European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 11, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes wednesday. December 11. 1985 second product liability Case against tobacco firm begins stateside Knox a 1 menu. In i attorneys for  Rey nolds total Cit ii a i ,1 Tenne be Man s leg had to be amputated because of Surpin a procedures and not because of his lifetime smoking habit As he claims. Hovd Roysdon. 51, is seeking More than ,55 million from the manufacturer blaming its came and Winston Brand cigarettes for the Cardu vascular disease he a s Cost him his left leg in 1983. The pro Duel lab Ilia lawsuit one of two under Way against re. Rcv nolds began monday with the selection of a jury of six non smokers and opening statements by attorneys. In Trie second lawsuit being heard in California the son Mother and two Sisters of John Mark Galbraith arc suing re no is for 51 million alleging that cigarettes caused  s  in jul i9k2" u age r 9. Bob Campbell who is representing the Winslon Salem.  tobacco  in the Knox Villa Case said doctors los Imon would show Roysdon s amputation was caused by a Cloi m his ankle and not by smoking. Me claims he lost his leg due to vascular disease. Our position is that it was due to a clot induced by the trauma during  he said. Campbell said the dots resulted from tourniquets placed on to soon s left ankle during an operation to remove a bunion hmm his fool and subsequent surgery for infection of his wounds. Roysdon s attorney . . Said the part time electrician was addicted to cigarettes that the company knew were defective and unreasonably dangerous and continued to Market. "r.j. Reynolds will Tell urn that cigarettes Are not hazardous to your health and that they won t cause cardio vascular diseases like Roysdon a said  in opening arguments. Out of the other Side of their Mouth they will Tell of that Floyd Roysdon assumed that risk when lie smoked their  Roysdon. Who began smoking at age 13, is seeking $50 million in compensation $5 million in punitive damages and $250.000 Tor his wife. Ruth Ann for the loss of his services. I s. District judge Thomas o. Hull has scheduled two weeks for the trial. It. And the one in California is being monitored by financial  for its Impact on the to Bacco Industry. Acc questioned  jurors about their willingness to award monetary damages and Campbell asked Candi dates if they thought smoking should be regulated by Law. If they had been involved in a lawsuit seeking damages and if they preferred the no smoking sections in restau rants. Hull rejected Campbell s bid to ban reports by the . Surgeon general from the trial. Campbell argued thai the reports which detail smoking risks were a compilation of opinions and amounted to Cresay evidence. To win the lawsuit Lee must prove that re. Reynolds cigarettes were defective and unreasonably  to that end acc said he would show the manufacturer knew of the cardiovascular risks but continued to Market an addictive product. Smokers More Likely to Speed drive drunk experts maintain Boston up people who smoke cigarettes arc More Likely to drive drunk Speed and not Wear scat belts and. As a result some medical experts Are suggesting they should pay higher car insurance rates. Studies show people who smoke arc 40 percent More Likely to have an automobile Accident than non smokers and arc three and a half times More Likely to drive drunk. Smoking in l just a social habit it s a form of drug addiction said or. Joseph r. Difranza. An assistant professor at the University of Massachusetts medical school. And people who arc addicted to one drug arc More Likely to be addicted to another drug such As  his research has revealed that almost one of three smokers is an alcoholic As opposed to one of 70 among non smokers. He published his research As a letter to the editor in the new England journal of Medicine. Copl who Are willing to risk their life by smoking Are also going to be More willing to risk their life by speeding not wearing scat belts and driving while drunk said Difranza who is an expert in family and Community Medicine. Smokers Don t Wear scat belts As often As non smok ers and get More traffic tickets he said referring to research he has not yet published. Both of those characteristics would support the theory that smok ers Lake More risks All around and often end up with More car  tobacco manufacturers have argued in the past that making cigarette smokers pay higher insurance Rales is a form of discrimination and therefore should be Ille Gal. Difranza counters by saying it is Only illegal to discriminate against traits or behaviour that cannot be changed reasonably such As race or sex. It s perfectly Legal to discriminate on inc basis of smoking he said if insurance companies can prove that As a group smokers Are More Likely to get into traffic accidents. Several midwestern states have Al ready passed regulations allowing insurance companies to charge smokers More for car insurance and the courts have upheld their legality. Insurance