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                        OF NOTE...
                        News to Use

Vol. III, Issue 56                              March 1, 1994
Earl Appleby, Jr., Editor                       CURE, Ltd.

                                  Addictions

Young mothers in the South--including those with child--say the main
reason they do not seek help with substance abuse problems is fear of
losing their children, reports the Southern Regional Project on Infant
Mortality. Close behind were shame and depression. (Addicts Who Avoid
Help May Fear Loss of Kids, Sandy Rovner, WP Health, 12/7/93)

"Not long after the crack epidemic hit American cities in the mid-'80s
the term 'boarder babies' burst into the national vocabulary. It was
shorthand for the crack crisis's littlest casualties:...thousands of
newborns abandoned in hospitals by crack-addicted and HIV-infected
mothers who couldn't or didn't want to care for them...One winter ago,
35 abandoned babies sat in local hospitals. Today, city hospitals host
less than one-third that number...Thanks to an unlikely alliance
between city bureaucrats and local institutions from Howard University
Hospital to tony law firms to the Junior League, the story of the
District's boarder babies...is a case study of how communities can
work effectively...to address our collective social ills." (Nursing a
Miracle: A DC Story, Stephanie Mencimer, Washington Post, 2/6/94)

According to a report by the minority staff of the Senate Special
Committee on Aging and Congress's General Accounting Office, hundreds
of millions of dollars in Social Security disability benefits intended
to help recovering drug addicts and alcoholics are instead being used
to subsidize their addictions. "Hundreds of millions of scarce federal
dollars are flowing directly to drug addicts, who are turning around
and buying heroin, cocaine, and other illegal drugs on the street the
very same day." --Sen. William Cohen (R-ME). (US Funds Found to Feed
Drug Habits, Washington Post, 2/7/94)

                                 AIDS Addenda

Reports of two cases of AIDS transmission between children has
prompted public health officials to stress the need for day-care
centers to follow "recommended safety precautions, such as wearing
disposable rubber gloves when diapering children, stopping a
nosebleed, or even bandaging a scraped knee." (AIDS in Children,
Sandra Evans, Washington Post Health, 12/7/93)

"Rob Anderson remembers how angry he felt in 1985 when he read
experts' predictions about AIDS. Everyone who catches the virus will
surely die from it, they said. By then, Rob had been infected for six
years. 'I'll show them,' he said. And he did. Anderson has had HIV for
about 15 years. He still is healthy ...The study of long-term HIV
survivors has become a hot area of study in AIDS; researchers would
like very much to figure out what makes these lucky few different...
Survivors like Anderson, a 40-year-old San Francisco artist, have
their own theories. 'I feel it all goes back to my attitude,' he said.
'I won't let this make me ill. I've watched quite a number of my
friends go from being relatively healthy to sick and dead in very
short periods of time, In every case, they all bought into the idea
that you have to die from AIDS if you have HIV. I just simply don't
agree with that.'" (Scientists Study AIDS Survivors, MJ, 1/20/94)

"George and Barbara Bush may have a lot of fans in their home town of
Houston (TX) but the love fest is not universal. Yesterday the Bushes
withdrew from the honorary host committee of a fund-raiser to benefit
AIDS research after protests by some local activists...The event's
sponsor, the American Foundation for AIDS Research...had hoped Bush's
participation would broaden support for the cause." (The Bushes'
Benefit Backstep, Lois Romano, Washington Post, 2/4/94)

"Dr. Paul is a superb scientist who will bring fresh perspectives to
the already substantial NIH efforts against AIDS." --Harold Varmus
director, National Institutes of Health, announcing the appointment o
William Paul, 57, who presently heads the Laboratory of Immunology at
the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, to direct
NIH's Office of AIDS Research. (Immunologist to Head AIDS Research
Office, David Brown, Washington Post, 2/17/94)

