European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - April 24, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes april chief heart surgeon of Beth Esefa dismissed i i by Norman Black Washington a the chief heart surgeon at the Bethesda naval Hospital has been dismissed because of questions about his surgical compete the Navy said h said it is launching a formal investigation into the circumstances surround ing the hiring of Donal Billig and his subsequent appointment As the chief of the hospitals cardio thoracic surgery whose clinical privileges were suspended in late was Noti fied last thursday that his staff appoint ment As Well As his surgery privileges had been according to Diane my a spokeswoman for the naval medical Billig has a week to decide if he will Appeal the Billigs privileges were suspended in late november when Quality Assurance mechanisms indicated prob lems in his practice of cardiac the Navy said in a he was subsequently Given a hearing before the hospitals medical credentials which questioned his Surgi Cal competence and recommended he not be permitted to continue treating a the spokeswoman Billig now has he right to Appeal the she she said the Navy would not discuss what specific event or events prompted the revocation of Billigs she also declined to discuss the mortality rate of Billigs but said the car Diac surgery unit As a whole had not suffered an abnormally High death rate during Billigs during commander Billigs the mortality rate for the cardio thoracic surgery department was which is consistent with the National average of Between 5 and 6 percent for this Type of the spokeswoman efforts to Contact Billig were unsuccessful tuesday his Neil declined comment and said he and Billig had agreed not to discuss the matter because of the Legal Lamacchia said the decision to revoke Billigs privileges was made by the Hospi tals commanding officer upon comple Tion of a fair hearing and based on the recommendations of the hospitals credentials that in led to an order by rear William Mcdermott the commander of the naval medi Cal for the convening of a formal Board of investigation to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the recruit practice and de credentialing of commander Bil the Navy said in its Lamacchia said the formal Board would begin meeting on or about april she said the Board was empowered to take sworn testimony and could recommend administrative sanctions or criminal charges against those involved in Billigs defense department regulations re quire All doctors to have their credentials checked before beginning military serv the Navy said the question of whether Billigs credentials were re viewed sufficiently was a matter to be investigated by the joined the Navy in Decem Ber 1982 and joined the staff at Bethesda in january he was named the head of the cardiac surgery department in june the Washington Post reported that Billig holds valid medical licenses in at least three states new Texas and Pennsylvania and that he once held a License in new Jersey As the paper said Billig had retired his License in new Jersey in 1981 after inquiries about questionable surgery were made by the Monmouth medical Center in Long where he then most americans favor transplants if somebody else donates Organ Coke sweetens t 4 f v i its 99 a d Washington a americans think human Organ donation a Loving and generous thing to a new poll suggests As Long As those hearts and kidneys Are someone objections to donating an Organ appear As vague As simply not wanting to think about it and As specific As worrying that organs might be removed before the donor was quite through with the Gap Between Peoples applause for donating and transplanting organs in As opposed to signing away their was striking in the report of a Gallup poll sponsored by the american Council on seventy four percent of adult americans say its not wrong to prolong life through the use of human Organ and 67 percent say the words Loving and generous Best describe a seventy one percent said they would be very Likely to approve transplantation of a loved ones organs Assum ing that relative had mentioned such a desire while and 44 percent said they would be very Likely to donate their childrens organs in Case of accidental but their own organs just 27 percent said they were very Likely to be the contrasting figures suggest its easier to come to grips with your loved ones mortality than your own mor said Robert president of the National kidney which sponsored a science writers conference at which the poll results were the poll itself let respondents choose from nine reasons for declining to donate answers included the squeamish 16 percent who dont like the idea of somebody cutting me up after i die and the religious 12 percent who want my body intact for the resurrection or for a healthy but worries about the Here and now ranked at the top 23 percent who feared they might do something to me before i am really dead and 21 percent who in afraid the doctors might hasten my death if they needed my next came 18 percent who agreed i dont like to think about in reluctance to think about or Deal with the subject might be most important of the answers to another question seemed to sixty two percent than double the 27 percent very Likely to donate they  mind upon their organs were donated even if they haunt Given according to the Gallup the poll was taken last december among a nationally representative Sample of people 18 years of age and the findings generally were based on answers of respondents who were aware of Organ the results were subject to a 3 percent margin of the National kidney a Strong supporter of donor says More than patients were waiting for kidney transplants last year but nearly half  get them because of a shortage of suitable the poll said 93 percent of americans have heard about Organ and 83 percent have heard about donor cards on which a person states his desire to give some or All of his organs after of those who Are aware of 17 percent have signed such donor secret bodies of 5 Wii filers formally buried new York up the bodies of five killed when their b17 bomber was shot Down by japanese fight ers 42 years have received a formal burial following the efforts of a fellow Crew member to find their a published report said Jose a retired air Force colonel and navigator of the world War ii Mission that ended on june in the new Britain had vowed to return to find their remains the night he fled the the 64yearold Holguin spearheaded a government Effort that ended last month when he found his friends remains in he had returned to an Island Northeast of new Guinea twice in his attempt to locate his Knott and four other members of the Crew were buried in a military funeral at the National cemetery in Long East of new the news paper Holguin had used his in savings to find the the paper the article said during Holguin trip to new Britain in he found the plane wreckage but no he continued his search in 1983 along with the help of several it who spent two years As a japanese prisoner of was finally invited to review the islands records which showed that the bodies of the fliers had Beem moved to unmarked Graves in the times company by Obj addressed to Pepsi to also announced will be Given the Day off coca cola officials said the discovered by Tel Foft to Tow Dod to review failure of Leaky Media Pool system Washington a the defense disappointed that the first test of its press arrange ment for reporting on secret military operations is planning a High level review of the the news director for the Mutual radio identified in Tome published reports As the organization that leaked the disclaimed any responsibility for the breakdown in we kept the we did not break the said Bart we did not report the Story on the Fred Deputy assistant Secretary of defense for Public said the Pentagon decided to secretly summon journalists from news organizations to a previously announced military exercise in Honduras As a Good Faith Effort to test the under the crafted in response to complaints tout the barring of from the invasion of Grenada n a was supposed to remain but according to the news of the test leaked to nonparticipants within a few hours after it began saturday Tessler said As the radio Industry Pool organi had a responsibility to Tell other networks to install Telephone circuits in order to receive reports from the Mutual correspondent who went on the