European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 16, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 2 the stars and stripes sunday october 16, 1977 says children s nose drops were contaminated dispensary doctor quits in protest by Jim Coles i staff write Mannheim Germany is a dispensary doctor Here has resigned in pro test Over what she called intolerable deplorable and immoral  or. Katherine m. Hawking a depart ment of defense contract employee said she handed in her resignation after she Dis covered that about 1,000 bottles of locally prepared children s nose drops had been contaminated with formaldehyde a disinfectant and preservative. Hawking said the drops were prepared in  jugs and dispensed in 15cc doses. The problem came to Light when a Mother complained that her child cried a lot when the drops were administered. Hawking told the Mother that no child likes nose drops and that with some children it s Nec Essary to hold the child. Then to Demon Strate that the drops were harmless the doctor applied some in her own nose. When i applied the drops 1 Felt an immediate burning sensation not characteristic of the medication that has been diluted with Normal Saline solution. I then detected a faint odor that should not have been there. Local problem i took it to our pharmacist and asked about it. He said the Parent must have altered it but did not Check his Stock. I then sent the Sample to the pharmacy at Heidel Berg and they determined that it was formaldehyde and checked the rest of the Stock in that Batch and determined that the contamination was a local  she said she then went to the dispensary commander col. Or Jack m. Valpey and told him of the situation and urged him to put a notice in the weekly bulletin. According to hawking Valpey refused to put a warning notice in the bulletin be cause it might create a panic in the Community. Valpey said later we had a determination to make that is trying to balance Between acute panic and undermining Confidence in the Community for its medical care. We chose the course of follow up phone Calls to everyone known to have had the  Freak Accident Valpey said that it is still unknown How the formaldehyde got into the Saline Solu Tion but did say that he thought it was a Freak Accident not Likely to happen  about 10 Days there was still no recall notice hawking said and the Pedi attics staff began calling people known to have received the contaminated nose drops. But control procedures for non narcotic medications Are very lax and there s really no reason to have strict controls on most medicines of this sort so we Don t know How Many people had the nose drops she added. She said the problem with administering the drops to Small children is we re talk ing about babies really. The Saline nose drops Are used to keep their Little noses Clear so they re Given , a whole drop per full not just a few drops As you would an adult. We really Don t know what the consequences of frequent Large doses might  damage discounted according to Valpey the ears nose and Throat ent specialist examined the drops and two patients who had been Given the drops and determined that there was Little likelihood of serious damage being done to mucous membranes even in Large doses in concentrations As Light As they be Lieve it was. The chemical examination report did not list the formaldehyde concentration. While the paediatrics staff was trying to locate All the drops the phones went out and they were unable to continue the follow up hawking said. They now have a sign in the paediatrics Section warning parents of the contaminated nose drops. One of hawking s coworkers said we be seen an increase in the incidence of prurient mucosa discharge from Chil Dren since the incident and added we can t guarantee that this in t because of the contaminated nose  hawking said that conditions at the clinic Here have been chronically less than desirable and that she was consider ing leaving her Job before this came up but that the Way the situation was handled was unacceptable and forced me to resign in  she cited other conditions at the dispensary which she said caused her concern we had Only one regular ambulance Driver and five vehicles that were sup posed to be ambulances. Only two were operable and neither of them was Safe she said. She related the Case of a child who died possibly unnecessarily i she said after the ambulance in which he was being trans ported broke Down on the autobahn for Sev eral  reported incident involved a youth with a severe Skull fracture who was being moved to Heidelberg. According to hawking traffic was not moving out of their Way until they were practically on it. They found out that the Blue emergency Light was defective and had quit working in route. Then they discovered that the emergency radio did t work so when they arrived the emergency room was t ready Blanchard wants end to housing ghettos for forces in Germany by Clint Swift staff writer Heidelberg is the . Community of the future in Germany should put an end to american ghettos says Gen. George s. Blanchard Usa eur  said americans ideally would live in leased housing among their German neighbors travelling to Community centers for american c us libraries chapels hospitals pcs commissaries and possibly  general s remarks came Friday at the opening of the 30th annual meeting of the federation of German american clubs which he said could Aid in forging the ties needed to make such an arrange ment work. Our communities Are coming under heavy pressure to make Way for Urban growth and economic development of Many of the areas that surround them Blanchard said. There is the perception by Many residents that our tightly knit american communities resemble ghettos not Only do americans sense this but so do Many concerned