                             Alternative Medicine

"Tis Mah Crow may be many things, but he makes clear he is not an
Indian medicine man. 'I'm a root doctor,' he says pleasantly and
firmly. As such, he is knowledgeable about the medical lore of his
tribe, a little known group called the Hitichi. Crow was participating
Saturday in the Spa Feast Sampler in Berkeley Springs (WV)...Festival
Director J.W. Rone...took a great deal of pleasure in observing that
there are now three times as many massage therapists in Berkeley
Springs as there are lawyers...The 35-year-old Crow was working with
Jane Laura Doyle who operates Laughing Horse Veterinary Service in
Berkeley Springs...Among the procedures he uses is a technique called
'Chu-Foomu' or 'hot hands.' Through this method he says he can
identify places in the body that are injured or ailing...Sitting
nearby was Joseph Lillard, owner of Homeopathy Works of Berkeley
Springs. Lillard practices a type of medicine known as homeopathy, a
systematic science that 'correctly applies the laws of nature to
stimulate the vital force and healing energies of human beings and
animals.'" (Healing the Holistic Way, Rodney White, MJ, 1/23/94)

                              Cancer Chronicles

According to a study by William Peters, director of Duke University's
Bone Marrow Transplantation Program, and colleagues, coverage of
experimental treatments for breast cancer are so capricious that
patients "might just as well one day be approved as the next day
denied." Some 150,000 new cases of breast cancer are discovered each
year and each year 50,000 women die from it. The Clinton health plan
leaves coverage of "investigational procedures" to the discretion of
the insurance companies. (Insurers 'Arbitrary' on Breast Treatments,
David Hilzenrath and David Brown, Washington Post,  2/17/94)

                              Courting Disaster

"Dr. Jack Kevorkian was released from house arrest Thursday by a judge
who overturned Michigan's ban on assisted suicide and dismissed two of
three counts against him. Oakland County Circuit Judge Jessica Cooper
was the third judge to reject the ban, put into effect about a year
ago to stop Kevorkian...One charge, over the death of a man with Lou
Gehrig's disease, is pending against Kevorkian in neighboring Wayne
County...The previous rulings striking down the law...are being
appealed. Assistant Oakland County Prosecutor Errol Shifman said his
office would appeal Cooper's ruling. 'We believe this law is
constitutional and it will be upheld,' he said. A circuit judge's
ruling doesn't have statewide effect, so the law remains valid. 'I
would hope (Kevorkian) will be arrested in every county,' Shiffman
said. (Kevorkian Freed Again in Michigan as Third Judge Rejects
Suicide Law, Martinsburg Journal, 1/28/94)

                               Dateline World

"Life in Russia often seems poor, nasty, and brutish. Now it's growing
short too. Amid painful economic changes and a legacy of environmental
abuse, the average life expectancy of Russian men dropped last year
from 62 to 59 years--13 years less than that of American or Irish
males...Life expectancy for Russian women is also declining, though
not as sharply. It fell...to 73.2 last year...By comparison, the
average American or British woman lives to 79." (Russian Men Can
Expect Only 59 Years, Martinsburg Journal, 2/3/94)

"Under the terms of an extraordinary pact announced yesterday, the
Russian government will automatically approve for sale American-made
medicines and vaccines deemed safe and effective by the US Food and
Drug Administration. The agreement...effectively makes the FDA the
major drug regulatory body for Russia...The agreement, initiated by
the FDA to open the Russian market..., could be a boon for US
pharmaceutical companies...The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers
Association, which represents more than 100 US pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies, applauded the pact." (Russia Agrees to
Approve Sales of US Drugs Cleared by FDA, Rick Weiss, WP, 2/17/94)

"Antartica is not going to the dogs. Thanks to worries about canine
viruses that could infect Antartic seals, the icy continent will
become a dog-free zone as of the end of February...The dog's departure
brings an end to their long and distinguished south pole careers."
(For the Record, Washington Post, 2/25/94) ABLEnews Editor's Note: For
the doggone truth that wags this tale, see End of an Era in the
upcoming March ABLEnews Review.

                               Family Affair

The simple mixture of salts, water, and carbohydrates that has saved
the lives of hundreds of thousands of dehydrated babies with diarrhea
across the world has never been fully accepted in the United States,
where 500 children a year die "preventable, needless deaths" from
dehydration, says pediatrician Mathuram Santosham, of the John Hopkins
School of Hygiene and Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland. (Saving
Children From Dehydration, Sandy Rovner, WP Health, 12/7/93)

