European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 26, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday october 26, 1985 the stars and stripes Page 5 a malpractice Cost $34.5 million in 2 years Washington a the government paid $m.5 million Over two  in malpractice Clims against the veterans administration my pav1 Mure than s million a year in benefits in a Man injured during Ilu Irva treat ment an report said thursday. The report on Mal Prattke claims in the Vas Stem. Beset recently by questions about physicians credentials and payments to employees by drug companies was the result of an audit by the a inspector general s office of malpractice claims in fiscal ears 1983 and 19k4. During the period 1.278 claims were filed against the Agency and 432 Lav suits were settled with Money paid in 35 percent of the cases the audit said. Figures weren t available for malpractice  for the most recent fiscal year but the inspector general said that total is expected to be higher. Two cases alone in 10k5 have resulted in s5.3 million in Palm ends the final report of the inspector general s audit of Mal practice claims was released to the associated press in response to a Freedom of information act request. The a whose medical system is the largest in the nation treated More than 36 million patients during the two years covered in the study. The report noted that the percentage of malpractice claims tiled per patient on that period was Small just 0.005 percent. No conclusions can or should be drawn from the rail practice data presented in this report regarding the relative incidence of malpractice in the a or the Quality of care provided by the  the report said. The inspector general s office recommended a number of policy changes saying the Agency conducted no in depth analysis of the causes of malpractice cases. A officials concurred with most of the recommendations and said they arc taking Steps to make the changes. The audit concluded that the a s system of reporting incident involving patients  inconsistent and that the Agency had identified Only 1h be Iccil of the injuries to patients that resulted in tort claims. Moreover it said there is no financial incentive for the a to reduce malpractice claims because a doctors unlike private physicians arc personally protected by the fed eral government against such claims. Further it said tort claim settlements or judgments Don t reduce the amount of Money the a receives in its budget from Congress for health care. A administrator Harry n. Wallers said in a written statement that he is concerned that some of the findings in the report could be taken out of context and could unduly and unnecessarily alarm Veteran  Walters said that since the audit was begun a year ago. He Agency ims started i program to in proc the Monitor ing of patients and is developing ways to Monitor the super vision of surgical residents. The audit recommended that the a require Independent verification of All medical credentials and establish a system to Monitor clinical proficiency it said there were 10 cases in which s.v4 million was paid where patients were attended by staff members who had questionable  another inspector general s report two weeks ago said the a May have exposed patients and the Agency to medical and Legal risks by allowing some doctors to prac Tice while their licenses were revoked restricted or otherwise impaired the malpractice report said that in 40 percent of the cases where claims were paid the patient died. Other injuries inflicted on patients arc responsible for s2.3 million in annual a compensation ii said. More than one third of the claims were for what were labelled procedural misadventures such As punctures or cuts errors in anaesthesia and foreign bodies left inside a patient after an operation. In three cases an operation was performed on the wrong body part or site. Errors in diagnosis and treatment were among the other leading causes of malpractice claims. Blast kills Man at grenade Plant Perry. Fla. A an explosion levelled a chemical mixing room at a Plant that makes Gre Nades for the military killing one Man and injuring another authorities said. The 3 . Blast thursday at the Maryland assemblies Plant hurled pieces of machinery and Bro Ken Concrete up to 600 feel said Taylor county sheriffs sgt. Steve Spradley. William Howard Denmark. 20, of Perry was killed instantly in the explosion while co worker Randy Hayes suffered shoulder injuries and minor cuts Spradley said. The blast occurred in a mixing machine housed in a Small building adjacent to the main Plant. The machine that exploded was used to mix magnesium and potassium per chlorate for production of Gre Nades for the army s 40mm m-79 grenade launcher Spradley said. The powder mixer was supposed to be loaded and closed before being turned on from a Remote switch inside the main Plant he said. Maryland assemblies is located in the Florida Panhandle about 50 Miles Southeast of Tallahassee. How do you move a 45-ton Humpback rescuers Chase whale toward sea Rio Vista Calif. A Rescue workers clanged pipes under water for two hours thursday in an unusual Effort to annoy an errant 45-ton Humpback whale enough to gel it to leave the Sacramento River for the Ocean s Sally safety. Push him push him you be pot him in Light an unidentified biologist advised his colleagues his message monitored Over a land based radio. Now he s heading out. Give him More  the boats approaching the whale formed a slow moving semicircle coercing it to move southward toward the Pacific Ocean. At 2 30 ., the animal was hesitating at a Small wooden Bridge Midway along shag Slough about 70 Miles Northeast of san Francisco Bay. The operation was halted because officials feared the confused whale would become Over stressed said Rcv passerello of the state office of Hmer Ncncy services. The procedure was expected to resume Friday. Air traffic from nearby Travis fab was halted Over the Slough