients necessary medical care is, in my opinion, inexcuable," he said.
and to work with us to achieve a legislative solution to this problem," Dukakis said.
custaser.
Descrise the governor's plea and a statement from the Massachusetts Hospital Association urging obstetricians and other specialists not to carry out the plan, Lerner said. "The doctors have had to make decisions about whether they could stay in practice under the new rates."
"We want nothing more than to take care of patients," he said, "but starting Monday, we'll have to tell them we can't sign them on."
The association is surveying all hospitals in the state to determine how many doctors in all
Lerner said many physicians would have to cease practice on April 30 when cumulative premiums come due amounting to as much as $50,000 because of retroactive increases granted last month by the state insurance commissioner, Lerner said.
specialties have decided to move elsewhere or plan to stop providing services.
"I'm asked where new patients are supposed to go," he said. "Where would they go when we can no longer afford to treat them? There's nowhere unless the Legislature changes the rules." Many would be forced to seek treatment outside of Massachusetts, some doctors said.
The obstetricians said their action was prompted by skyrocketing medical malpractice
rates, the state's bail on balance billing, forbidding doctors from charging more than a patient's Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurance pays for medical services, and current rates paid by insurance for obstetric services.
Obstetricians in New York receive $2,800 for pregnancy, labor and delivery services and $2,400 in California, Lerner said. "We get $670 from Blue Shield," he said.
Lerner, who practices at Newton-Wellesley Hospital, said Massachusetts was the only state with a balanced billing law.
"We are now in the ballpark of California, New York and Florida in terms of rates, but we're the only ones prevented from passing the difference on to patients. You can't balance a checkbook that way," he said.
Ferraro investigation of finances continues
United Press International
WASHINGTON — The Justice Department declined to say yesterday whether it has completed a investigation of Geraldine Ferraro's finances and whether it has ruled out plans to prosecute the former vice presidential candidate.
Department spokesman John Russell said the investigation was still open and he would not comment on separate stories about it in yesterday's editions of The New York Times and Newsday.
Ferraro's lawyer, Stephen Pollak, said he had received no official word from the Justice Department about closing the case. He said the newspaper reports were "consistent with our expectations."
The federal inquiry of her finances was the primary reason Ferraro gave when she said last month that she had decided not to challenge Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, R-N.Y., this year.
The investigation centered on Ferraro's campaign finances for her 1978 campaign for the House and of other financial reports compiled during her term as a House member.
The department's investigation also is studying whether the finances of her husband, John Zaccaro, should have been included in Ferraro's federal disclosure statements.
to charges that Zaccaro made excessive and illegal contributions to Ferraro's 1978 campaign.
Ferraro has maintained that the Federal Elections Commission and the House Ethics Committee cleared her of the charges in 1984.
In addition, officials are looking inthe suspension of classes at six parochial schools. Absentee rates of up to 30 percent were reported in public schools.
Ferraro, who was traveling in the Midwest, was not available for comment.
When she announced her decision not to seek the Senate seat, Ferraro, 50, said the outcome of the investigation would not change her final and unequivocal decision to skip the race.
The Times quoted a federal law enforcement official as saying it was clear that Ferraro would be dismissed of all charges concerning campaign financing and that an indictment of Ferraro or Zaccaro was quite unlikely.
Officials who were quoted said information on the case was still turning up and could eventually result in prosecution, but it was most likely the inquiry would end in a few weeks.
It was not known how the latest information figured into Ferraro's offer on Monday to serve as an interim replacement for Queens Borough President Donald Manes, who has been accused of accepting a kickback from a collection agency that had a contract with the New York City Parking Violations Bureau.
Flu, pneumonia deaths rise
Missouri officials said 11 counties closed schools because of high absentee rates due to influenza.
In Idaho, 15 of 116 school districts with an enrollment of 20,000 students closed for at least one day during the past two weeks because of flu, which health officials said had spread throughout the state.
In Indiana, all schools in Huntington County were closed Wednesday for the remainder of the week, as absenteeism from a flulike illness hit 22 percent.
"It's all fulike illness," said Kappus. "We tell people that it's really impossible to differentiate between the types by looking at the symptoms."
Influenza was on the increase in most of Utah, state health officials reported. Craig Nichols, state epidemiologist, said two counties reported 20 percent to 30 percent of their school-age children were home with the flu.