"Pittsburgh (PA)...For the first time since he was born 17 months ago,
Byron Griffin is living with his once drug-addicted mother. It meant
leaving the foster family who raised him practically since birth.
Byron is black. The foster parents, Michael and Karen Derzack, are
white and they had tried to adopt him...Byron's relatives had argued
the boy should be raised by blacks...Social workers and police acting
under court order took the toddler, crying, from the Derzacks'
suburban home and returned him (to) his mother LaShawn Jeffrey...The
Derzacks...were awarded custody as Byron's foster parents in July
1992, six days after he was born addicted to cocaine and heroin."
(Judge Orders Tot Returned to His Once Drug-Addicted Mother,
Martinsburg Journal, 12/29/83)

"Discrimination or cultural preservation? That was the question after
the white mother of an interracial child was asked to leave a Kwanzaa
celebration. Arthur Hardy's mother, Marie Doubleday, left the
celebration at the Roxbury (MA) Boys and Girls Club on Sunday night.
Several white journalists were also asked to leave. 'The spirit of
Kwanzaa was ruined that night, as far as I'm concerned,' Hardy, 13,
said...His black father died 10 years ago...Political scientist
Maulana Ron Karenga invented Kwanzaa in 1966 hoping to unite the black
community. It is now celebrated by some 18 million people." (Kwanzaa
Organizers Ask Mom of Interracial Child to Leave, MJ, 12/29/93)

"Admitting its 'distaste and surprise at the possibility of creating
life from aborted fetuses, a [British] government regulatory board...
launched a broad inquiry into the ethics of reproductive technology.
The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority said it had to study
the moral implications and assess whether the public would except the
use of eggs from corpses and fetuses before further research should be
allowed. Scientists have agreed to temporarily halt research, the
board said." (British to Probe Use of Aborted Fetuses as Reproductive
Matter, Martinsburg Journal, 1/9/94)

"Is it ethical for scientists to create human embryos in the
laboratory solely to experiment on them? What if the embryos were
deemed of 'poor quality' and would otherwise be discarded?...Until now
such questions were decided individually by scientists working in
privately funded clinics...In 1980, the federal government was
prohibited from funding such research. Last June that ban was lifted
...The newly created NIH (National Institutes of Health) Human Embryo
Research Panel assembled in Bethesda last week...to ponder the thorny
ethical and moral issues...'The quality of science in this field, to
put it plainly is awful,' Jonathan Van Blerkom, of the University pf
Colorado at Bolder, told panel members...He also told the panel that
even though IVF (in vitro fertilization) researchers often say they
only do research on 'poor quality' embryos rejected for implantation,
such judgments are almost entirely subjective. He said his own studies
show that 'lousy looking embryos' can develop into healthy babies."
(NIH Panel Looks at Ethics, Standards for Human Embryo Research, Boyce
Rensberger, Washington Post, 2/7/94)

"At first, Kate Michelman insisted she had been misquoted. In a
December 11 article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the president of the
National Abortion Rights Action League, was quoted as saying: 'We
thinks abortion is a bad thing. No woman wants to have an abortion.'
Five days later, NARAL issued a statement, declaring Michelman 'has
never said--and would never say--that 'abortion is a bad thing.'' But
Michelman backed off the denial after being reminded that the Inquirer
reporter, Jodi Enda, had tape-recorded the interview." (Poor Choice of
Words From Abortion Rights Advocate? Howard Kurtz, WP, 2/7/94)

"So what's the deal about this 59-year-old English woman having kids?
You can never, ever please your kids. You don't owe them a young,
pretty, aerobicized, corporate-climbing, 401(k)-enhancing mother. And
even if you did figure out how to make a dig acknowledge in public the
woman who gave birth to him, it would be all wrong the next week."
(Motherhood a Lesson for All Ages, Carolyn Mason, op-ed, USAT, 2/9/94)

                               Food for Thought

"Our study would say there is no evidence sugar has an adverse effect
on children's behavior...We tried to stack it as much as possible in
terms of finding an effect. If there was an error, it would be in
terms of finding something." --Mark Wolraich, Vanderbilt University.
(No Link Seen Between Sugar, Hyperactivity, Washington Post, 2/3/94)

"Milk produced by cows given a genetically engineered drug will be
available this month, but Washington area consumers won't be drinking
it. Many grocery store chains in the region--including Giant, Safeway,
Shoppers Food Warehouse and nearly all Seven-Elevens--said yesterday
they will not be selling milk from animals given bovine growth hormone
because of controversy over the drug. Sold under the brand name
Posilac by Monsanto Company of St, Louis, the drug increases milk
production by as much as 20%." (Area Grocers Balk at 'Genetic' Milk,
Kathleen Day, Washington Post, 2/3/94)

