European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 27, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Poge 4 the stars and strikes May 1977 months deficit sets a record Washington a imports tit Coffee and transportation equipment contributed to a record monthly Trade deficit of billion in the Commerce department reported the nations Trade deficit for the first four months of 1977 totals More than eclipsing the previous 12month record deficit of billion in Carter administration officials blamed the huge deficit primarily on Oil saying Trade in other goods and commodities is Fred an assistant Treasury said in a speech in new York thursday that the nation could have Defi Cit of billion this which would be More than three times the record 1972 Defi tic amount of Oil imported in april declined from but Petroleum still was the biggest single expense by far on the import the Commerce department said the nation last month imported nearly 288 Mil lion barrels of Oil at a Cost of about Bil the nation spent about billion for foreign Oil in March the value of imported goods during april totalled while exports totalled about leaving a do fact for the month of c6 the previous High monthly deficit of billion was set last during the first four months of this the total value of imports was set at Bil with exports listed Al 4 billion while Oil imports declined slightly in the Commerce department said this was More than offset by increases of million in imports of million in machinery and transportation and million in imports of along with increases in other categories As imports increased about 1 per cent during the but exports also declined about 1 per largely because of declining shipments of manufactured goods and other nonagricultural the department administration officials professed not to be concerned about the enormous Trade but Large Trade deficits have in the guide at Disney world Given ring by Hussein a King Hussein of who recently ended a visit has sent a Diamond and Ruby ring to Disney world tour guide Honey Charles Rex said the lungs gift to his daughter was not an engagement ring and that it has been placed in a safety Deposit Honey was linked romantically with Hussein during his 10day Central Florida vacation earlier this Hus skins wife was killed in a helicopter Acci Dent in past caused a decline in the value of the a Trade deficit Means More dollars Are leaving the country to pay for foreign goods than the nation is earning from its Bergsten and others say the Price of for eign which has increased fivefold since has Normal Trade Pic not Only in this country but in other Oil importing Industrial in remarks prepared for a meeting of the american Iron and steel Institute in new Bergsten said foreign Oil May Cost the 65 billion this he Esti mated the should Register a Trade sur plus of several billion dollars if Oil is he noted that the Dollar has remained Strong on world currency the administration Doest believe there is need to take any measures to reduce imports except to adopt Carters Energy pro which is designed to reduce dependency on foreign he buddy of Coventry town takes a spin in what he Calls Best of both worlds his Volkswagen built from parts of a m6s vow and a Triumph to the vehicle is registered As a it can do 100 a groups won Fra of of cigarette controls asked Washington a a number of organizations opposed to cigarette smoking Are trying to Force the food and drug administration to regulate the Sale of cigarettes As strictly As the Agency plans to regulate the ant cigarette action on smoking and along with other groups and in prepared to file with an Fra hearing officer a petition that asks the Agency to prohibit the Sale of cigarettes containing except by the Fra has maintained that it does not have jurisdiction Over the Sale and use of but the petition by the anti smoking groups challenges this on Legal grounds this is one of those funny petitions that nobody says will said John Banz Haf a Law professor at George Washington University and the executive director and general counsel of the smoking and health i think it will nobody has proved to me that it he recalled in an interview that in past Beni in r me i m heart patients cholesterol drugs May have Little study says Washington up1 cholesterol million people Are taking these drugs de review As to Why any other Washington up1 cholesterol lowering drugs taken by More than 1 Mil lion heart patients appear to be of Little value and one in particular May be Caus ing Gall bladder Ralph naders health research group said in a report the in a petition filed with the food and drug singled out the prescription drug whose general name is it said a recent study published by the new England journal of Medicine showed there was a 54 per cent increase in Gall bladder disease among men who had heart attacks and later were Given the the study refocuses attention on the whole class of cholesterol lowering drugs and raises the question of Why More than a million people Are taking these drugs de spite the Lack of evidence of any Benefit to health and increasing evidence of serious and often life threatening Adverse read Sidney director of the group an Fra spokesman said the study Wolfe referred to has just been published and the Fra was in the process of evaluating the Wolfe said he was not disputing the fact that the drugs do lower blood cholesterol but that there was no evidence that such action increases the patients chances for Lon term he said diet May be More important than such drugs in regulating Wolfe asked the Fra to withdraw its approval for clo vibrate and to initiate a review As to Why any other cholesterol lowering drugs should be allowed on the Market in View of the Lack of therapeutic Efficacy in improving mortality or morbid Ity from coronary heart he said the study cited in the petition could be extrapolated in such a Way to show that the excess occurrence of Gall bladder disease in men taking the drug is about per in summary there is Clear evidence that clo vibrate causes a in crease in Gall bladder disease and no Evi Dence that it improves mortality or morbidity from coronary heart disease the main purpose for which it is Wolfe in terms of its assets and Lia the risks clearly outweigh the Ben campaigns his organization won the right to free air time to reply la cigarette com won an eventual ban on cigarette advertising on the air and got separate sections for smokers on trains and but a spokesman for the Fra said it is our Clear understanding that Congress never intended for us or any other Federal Agency to regulate the use of Banzhaff group was joined by 10 other organizations and by two former surgeons general Jesse Steinfeld and Wilher the Fra plans to ban the use of the artificial sweetener saccharin As a food Addi but permit its Sale Over the the saccharin ban is based on tests in which rats were subjected to massive doses of the artificial the ant cigarette groups petition said the Fra had based its saccharin ban on unproven the petition noted the Fra has suggested that the exposure of 200 million americans to a reasonable amount of saccharin could result Over a lifetime in cases of the petition says cigarettes needlessly kill More than americans each year and cause More cancers each year than saccharin has been suggested to kill Over a the petition also said the evidence of cigarettes As a cancer causing agent is adding that the cigarette evidence consists of hundreds of studies on human beings not just rats at conventional rather than massive dose it suggested cigarettes could be declared a prescription drug because of their toxicity or other potentially harmful