Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!news.media.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!usa-post Newsgroups: usa-today.health,americast.usa-today.health From: usa-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: usa-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: health Tue, Sep 15 1992 Date: Tue, 15 Sep 92 04:23:48 EDT Message-ID: 09-15 0000 DECISIONLINE: Health USA TODAY Update Sept. 15, 1992 Source: USA TODAY:Gannett National Information Network DOCTORS PROPOSE HEALTH PLAN: A national health-care plan that includes caps on doctor and hospital fees was proposed Monday by the USA's second-largest doctors' group. "We can live within a budget, and we must," Dr. John Ball of the 77,000-member American College of Physicians, said. ACP's members are mostly primary care doctors. (For more, see special Plan package below.) GM PICKUPS CALLED FIRE RISK: A consumer group is asking for a recall of General Motors pickup trucks. The Center for Auto Safety says the gas tanks of full-sized GM pickups made between 1973 and 1987 are susceptible to rupture during side impacts because they're outside the frame. The group claims the number of deaths is so high that it dwarfs the ill-fated Ford Pinto. Fatalities during those years is estimated at 300. ABORTION STUDY COMPLETED: Contrary to claims that there's a traumatic "post-abortion" syndrome, having one or more abortions doesn't affect women's mental health, suggests an eight-year, USA-wide study. Women with the poorest self-esteem are those who have unwanted births, not the ones who choose to have kids or seek abortions, says psychologist Nancy Felipe Russo of Arizona State University, Tempe. SYNDROME CALLED `A MYTH': "This `post-abortion syndrome' is just a myth," says psychologist Nancy Russo. Her major findings: Getting one abortion was linked to higher self-esteem; women who never sought abortions, or underwent several, had slightly lower self-esteem. Those who had kids they didn't want felt worst. Most likely to have repeat abortions: poor women with little education. INSURERS FILE FRAUD SUIT: Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. and Aetna Life Insurance Co. Inc. Monday filed a lawsuit charging fraud at psychiatric hospitals of National Medical Enterprises Inc. The suit claims that the company engaged in widespread recruiting of patients for hospitals and of wrongfully institionalizing patients. GENE TRICK CLEARS ARTERIES: A third of the people who undergo balloon surgery to unclog heart arteries - and 10% who have bypass surgery - get new clogs. Reason: Muscle cells lining the vessels begin multiplying uncontrollably. Now researchers have prevented the problem in rats by using an artificial sequence of genetic building blocks to halt production of a key muscle protein. MERCURY-TAINTED FISH COMMON: A new review of mercury-tainted fish show at least 26 states advise against eating fish caught in at least some lakes and rivers, with the problem being worst in Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Florida. The report was released last week by Clean Water Action. Mercury, a metal that causes nerve and brain damage, especially in young children, comes from natural sources. MANY SEE CHIROPRACTORS: About 53 million Americans have been to chiropractors, making chiropractic medicine perhaps the USA's most popular "alternative" therapy, studies show. Chiropractors primarily manipulate the spine on the theory that when a joint doesn't function properly "compensations" occur that can affect nerves and other body parts. It's used increasingly to treat back pain. SPECIAL PACKAGE ON PLAN: PLAN WILL CUT COSTS: The American College of Physicians plan includes: A national health care commission to set fees and budgets for medical services; a national health budget limited to $800 billion and met by limiting fees, cutting administrative costs and duplicated services; and the option for employers to provide insurance for all workers or pay a tax for a publicly sponsored insurance plan. MALPRACTICE AWARDS CAPPED: ACP's plan also includes financial incentives to attract more people into general medicine, rather than expensive and lucrative specialties; and caps on pain and suffering awards in malpractice suits tied to an increase in self-policing by the medical community. DOCTORS SUPPORT THE PLAN: The plan, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, has the support of some large employers, unions and consumer groups. Many doctors also support the plan, seeing it as a way to keep down costs and ensure care without a government takeover or the second-guessing of insurance companies. The present system "has got to go," says Dr. Clifton Cleaveland of Chattanooga, Tenn. (End of package.) Health Editor: Michele Coleman. (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