"Husbands sabotaging their wives' diets is a frequent problem, says
George Blackburn, director of the Center for the Study of Nutrition
and Medicine at Deaconess Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Ten-year
NIH-funded studies at Deaconess have shown that two out of every three
dieting women are faced with sabotaging spouses. But, according to
Blackburn, when husbands are dieting, they receive much more support
from their wives." (Sabotaging Husbands...Dieting Wives, Carolyn
Crowley, Washington Post, 2/7/94)

"What is reported in 'Area Grocers Balk at 'Genetic Milk' (front page,
February 3) is more disturbing than illuminating. This plays into the
hands of self-important, pseudo-scientific gadflies such as Jeremy
Rifkin...Many fruits and vegetables have been 'engineered' to some
extent. The only difference is that it took longer in the past...The
reaction of the area supermarkets...is extremely hypocritical. A
lucrative pharmaceutical market gives them many 'genetically
engineered' products. An insulin-dependent diabetic, I purchase 'Human
Insulin (recombinant DNA origin)' monthly. No physician, executive, or
store employee has told me I will be endangered by using this
artificial drug...Why is it that issues for the disabled (or actual
technological advances) don't rate front-page coverage, while the
railings of frightened naysayers do?" William Jenuleson, Annandale,
VA. (Hysteria About 'Genetic' Milk, Jenuleson, let-ed, WP, 2/25/94)

"We think it's unfortunate that they are going to commence what will
be the largest experiment with the public in terms of irradiation." --
Michael Colby, executive director, Food and Water Inc., on Secretary
of Agriculture's announcement that the Department will seek approval
for beef and other red meat to be given a low-dose radiation treatment
to kill harmful bacteria, a process endorsed by the World Health
Organization and the American Medical Association. (USDA to Seek
Ruling Approving Irradiation to Kill Meat Bacteria, WP, 2/25/94)

                               Forget the Vet?

About half the 10,000 callers who have thus far managed to reach the
36 operators who are screening calls from persons who believe they
were subjected to government radiation experiments are veterans. While
President Clinton has promised to name a civilian panel of scientists
to review test data and determine whether ethical standards were
violated, the veterans are being referred to the Department of
Veterans Affairs. (Independent Panel Will Review Data of Radiation
Tests, Martinsburg Journal, 1/12/94)

According to the General Accounting Office, from 1990 to 1992 nearly
7,000 "high-risk" patients walked out of Veteran Affairs medical
facilities. 34 were found dead, 19 injured, and 25 were still missing
nine months later. GAO staff visited five V.A. medical centers without
finding one that "is taking sufficient steps to preclude high-risk
patients from leaving their treatment settings without the knowledge
and approval of cognizant staff." High-risk patients are defined as
those who are legally committed, have a legal guardian, are considered
to pose a danger to themselves or others, or lack the cognitive
ability to make decsions. The study found 39 of 158 V.A. medical
centers exhibit significant problems with unauthorized patient
departures. Twenty seven percent of the missing patients were from 14
centers serving primarily psychiatric patients. (GAO Report: V.A.
Centers Let 'High-Risk' Patients Out, Martinsburg Journal, 1/16/94)

                          Health Care Plans and Pans

"The White House offered concessions on the scope of its health plan
Wednesday just hours after President Clinton drew a no-exceptions line
on universal coverage. Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole pronounced the
Clinton health plan 'in trouble,' but Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)
asserted that Americans won't stand for a Republican filibuster...
Treasury Secretary Lloyd Bentsen told business groups that Clinton was
willing to let more big companies self-insure rather than being forced
into the regional alliances where most Americans would have to buy
their insurance. White House press secretary Dee Dee Myers also said
that while Clinton stands firm on universal coverage, the timetable
for achieving it is 'something that has to be worked out.'" (White
House Maps Health Reform Plan, Martinsburg Journal, 1/27/94)

"You've made more progress in one day yesterday than we've made in six
months." --Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY, chairman, Senate
Finance Committee, complimenting the National Governors Association
for formulating a bipartisan health care proposal, which Republican
and Democrat governors agreed could frame an eventual compromise
between Congress and the White House. "Neither Clinton nor Senate
Minority Leader Robert Dole (R-KS)...seemed entirely comfortable with
what they did." (Governors' Health Care Proposal: A Lesson for
Washington? Dan Balz, Washington Post, 2/2/94)

"The insurance companies, fearing loss of unconscionable profits, are
running propaganda on television against the president's health
plan...Their theme: 'Do you want government bureaucrats making
decisions about medical treatment?' We already know what it is like to
have bureaucrats making decisions about medical treatment. Need a gall
bladder operation? Hospitalization for a bad back? Your doctor must
now get permission from an insurance company bureaucrat. If he fails
to do so, the company can deny or sharply reduce its payment, leaving
you stuck with the bill. Remember every denied claim means higher
profits for insurance executives."  --James Brackett, Shepherdstown,
WV. (Health Bureaucracy Already in Existence, Brackett, letter-editor,
Martinsburg Journal, 2/3/94) CURE Comment: Fair enough, but the
Clinton plan's promotion of HMO-style managed care gives more money to
insurance companies at the cost of patient care. True reform would
reduce  bureaucracy, not simply change the bureaucrats' name tags.

"We need a plan that appeals to Democrats, Republicans, and
independents. What better place to come find independents?" --Rep. Jim
Cooper (D-TN), appealing to followers of Ross Perot to support his
health care reform plan over President Clinton's, which he described
as a "big government" approach that will not lower prices but may
eliminate jobs. Cooper was enthusiastically received by leaders of
United We Stand America meeting in Dallas, Texas, where Perot praised
Cooper for standing up to the White House and its allies on Capitol
Hill. Challenging the government's ability to manage the nation's
health care system, the former presidential candidate commented, "Our
organization quite frankly wonders if they can organize a two-car
funeral or a group in silent prayer." (Cooper Asks Perot Group for a
Boost, Dan Balz, Washington Post, 2/6/94)

By a vote of 56 to 20, the directors of the National Association of
Manufacturers joined other major business groups in opposing the
Clinton health plan. "Even the lousy free market system we have now is
better than one run by the government. The fact is that we are more
focused on the health of our grandchildren and our employees than the
next quarter earnings." --Robert Pritzker, chairman, NAM. (National
Manufacturers Group Joins Opposition to Clinton Plan, Steven
Pearlstein, Washington Post, 2/6/94)

"When President Clinton's aides heard the result of the Business
Roundtable's vote...to endorse the principles of a rival health care
plan, the reaction at the White House was disappointment and anger.
The effort to have the Clinton health care plan dominate all rivals
from the start had failed...The endorsement of the principles of the
rival health plan offered by Rep. Jim Cooper (D-TN)...combined with
sour statements about the Clinton plan from other business groups and
a mixed response from the National Governors Association...signifies
...Clinton is about where he was when he began the year: watching and
sometimes joining in the Washington ritual of political positioning
and momentum-building that serves until real legislative work begins."
(On Health Plan, Clinton Is Back Where He Was When Year Began, Ann
Devroy and Helen Dewar, Washington Post, 2/6/94)

"First comes Maxis Corporation with a clever software simulation of
the nation's health care system and the seemingly insurmountable
challenges of changing it. Now comes International Business Machines
Corporation...For a suggested retail price of $99, you can purchase
the Health Care Reform Bookshelf. It's a set of electronic books,
distributed on floppy disks, that contains the full text of the White
House's Health Security Act, five competing bills, and other related
documents. Four thousand pages of the stuff...Can't wait to make it to
the software store. Pull it out of cyberspace by dialing up
CompuServe." (Information Overload? John Burgess, WP Business, 2/7/94)

"Crucial as the budget-cum-tax bill and NAFTA were, the health measure
dwarfs them in several respects. Its complexity is stupendous and the
impact of its intricate web of protocols extremely difficult to
predict; it affects in a big way every commercial and industrial
enterprise in the country, as well as the interest of every
individual, and it does so on a matter about which no one can be even
mildly indifferent...What is just getting started and ought to be, as
they politely say, rethought, is what appears to be a two-track
lobbying effort that is singularly lacking in coherence. On one track
are the president and some of his Cabinet members saying most of the
myriad provisions of the bill are negotiable. On the other are various
White House war-room artillery sergeants firing salvos to the effect
that anyone who dares to oppose the bill is a political hack, a tool
of the interests, or some other Washington variation on pond scum. One
track seems sometimes to give too much too soon...The other seems
mainly to give offense. Where are these tracks going? Has anyone seen
the train?" (The Guns of February, Meg Greenfield, op-ed, WP, 2/7/94)