germans. I Don t be Lieve that is Good for either of us. What we seek through time is to have better american facilities for our families that allow for German growth and develop ment and enable our people to live and move freely among their German neigh Bors. I visualize the Ideal . Community of the future in Germany consisting of a Community Center containing such peculiarly american things As our clubs chapels Hospital commissary pm and possibly schools and leased housing where the american families would live in the German  a Model of the concept is coming into reality in osterholz Schrambeck about 10 Miles North of Bremen As brigade 75 moves in Blanchard said. He added that Usa eur Headquarters has created an office of Host nation activities to help with such  in the american communities Al ready is growing better thanks to master planning the general  american troops were stationed in Germany one year at a time they did t receive enough resources to maintain their communities Blanchard said. Now usar eur is planning into the 1980s and implementing a Community life program aimed at raising the Standard of living and improving Community services throughout the command. Blanchard a honorary federation Board member Cut Short a . Visit to address the group. He cautioned his audience not to be Content with the successes of the last three decades and challenged the federa Tion to plan As far ahead As the next Cen Tury in an Effort to create the future not just react to  federation which took who Are we As its 1977 meeting theme planned to seek a blueprint for the future Here through debate in workshops covering Cul Tural events fund raising student exchanges meeting germans Public relations and  organization includes about 6,500 germans and americans in 38 clubs con ducting state National and International programs to help Bridge the Gap Between the nations cultures. The 10-year-old Stu Dent program has helped More than 300 Young persons study abroad for a year on exchanges Between selected american and German  federation activities Are financed through club dues. Soviet bombers continue to dog . Navy ships Washington up russian Long Range patrol bombers have dogged . Navy ships off the East coast twice this month and in one Case dropped electronic chaff in an apparent attempt to confuse american radar the Pentagon said Friday. The most recent incident occurred four Days ago about 300 Miles from Boston when two of the Bear bombers on a flight from Havana passed about 1,000 feet Over the destroyer spruance the first ship of the newest . Destroyer class apparently to photograph it. Spokesmen said the planes dropped the chaff pieces of Metal foil designed to confuse radar surveillance and thus allow the planes to escape detection. F106 interceptors were scrambled fro Motis fab mass., and from Atlantic City n.j., but it was not immediately known if they located the bombers. On oct. 2, two of the tu95 bears in route to Havana from bases on the Northern coast of Russia dogged a task Force headed by the aircraft Carrier America that was headed for the Mediterranean. For the patient and then she said the damned brakes quit As we were backing in and we rammed the loading  not really ambulances Valpey acknowledged difficulties with the ambulances and said the vehicles we had weren t really ambulances. They were carriers and not set up to be ambulances. But he added we have a new one sitting out there now and we be taken measures to insure that there Are enough Drivers and that we can always reach  said that the dispensary is and has been plagued by a chronic shortage of equipment and gave As example the Lack of child sized tubes and airways devices that open the Throat so the patient can breathe easier and that it has taken Many years to get a crash cart portable Emer gency medical supplies for use in life emergency  one they have now is Jerry built from a Sears tool Chest and an old cart that was retrieved from the Heidelberg Hospi Tal s throwaways she said. Valpey agreed that the dispensary did not have adequate equipment and said it s True that we re having to make do with some inadequate equipment. But what we Lack in supplies we More than make up for in drive and inventiveness. Our people have had to scrounge to get some of the things we  Large Community i could Tell you enough things to fill your newspaper hawking said but i will say this one additional thing Many people Here in this Community feel discriminated against. We re a Large Community and our patient Load is larger than Heidelberg s. What Many people Tell me is that they feel the military puts More store in a general or colonel s teen Ager than their infant s health just because they re  in Heidelberg a medical come spokes Man said me com is in the business of caring for sick and injured persons. As far As we re concerned there is no rank with regard to any patient we treat but each patient is treated in accordance with his or her  hawking said Overall the people in this Community get Good care in spite of the bad conditions the medical staff has to work with. I m really proud of these peo ple s dedication. But i just think the Community deserves a Little better than it s  temperatures l h 40 so 38 76 41 79 41 53 40 61 52 57 47 80 46 49 39 60 36 63 37 59 41 73 so 54 52 84 30 46 31 46 34 64 45 62 43 50 44 61 33 69 37 68 31 57 39 56 42 66 33 58 40 m 33 61 36 76 42 70 28 60 43 57 so 81 33 65 22 28 36 59 27 72 34 54 43 48 33 62 71 90 55 71 33 64 35 70 40 66 Albany Albuquerque Amarillo Asheville Atlanta Atlantic City Austin Baltimore Billings Birmingham Bismarck Boise Boston Brownsville Buffalo Burlington Casper Charleston . Charleston . Charlotte Cheyenne Chicago Cincinnat Cleveland Columbia . Columbus Dallas a. 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