to avoid distracting the whale. If the animal finally proceeds past the Bridge along the Slough described by authorities As a key hurdle in the Rescue experts say they will place Sheet plastic in the water to discourage him from turning around. A construction company spent the night removing old submerged pilings Between the Bridge pillars before thei submerge River. Prosecutor says strict mafia discipline7 helped International drug ring Prosper new York a a mafia code of East and the Midwest. Illegally in 1947. Me was deported to Sci discipline and Honor provided the Cement Kev defendants by in 1950. Pipe banging resumed. We know the whale moved with the sound said stale sen. John car Amend who is helping coordinate the res Cue attempt. We have a physical Barrier the Bridge he s behind prison bars and those have to be removed " Federal biologists staffing a Fleet of six boats had said they might work around the clock to get the 40-foot-Long inhale Back to its natural deep water habitat our objective is to get a live whale out of this area and into the Ocean said Sheridan Stone a biologist for the National Marine fisheries service. Scientists arc pre pared in stay with the animal All the Way Down the River for As Long As it takes to escort it to the Ocean Stone said. Mary Jane Schramm a government biologist said the pipe banging would be conducted for three hours then halted at least temporarily if the whale fails to move. We re afraid the animal will become accustomed to hear ing the sounds she said. Stone said Sharp sounds would be made by striking 8 foot Long pipes filled with fluid and partly submerged Over the sides of a boat with wooden mallets. The pipes arc hit by workers in boats in a line or semicircle Inland from the whale no divers will be in the water. Stone said. It is hoped the noise will be sufficiently unpleasant or irritating to get the whale to move Down the River discipline an for a band of drug traffickers on three continents who conspired to smuggle vast amounts of heroin to the United states a Federal prosecutor said thursday. In his opening statement in the  connection trial of 22 defendants Justice department lawyer Robert Stewart said the Laws of the underworld held together the components of the conspiracy year in and year out from 1975 until a wave of arrests broke the ring in 1984. A was inc mafia discipline that enabled members to take a package containing a million dollars in Cash or a million dollars Worth of heroin and walk Down an Alley in the dead of  Stewart told the court. There was a code of Honor. It gave them a very very distinct advantage Over compete  defense lawyer called the prosecution s Case a tall  authorities say the group accounted for si.6 billion Worth of heroin imported into the United Stales As Well As lesser amounts of cocaine. The drugs allegedly Wpc re processed in sicilian laboratories before being sold through a network of pizza Parlours in the was inc Midwest key the key defendants in the Case arc Gac Lano Badala Minli 62, whom Stewart de scribed As a one Lime lop sicilian mafia Boss who loss Power and fled to Bra in and Salvatore Catalano 44. A new York City Baker listed by Law enforcement agencies As a Leader of inc Bounno crime family. Stewart outlined a complicated network of family social and business relationships thai he said bound the group to Gelhar. Drug deals allegedly were arranged in coded Telephone conversations conducted in the sicilian dialled. Federal wiretaps and surveil inc produced hours of tapes and Many photograph that arc expected to be introduced at the trial which could last six months sources say. Adalar Nanri s lawyer Michael Kennedy described his a tical As a traditional sicilian Man of Honor who resisted a i and fascist forces during world War ii and Rose to Power and wealth through trucking construction and farming. Gaetano Badalamenti dealt no drugs laundered no Money and violated no United states Laws with one exception Ken Nedy said. The exception he said was that Badalamenti came to the United states illegal he Sci l went info exile Kennedy said his client went into exile in Bra in in inc late 1970s because his refusal to Deal in drugs put him at  with his sicilian rivals. And he discounted the value of the prosecution wiretaps asserting that the sicilian dialled defies pre Cise . Calalano s lawyer Kan Fisher called the charges a tall Story about things thai people arc prone to wonder  How do you prove thai you Are not a member of the mafia he asked. Both Kennedy and Fisher were scornful of the key prosecution witness Tommaso Buscelle. According to italian authorities by Scelta was once a powerful underworld ally of Badalamenti who likewise loss a Power is Ruggly. He Lacr became an informant who is credited with helping authorities make More than 400 arrests in Italy. Kennedy called Buscetta a Man who can lie and very  buses a is  to be one of the first witnesses the prosecution Calls when the trial resumes next week. Sands of time in the stars and stripes 40 years ago today. Oct. 26. 1945 or. Robert Ley. The for Mer labor Leader of the third Reich Corn milled suicide in his cell in inc Nuernberg jail. He Hung himself from a toilet Lush pipe with inc hemmed Edge of a go Bath Towel. 30 years ago today. Oct. 26. 1955 the supreme court refused to review the convictions of 12 puerto Riean National isl Leader including the four who shot up Congress last year on charges of plotting Viulen revolution against the . Government. 20 years ago today. Oct. 26, 1965 burglars using an anti tank gun smashed through con Erele and Succi Walls of a vault Al the Brink s armoured car service co. In Syracuse . They made off Wilh an estimated 5100,000 in Cash a d $.100,000 in checks. 10 years ago foday. Oct. 26. 1975 in new York National football league commissioner Pete to Chc dammed the door on the signing of any players from the defunct world Koo Ball league for the remainder of the n pm s 1975 season