Assailing what he dismisses as misleading "propaganda" regarding his
health care plan from the nation's insurers, President Clinton told
workers at a General Motor's plant in Shreveport, Louisiana--in
remarks beamed by satellite to GM plants across America--that
"enlightened business leaders" saw the need for universal coverage. "I
get tickled when I read those ads by these folks that are so desperate
to keep the system we have now, and they say, oh, the president wants
the government to take over the nation's health care system," Clinton
said, advising the auto workers that insurers have too much power "to
decide who's got insurance and who doesn't...We ought to stop it."
(Clinton Decries Health Plan 'Propaganda,' Ruth Marcus, WP, 2/9/94)

"Congress's chief budget adviser said yesterday that the White House
health care plan would increase the federal deficit by $74 billion in
its first six years, instead of cutting it like the president
predicted. Robert D. Reischauer, director of the nonpartisan
Congressional Budget Office, said the chief reason is that health
insurance premiums would cost 15% more than the administration has
estimated. As a result, the government would be required to pay higher
subsidies to help low-income people and small business buy insurance.
In testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee, Reischauer
also said the entire cost of the plan should be considered part of the
federal budget--increasing the budget's overall size by a fifth in the
year 2004. The news is a political setback for the White House because
the president has presented his plan as one that would use the private
sector--not government--to provide coverage for Americans, that would
reduce the deficit, and that would be financed entirely through
premiums, savings, and a cigarette tax." (Health Plan Will Swell
Deficit, Hill Office Says, Dana Priest and Spencer Rich, WP, 2/9/94)

"The 'Health Security Act' would impose price controls on premiums as
part of a national health care budget (p. 986). The inevitable result
of price controls is rationing. The Clinton plan requires that when
medical needs outpace a state's health care budget, state governments
must make "automatic, mandatory, nondiscretionary reductions in
payments" to doctors and hospitals (p. 113). This will lead to
extended waits and long lines for basic health care services. 565 of
America's leading economists across a broad political spectrum have
concluded that the plan "will reduce the quality of care and force
long waits for such things as surgery." (How the Clinton Health Care
Plan Will Affect Families, Christian Coalition, ad, WP, 2/22/94)

"Drug-free, non-surgical chiropractic care is the treatment of choice
for more than 20 million Americans. For nearly a century, chiropractic
care has been one of the nation's fastest growing health care
professions, with a strong record of patient satisfaction and proven
cost-effectiveness...Improving America's health care system means
giving patients the freedom to select the doctor of their choice, and
to allow each health discipline to serve its patients in the most
competent, competitive, and cost-effective way possible."
(Chiropractic Care: Proven Benefits to Patients of All Ages...AND
America's Health Care System, American Chiropractic Association, ad,
Washington Post, 2/24/94)

"Norwich, CT...President Clinton flew to this land of insurance
companies, many elderly residents, and a vulnerable member of Congress
today and performed a constituency juggling act. At a gathering of
senior citizens, local election, officials, and party leaders, he
expressed unusual praise for the insurance industry...This from the
administration that has routinely vilified the insurance industry as
the primary cause of the health care crisis...Clinton enthusiastically
accepted the endorsement of two national pharmaceutical associations
(the National Association of Retail Druggists and the National
Association of Chain Drug Stores). This from the administration that
once took swipes at the pharmaceutical industry's pricing policies."
(President Pitches Plan on Health Care to Variety of Connecticut
Interests, Dana Priest, Washington Post, 2/25/94)

"A repeatedly stated goal of health care reform is to preserve choices
for the consumer, but how many consumers are knowledgeable enough to
exercise the choices in the setup they currently have? The National
Institutes of Health decided to find out, and the results of it
preliminary survey...were not encouraging...Though Americans would not
seem to be particularly well-informed on health matters, 90% described
themselves as well-informed. Some said they got their information from
their doctors, but nearly twice as many, 33 as opposed to 17%, said
they relied on television coverage. The issues here go deeper than
just wishing people knew more...The matter of basic medical knowledge
and Americans' lack of it needs more attention as informed medical
'choices' become freer and more risky." (Uninformed Health
'Consumers,' editorial, Washington Post, 2/25/94) CURE Comment: We
trust ABLEnews helps you become more informed regarding medical
matters. We suspect ABLEnewsers are better informed than most. After
all, we've had a demanding teacher: life.