He described the symptoms as abrupt onset, with fever, body aches and pains, usually weakness or lethargy, and often with headache and cough. He said a case of the flu usually lasted about a week.
"We do know from telephone reports from many state health officials and physicians that there have been a lot of school outbreaks." Kappus said. "We believe that most of them are associated with influenza, and probably it is Type B."
Oklahoma education officials said they had received calls from administrators across the state concerned about high absentee rates.
Another flu virus, Type H3N2, similar to the influenza agent that caused massive epidemics in the 1950s and 60s, also is circulating, the CDC said, with both viruses hitting nursing homes in Connecticut, California, Minnesota and New York.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Child abuse rose so quickly that social workers struggled to keep up with their reports. In 1985, 89 children died from what social workers thought was abuse or neglect.
In Grand Rapids, Mich,
widespread outbreaks prompted
Monday, Febuary 3
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In 1985, just 476 children were formally adopted out of a pool of more than 3,000 children seeking families. Another 16,000 children were in foster care.
Eric Brettschneider, who heads the city's Child Protective Services, theorized one reason the reports of child abuse were increasing was a greater public awareness of the responsibility to report the abuse or neglect.
ATLANTA - Federal health officials reported a rising number of influenza and pneumonia deaths yesterday as two flu viruses, striking in 35 states and the District of Columbia, hit nursing homes and schools.
The national Centers for Disease Control reported 809 flu and pneumonia deaths in 121 U.S. cities for the week ended Jan. 25, the third straight week of increases. Flu and pneumonia accounted for 640 deaths during the first week of January.
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Whatever the reason, the effect on his staff has been grueling and has resulted in an annual staff turnover of more than 30 percent.
But the statistics in the biannual Mayor's Management Report painted a picture of a city with less compassion than the mayor saw, and the figures regarding adoption were perhaps the most damaging.
STUDY SKILLS PROGRAM
"but I believe there has been throughout the country a breakdown in the sense of responsibility. People no longer believe they are responsible for their children or their parents." Koch said.
United Press International
And, the report showed, the city was spending $200 million to house as many as 24,000 homeless people on the coldest nights of winter.
Karl Kappus of the CDC's influenza surveillance branch said flu and pneumonia deaths accounted for 6.1 percent of the total deaths reported from the 121 cities, compared with 6.2 percent for the preceding week. Normally the percentage is about 5.5 or 5.6, he said.
Presented for the last time this semester Presented by the Student Assistance Center
"I don't think it is a mean city, frankly," said Mayor Edward Koch. "I think there is probably more compassion here, not only in government but with the people in the city."
NEW YORK — A report on New York City services yesterday indicated that thousands of children were waiting to be adopted, nearly 100 children were dead from abuse, social workers were quitting in droves and there was a homeless population larger than in the Great Depression.
Big Apple has many on streets
Although the flu and pneumonia fatalities were occurring primarily in the elderly population, the CDC said, the two influenza varieties, particularly the Type B virus, also were striking younger
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Leading Edge Model D: Takes Lawrence by Storm
LAWRENCE, KS—Faculty, students and the business community have been flocking to a new IBM-compatible, computer—the Leading Edge Model "D," the remarkable PC is perhaps the "hotest" selling PC in town.
Sold locally by Computer Outlet, 804 New Hampshire Street, the Model "D" has been built with the best features of many of its competitors. It comes standard with 2 disk drives, 256K, parallel and serial ports, plenty of expansion slots, DOS 2.1 and even a clock/calendar.
Best of all, the Model “D” includes a high resolution (720 X 350) monitor with graphics capability. Most PCs would require an additional $495 board to achieve this combination. And if this weren’t enough, the unit has a built-in color board as well if ever you want to use an RGB monitor.
The Leading Edge Model "D" includes either a word processor or a data base manager. Usually this offer means that you get the old version of some now-unpopular program. Quite the contrary here. You may choose from Leading Edge's own highly rated word processor or their powerful Nutshell data manager.
Inside, the Leading Edge is well thought out. The main board can accommodate a full 640K. It has full size expansion slots and is socketed for the 8087 chip. It even has a 130 watt power supply to support this machine growth. To prove its reliability, the Model "D" comes with a full 15 month warranty.
Oh, yes, all this is just $1495—almost exactly half the cost of a comparably equipped IBM XT. The hard drive model is $1895.
The Leading Edge Model "D"™ Personal Computer, $1495. Complete.
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