companies thai have adopted the practice say that even with the discount non smokers Are bet Ter risks for automobile insurers than smokers. Other Stales arc considering similar regulations. Sev eral Massachusetts based insurance companies Are conducting studies of their own. However Massachusetts insurance commissioner says such regulations arc not coming in the near future to his slate. An automobile insurance discount for non smokers does not require an amendment to state Law. It Only requires a change in late insurance regulations which is usually overseen by an insurance commission. Difranza says his ultimate goal is nol to take Money from the pocket of smokers but to Stop them from smoking. With regulations like this maybe people will realize that smoking in t just fun and Glamour As they show in cigarette ads he said. Seeks Asylum Bernard Buller Smith South african Soldier futo claims he was forced to kid innocent Blacks under the apartheid policies of his government has asked for political Asylum in the United states. He a shown during an interview in los Angeles. Agency asks Honda to recall 1 million cars for possible defect Washington a a spokesman for Honda motor co. Declined to say whether the company would respond to a government request to recall 1 million 1979 80 Accord and civic models to Correct if necessary front seat belts that fail to retract properly. The company received a letter from the Nitsa National Highway traffic safety administration Ameri can Honda motor co. Inc. Spokesman Takanori Sonoda said. The company is undertaking the study of that Issue and that s about  Sonoda said he did not know when Honda received notification from Nitsa and would not say whether Honda intended to recall the models cited by the Center for Auto safely. Bust of Gerald Ford Marks his former vice presidency Washington a a Marble bust of Gerald r. Ford has found a permanent Niche of Honor in the Senate its presence due not to the fact that Ford was the nation1 38th president but rather because he was the 40th vice president. Ford pulled the yellow wrappings from the bust in a ceremony telling a throng of old friends offi Cholden Tad political allies. It s much better than real  i m impressed and 1 know Betty will like it that s the main thing Ford told the crowd. Betty Ford was not present but the former president said his wife had seen photographs of the bust and approved. The $25,000 sculpture was created by Walker Hancock of Gloucester mass., who also has sculpted the bust of former vice president Hubert h. Humphrey. Government doctors records being checked Washington a the names of some 6,000 government doctors arc being computer checked with St. E disciplinary records to determine if any of the physicians arc practising Medicine when they should t be. The health and human serv ices department says. Suzan Bibisi a spokeswoman for has inspector general Richard p. Kusserow said the match would compare the records of physicians throughout the department with disciplinary files of the federation of slate medical boards. The doctors include employees of the Public health service inc National institutes of health the centers for disease control and the Indian health service. The computer match which began monday and could take up to three months will cover physicians up to and including surgeon general c. Everett Koop. While information provided to the federation varies from slate to state investigators generally expect to find out about Doc tors whose licenses were suspended or revoked or who surrendered their licenses at the request of slate authorities. Bibisi said Kusserow was acting out of a general concern about physician credentials heightened by recent reports of unqualified physicians practising in military hospitals nol because of specific allegations. They re not looking for anything in particular Bibisi said. They re doing this to see what they find " 1 he program is the latest in a growing num her of investigations by the inspector general that involve Matching computer data Banks. They began Vii a program called project spectre which compares death Statis tics with social Security beneficiary Rolls to detect people who attempt to continue receiving the pension checks of relatives who have died. Kusserow said in a report to Congress that the project is now a routine part of his investigations and has resulted in hundreds who have Access to financial programs against Fri arrest and conviction records to determine if the workers truthfully Dis closed any past criminal records. The inspector general s fiscal year work plan says further computer match program arc scheduled. They include comparisons of social sees Rily disability Rolls with state unemployment compensation Rolls comparisons of welfare and unemployment Rolls Agarrat immigration and naturalization service Rolls to find illegal aliens drawing Benefit checks and comparisons of welfare Rolls with medicaid and school attendance re employees ing welfare for children who Don