                                Heart Stoppers

"US Park Police waited until two days after they had ruled the death
of Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster a suicide to ask federal
firearms experts to conduct forensic tests to confirm their
conclusion. Documents obtained by The Washington Post show Park Police
waited nearly a month after the July 20 incident to turn over the
firearm, a bullet that remained in the weapon, and Foster's clothing
for examination by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and
Firearms. ATF officials, who marked their findings 'sensitive,'
quickly conducted the tests and concurred with the Park Police
conclusion that Foster shot himself with a single .38 caliber bullet
to the head. The documents...offer the first glimpse into...an inquiry
that has come under continuing criticism and whose final results have
been kept secret...The bullet that killed Foster has never been
recovered...One bureau source was perplexed that Park Police did not
ask the FBI to conduct the tests...'I guess it just fell through the
cracks,' one ATF source said." (Foster Tests Sought After Suicide
Ruling, Pierre Thomas, Washington Post, 2/4/94)

                                 Mal-Practice

"It's a great victory for the women's health movement." --Sybil
Shainwald, attorney for 11 women whose mothers took DES during
pregnancy on their being awarded S42.3 million by a New York jury.
Diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic hormone, was prescribed to 5
million women between 1947 and 1971. (Jury Awards $42 Million to Women
Injured by Anti-Miscarriage Drug, Martinsburg Journal, 1/9/94)

                                Medicine Chest

"The new-found recognition that many children suffer unnecessary pain
as part of medical treatment has spurred the search for ways to give
them analgesia drugs in ways that are not themselves painful. One of
the newest devices--Fentanyl Oralet from Abbott Laboratories--is a
lollipop that contains an opiate 20 to 30 times more potent than
morphine in a fruit-flavored lozenge." (The Good and Bad Sides of a
Narcotic Lollipop, David Brown and John Schwartz, WP, 1/31/94)

"Beyond any doubt, the US is substantially subsidizing low drug prices
in the rest of the world." --Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman, House
Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, on a General Accounting
Office study which surveyed 77 drugs frequently prescribed in the US
and the UK and found that 66 cost more in the US--47 more than twice
as much. (GAO Finds Drugs Are Cheaper in Britain, Where Prices Are
Regulated, David Hilzenrath, Washington Post, 2/3/94)

                                  Old Story

"The research is just starting to catch up to the realities of our
lives. Many of us are not where our aging family members are, yet we
are very bound to them and their concerns. We spend time with them,
but it is a different kind of time than research has looked at in the
past." --Katrina Johnson, National Institute on Aging. ABLEnews
Editor's Note: A phone call on Mother's Day is not "spending time."
(The Anguish of Long-Distance Care, Mary Beth Franklin, WPH, 12/7/93)

                             This DOES Compute

"There was a surge in cyberspace this week as kids--home from school
in much of the nation because of cold weather--turned to online
services and video games as a cure for cabin fever...'Funny how cars
will start to go to the video store, but not to work,' notes Hogan's
(Video) buyer Cheryl Disicher (in Moline, Illinois)." (Cold Snap Keeps
Kids Plugged In, David Landis, USA Today, 1/20/94)

                                Under the Dome

Despite the efforts of Governor William Weld (R), the Massachusetts
legislature has repealed a law that provided that spiritual healing
practices did not constitute neglect when performed in accordance with
the tenets of a recognized religion. Hawaii and South Dakota have
abolished similar religious exemptions and repeal efforts are under
way in Delaware, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, and
Missouri. The Massachusetts exemption had been cited by defense
lawyers for David and Ginger Twitchell, Christian Scientists,
convicted in 1990 of involuntary manslaughter in the death of their
two-year-old son Robyn from a surgically treatable bowel obstruction.
(Spiritual Healing Exemption Rejected, Martinsburg Journal, 12/29/93)

                                Word of Life?

