Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.health From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: health Wed, Mar 11 1992 Date: Wed, 11 Mar 92 05:46:04 EST Message-ID: 03-11 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update March 11, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network FEELING MISLED LEADS TO SUITS: The most common reasons parents give for suing a doctor following the injury or death of a newborn are feeling misled by doctors and not being warned about long-term brain damage, a study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association shows. Dr. Gerald Hickson of Vanderbilt University said the bottom line for doctors is that they need to communicate better with families. (For more, see special Sue package below.) DEATHS LINKED TO PROHIBITION: Legalizing alcohol sales on reservations could help reduce the number of alcohol-related deaths of Native Americans, a study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association suggests. In the 1980s in New Mexico, 513 Native Americans died in pedestrian-vehicle accidents or from hypothermia - mostly drunk men walking back from bars to reservations where alcohol sales are illegal. LEGALIZATION MAY NOT BE ANSWER: Some people disagree with a conclusion in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association that the legalization of alcohol sales on reservations would save lives. Legalization could cause more deaths from "chronic uses of alcohol: Fetal alcohol syndrome, cirrhosis," says Dr. Margaret Gallaher, New Mexico Health Department. "There's no easy answer." HEALTH SERVICE WON'T PUSH POT: The U.S. Public Health Service said Tuesday it will not provide marijuana to relieve the pain and discomfort of any more AIDS, cancer, glaucoma or other patients. The government will continue to supply marijuana to 13 people now getting it. Last June, PHS chief James O. Mason ordered a stop to the processing of applications while a review was under way. RADON BILL PASSES SENATE: Under legislation approved Tuesday by the Senate, warning would have to be given to many home buyers about potential health risks from radon. Actual tests for the radioactive gas would remain optional. The legislation, approved 82-6, would require that persons seeking mortgages to be given information about health risks in areas where radon contamination is considered most likely. MINEWORKERS HOLD RALLY: Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., exhorted more than a thousand retired and active mineworkers Tuesday to put pressure on his Senate colleagues to approve a plan to save the coal industry's health-care plan for retired miners and dependents. The miners want to replenish retirement funds by imposing a new tax on all producers. U.S. DEATH RATES ARE DOWN: Newly compiled final figures by the Centers for Disease Control shows that, between 1979 an 1989, rates for six of the top 10 causes of death fell. Led by a continuing decline in strokes (33%), they included liver disease (26%), accidents (21%) and heart disease (21%). ELECTROMAGNETIC TESTS URGED: John Coughlin, chairman the National Electromagnetic Field Research Program Steering Committee, urged passage Tuesday of a bill to create a new $60 million, 10-year federal program to investigate health risks of high-tension lines. Past studies have indicated there may be a link between the lines and higher-than-normal incidences of childhood leukemia. VA DOESN'T STATE DRUG REACTIONS: Veterans hospitals vastly underreport adverse drug reactions to the Food and Drug Administration, which uses the information to monitor drug safety, Department of Veterans Affairs auditors found. Doctors at the nation's 172 VA centers gave their inpatients more than 1.77 billion doses of medicine over five years, but reported a mere 192 drug reactions to the FDA, the auditors said Monday. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON SUE: BLAME IS NOT REASON FOR SUITS: Many people in the medical profession believe that once parents learn a child has brain damage, they sue because they want to blame someone and need money to pay medical bills. But a study in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association says they sue because they feel misled by doctors. The study consisted of 127 interviews with Florida families whose cases had been settled. 70% SAY NO WARNING WAS GIVEN: A study by Dr. Gerald Hickson of Vanderbilt University found that 70% of parents believed doctors didn't warn them that a problem during birth would result in long-term brain damage. It also found that 48% felt they were misled about causes of injury or death. In 33% of the cases, the parents sued because someone in the medical profession suggested they had a malpractice case. PARENTS SHOULD TAKE ACTIVE ROLE: Hickson urged families to make doctors provide information, and recognize that sometimes bad things happen and no one is at fault. Previous studies have shown that in more than 90% of cases involving a bad outcome, people do not sue for malpractice. This is mainly because doctors kept distraught families informed. DOCTORS OFTEN MAKE ASSUMPTIONS: Hickson said little effort has been focused on asking families directly what was wrong with the care they received and what prompted them to sue. "I would encourage families to be more aggressive to learn more. ... Sometimes the assumption among physicians is that if the parent doesn't ask a question, they must understand." (End of package.) Health Editor: Ed Kelleher. (1-919-855-3491) Making copies of USA TODAY Update (Copyright, 1992) for further distribution violates federal law. This article is copyright 1992 Gannett News Service. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM