European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 08, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 18 the stars and stripes thursday september 8, 1977 modern Medicine organized patient Power is replacing spokesmen by Michael j. Halberstam . From time to time i refer in these columns to consumer groups and Public interest groups involved in the medical Field. I usually put the quotation Marks around the term to indicate my personal feel Rig that what these groups say they Are is not necessarily what they Are in fact. I have for example disagreed on a number of issues with the health research group Organ organization related to Ralph Nader s Public citizen movement although on other occasions i think it has done Excel Lent work. What i find ambiguous about the organization is its attempt to style itself a Public interest health group. In truth the org s stance on health policy issues is almost automatically against both the pharmaceutical Industry and organize Medicine. Organized Medicine and the pharmaceutical Industry Are frequently wrong but not invariably so yet or. Nader s positions almost always an anti Industry one. For example the delay the United states suffered in developing new drugs throughout the 1960s and Early 1970s is Only now becoming widely acknowledged. For Many years the existence of this drug lag was denied but in the past year even senator Edward Kennedy and former food and drug commissioner Alexan Der Schmidt have acknowledged that it does in fact exist. The drug lag was brought to the Public s attention by or. William Wardell and Louis lasagna both distinguished pharmacologists at the University of Rochester. Or. Nader and his spokesmen consistently minimized the Well documented testimony of these two researchers. Instead or. Nader concentrated his efforts on alleged Over pres bribing by physicians and availability of dangerous or ineffective drugs. One or two dangerous drugs Are still commonly and improperly prescribed and there Are clearly some ineffective drugs available. Nonetheless the greatest harm to the american con Sumer in recent years has occurred because of the unavailability of Safe effective drugs an unavailability promoted in part by or. Nader and his allies in the food and drug and new pneumonia Strain worries health experts Atlanta a a new Strain of pneumonia resistant to most known antibiotics is Amajor concern to world health authorities the National Center for disease control  new Strain has been seen Only in Hospi tals in Durban and Johannesburg South Africa so far. It is a derivation of pneuma Contal pneumonia the most common bacterial pneumonia prevalent throughout the  cd said that if the new Strain establishes a stronghold the number of useful drugs will be narrowed considerably. What this does is to narrow the spectrum in which a drug can be used in the treatment of pneumonia. Sail or. David Fraser an epidemiologist at the cd. There Are fewer and fewer drugs we can fall Back on As the bacterium becomes More  before the introduction of antibiotics in the treatment of pneumonia which is an infection of the lungs Between 20 and 40 per Centof the patients hospitalized with pneumococcal pneumonia died. It has been treated most successfully with penicillin but there Are other drugs which also have been  new Strain is resistant to 12 of the drugs most commonly used and partially resistant to three others. Fraser said the most effective drugs now being used in combating the Strain in South Africa Are if Amin and Husidic acid. The first cases were reported in a Hospital at Durban last May but carriers of the Strain were later found in two hospitals in Johannes Burg the cd said. The cities Are about 300 Miles apart. Studies at one Hospital in Johannesburg revealed that within from two to seven Days after admittance All 80 patients in the Mea Sles Ward acquired the new organism an three patients contracted pneumococcal pneumonia. Two of those died the cd  said however it is not yet known whether measles Are an important Factor in the spreading of the disease. Ministration Fra and the press. As the dimensions of the drug lag emerge and As one studies the testimony of or. Nader and his associates it becomes Clear that the genuine consumer the patient is rarely represented in either the Media or before the Federal government and the Congress. When the Congress was hearing testimony about Over prescribing testimony designed to frighten the Fra into withholding new drugs from the Market no patients were heard. Only recently As the debate on the drug lag has continued have organized patients begun to make themselves heard. I think their begin Ning to do so is a hopeful sign because at last we May hear from the people who Are most directly affected by the availability unavailability safety and Efficacy of drugs. Organized into such groups As the epilepsy foundation of America the american Diges Tive disease society and the National multiple sclerosis society patients with Long term nonfatal illnesses Are beginning to Edu Cate themselves about their own illnesses and encouraging