"Livonia, MI--Standing like a preacher on a candlelit flowery pulpit,
Jack Kevorkian...began a petition drive to legalize assisted suicide
by urging about 700 churchgoers to join his crusade...In a speech
between services at St. Paul's Presbyterian Church, Kevorkian...damned
the 'tyrants' who had passed Michigan's law banning assisted suicide."
(Kevorkian Pleads for Legalization of Assisted Suicide, WP, 1/31/94)

"Whatever abuse and stinginess homeless people endure, one sure refuge
for a meal in most cities is the church or synagogue soup kitchen.
Biblically, feeding the poor is central to religion as found in
Matthew 25--'I was hungry and you gave me to eat...I was a stranger
and you took me in'...In Hartford, CT, the Catholic archbishop, Daniel
A. Cronin,...has refused to allow the 14-year-old House of Bread soup
kitchen--run by two nuns who serve 250 meals daily--to relocate to the
unused basement of a church in a downtown low-income neighborhood.
(The Archbishop and the Hungry, Colman McCarthy, op-ed, WP, 2/5/94)

                              Telling Headlines

America Online Hits Warp Speed, USA Today, 2/9
Arby's to Ban Smoking, Martinsburg Journal, 1/26
Attacks on Athletes, Celebrities Are Growing, Martinsburg Journal, 1/9
Bacteria Cause Children's Ailment [Kawasaki syndrome], WPH, 12/7
Blood and Hepatitis C, Washington Post Health, 12/7/93
Canadians Debate New Curbs on Speech, Press, Washington Post, 1/31
Cat-Borne Bacterium a Threat, Washington Post, 2/17
Clinton Focus Is on Health Reform, Crime, Martinsburg Journal, 1/26
'Clot-Busting' Therapy Urged, Washington Post, 2/8
Compensation for a Criminal, op-ed, Washington Post, 12/2
Court Delays (Pennsylvania) Abortion Law, Washington Post, 2/17
Elders, Predecessors Back 'Secondhand' Smoke Bill, WP, 2/8
Express Opposition Over Health Care Plan, letter-editor, MJ, 11/20
Forcing Citizens to Pay for Abortions Is Outrage, op-ed, MJ, 12/29
Gene Holds the Key to Risk of Osteoporosis, USA Today, 1/20
Genetically Engineered Calf Helps Fight Disease, MJ, 12/21
Government Against Religion, op-ed, Washington Post, 1/21
Governors Pledge Consensus on Welfare, Washington Post, 1/31
Lifting Embargo Puts Reform at Risk, Many Area Vietnamese Say, WP, 2/5
MIA Activists Fight on for Vietnam Embargo, Washington Post, 2/3
Michael Jackson Pays Millions to Resolve Lawsuit, MJ, 1/26
On-Line Chat: the Information Highway's CB? USA Today, 1/20
Pathologists Prepare Autopsy on Patient who Emitted Fumes, WP, 2/25
Pentagon Doubts Russian Reports on POWS in Vietnam, MJ, 1/25
Pink and Blue Mice and Allergy Attacks, Washington Post Health, 12/7
Police on Drug Raid Discover 19 Neglected Children, MJ, 2/3
Protestors Rally Against Tobacco Tax Hike, Martinsburg Journal, 1/27
San Francisco AIDS Cases Ebb, Washington Post, 2/17
States Griping About Forced Abortion Funding, Martinsburg Journal, 1/5
Study: Exercise Not Tied to Ability to Breast-Feed, WP, 2/17
Too Many in Line to Visit US Holocaust Museum, MJ, 11/7
USDA Takes Halting Steps to Improve Food Safety, MJ, 1/23
US Official Says Vietnam No Longer Keeping Remains, MJ, 2/8
Vietnam Pledges Continued Cooperation on MIA Issue, WP, 2/5

                            Wish We'd Said That...

        It is very important for us to realize that love, to be
        true, has to hurt. I must be willing to give whatever it
        takes not to harm other people and, in fact, to do good to
        them. This requires that I be willing to give until it
        hurts. Otherwise, there is no true love in me, and I bring
        injustice, not peace, to those around me. (Mother Teresa)

                              ...Glad We Didn't

        You learn in our business that there's an awful lot worse in
        life than dying. (Ron Pike, director of social work, Western
        Maryland Center hospital)

Published biweekly by CURE, Of Note is featured on the Fidonet-
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