physicians to continue research. The epilepsy foundation of America for example holds scientific sessions at which patients hear about the newest development in that Field. At a recent meeting or. J. Kiffin Penry of the National institutes of health pointed out to epileptics that the availability of Many drugs which might be helpful in treat ing resistant cases has been delayed in this country because of Fra regulations. The hundreds of thousands of american epileptics the genuine Consumers of medical care and drug development in their Field can be expected to be an important Force in More realistic Fra drug release guidelines. Similarly americans with ulcer disease who Are still denied the strikingly effective new drug cimetidine May soon be speaking to their congressmen and to Federal administrators. Organized patient Power is neither pro doctor nor pro Industry anti doctor nor anti Industry. Patients have a vested interest even More than the physician even More than Ralph Nader in drugs that Are effective Andin which the dangers of Side effects Are balanced by greater versatility of medication. Inthe future we will not need any self appointed spokesmen to speak for medical Consumers. The Consumers will be doing the speaking themselves. C new York times across 1 that not impossible " 4 conflicts 8 Start for City or let 12 Coal scuttle 13 Kef Russ 14 Sharpen 15 slender finial 16 class of women 18 measured out 20 inexperienced 21 City in Ohio 24 precious Stone 28 Indian 32 incarnation of Vishnu 33 eggs 34 vexes 36 Caesar today 37 John Stuart 39 religious school 41 Havelock 43 Alaska Cape 44 Spring month 46 famous diarist 50 after dinner drink 55 torrid 56 i eave out 57 sly look 58 piece out 59 boats Fol lowing 60 Corn units 61 skin tumor Down 1 son of Noah 2 Zenda s creator 3 Wield a Blue Pencil 4 june event 5 chopping tool 6 Border 7 agitate 8 bridal 9 against 10 and of ampersand 11 female Ruff 17 Superior of capt. 19 Yale Grad 22 extinct Birds. Solution time 23 min. Alo Bop e Gobr  n  o m Elsp a a in Didt Ama sbo�1l a a abm a answer to yesterday s Puzzle. 23 Woody 25 Taffy Welsh Man. 26 arabian ruler 27 " of Spain 28 a few 29 malicious 30 shaded walk 31 sailors Saint 35 smirks 38 Boundary lines 40 born 42 posed 45 new Haven College 47 exclamation of Relief 48 servitude 49 British weapon 50 polka 51  52 Russia plane 53 season Start 54 weight of India today crossword 28 50 56 59" 29 51 10 52 21 44 3-4 42 22 39 20 47 26 27 49 9-8 Dorann Landers dear friends recently i let a Telephone solicitor Tell her Side of the Story. I was blitzed by angry readers who demanded a rebut Tal. Here s what i be been getting All week Long in Spades or should i say clubs dear Ann the letter from the Telephone solicitor describing How she is sworn at slammed Down on etc., burned me to a Crisp. Obviously Ann you Don thave to answer your own phone. You would t know what it s like to run upstairs from the base ment and then have someone try to sell you a cemetery lot. They should drop  in Lorraine Ohio dear Ann please Tell me Why a person has the right to intrude on the privacy of anyone who owns a phone if a Salesman is at your door and you d rather not be bothered you Don t have to answer. But if the Salesman is on the other end of your phone you Are just Plain trapped. I resent it. Peeved in Bay City dear Ann today i was Home from work with a sick headache. I received three phone Calls from a a woman who wanted to sell me awnings i have awnings a Man who wanted to sell me roofing c a lady who was sure i needed to have my Furnace checked. I used some words Idin t know i knew. Phone solicitors have no right to ruin a per son s Day and these people ruined  off in Tucson dear Ann it s bad enough to have to put up with junk mail butt least i can toss that out. Phone Calls Are something else. I value my privacy and these Gutty phone solicitors have no right Tenter my Home. Furious inn. J. Dear Ann so we Are rude when we hang up on Telephone solicitors Are we i would t Call person exactly polite who enters a Home uninvited interrupts conversations with guests and Breaks into family  m so fed up i m seriously considering having my phone taken out pestered in nyc dear Ann miss solicitor does t like to have a Telephone receiver blamed in her ear Well i be tried to be polite and All i Getis More non Stop talk. When i say thank you i m not inter ested they go right on and on and on. I be never seen such guts in my life. The Only Way Roget rid of the slobs is to hang up on pm. No apologies dear Ann you re going to get clobbered plenty for not giving that phone solicitor a clop in the chops to use your phrase. I Llobet my Eyeteeth you have an unlisted number and Don t know what it s like to be pestered by these unbelievably persistent people. As one who has been driven up the Wall i can Tell you they should be outlawed. Peeved aplenty in Garden City dear Helen peeved ticked off mowed Down pestered no apologies and hundreds of others who wrote. Apparently everybody knows better than any body. Glad i m unlisted. Goodnight All. C 1977 Field enterprises inc