European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 22, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday february 22. 1986 the stars and stripes Page 7 proposed Reagan budget angers vets Washington a veterans groups have assailed the Reagan administration s proposed cuts in a benefits and one democratic senator says they would Arm the cockles of David Stockman s Stone  How ironic sen. Alan Cranston d Calif said on thursday that Reagan s for Mer budget director has finally prevailed in the first Reagan budget for the veterans administration that he did not  in testimony to the Senate veterans affairs committee James n. Magill legislative director of the veterans of foreign wars said the president s budget takes direct aim at undermining the integrity of the a s ability to provide adequate health care to our nation s  the budget Calls for a budget authority of $26.6 billion in fiscal 1987. A Cut of $408 million with actual spending or out lays of $26.3 billion a Cut of $ 185 million. That would Force a reduction of about 8,800 of the a s 194.000 health care personnel would eliminate free medical care to veterans whose ailments Aren t service connected and can afford to pay elsewhere and would trim a Range of other benefits including housing and education. The budget Calls for boosting the loan origination fee for a mortgages from i percent to 2 percent nest fiscal year then to 3,8 percent Over the next three Yean. More Over the a proposes to limit a Loans 10 $90,000. There is no such limit no but most participating lenders won t finance More than $110,000, with no Down pay ment though larger amounts arc available when a Down payment is made. Despite the administration s Long stand ing opposition to any new taxes or tax in creases what it is proposing Here is in essence a veterans housing  said Cranston. He is the Senate s assistant democratic Leader and is the ranking Democrat on the committee. The panel s chairman sen. Frank h. Murkowski . Has joined with Cranston and other committee members in sponsoring legislation that would keep the Home loan program intact. R. Jack Powell executive director of the paralysed veterans of America called the Reagan budget the most deplorable attack on veterans the programs and benefits which have been established to meet their needs. Never have we seen such a Bla Tant abdication of the nation s responsibility to the men and women who have rendered  As of last september according to administration estimates there were about 27.h million veterans 49.4 million family members of living veterans and 2.1 million survivors of veterans who arc actual or potential recipients of a benefits. Everett Alvarez jr., acting director of the a said he believed the Agency has been treated fairly in Light of the budget constraints throughout government and can still maintain a High Quality of service to our nation s  tax returns flowing in More slowly this year Washington a seven percent fewer couples and individuals have filed Federal tax returns w far this year raising the possibility of a processing crunch As the april i5 deadline draws closer. For the moment however the internal Revenue service is processing returns at a far faster Pace than at this time a year ago. The inventory of unprocessed returns totals 14.7 million compared with 18.1 million at this time in 1985, figures showed thursday. Through feb. 14, the irs had received 20.1 million returns compared with 21.6 million for the same period last year. This year s total is 24 percent below the Compa Rable period in 1984. The Agency has processed 26 � percent of returns received this year. At it time last year when computer problems played havoc with processing. 16.2 percent of the returns had nude their Way through the irs. For the moment. Irs officials Are no cup cuing alarm about the Slaw tiling Pace. But spokesman Wilson Tadly said if in any year you gel a tremendous Annh of returns at one Lime it becomes difficult to Proeu All thoth in the timely fashion we normally  irs commissioner to inc i., of tier or pleading with a House subcommittee not to Cut the Acrey i budget noted fewer returns Are being filed Early and us that if too Many people wait until near the deadline there could be problems. Meeting processing schedules under these conditions places additional stress on resources Egger said. This and other problems will be made worse without necessary funding irs officials will not guess Why taxpayers Are waiting to file. However when the Agency was experiencing process ing problems last year and there were unsubstantiated reports of returns being lost and destroyed some authorities speculated taxpayer Confidence in the system could be damaged to the extent that Many people would not file returns this year irs officials say they still expect 104 million individual returns to be filed this year up about 4 million from last year. Good hearted poles doctor were quite thrilled at the St. Vincent s Hospital in los Angeles at the speedy Reco Ery of Izabella Kazmierz Lal spokesman said. The two Poushun Law Corr a surgery feb. 12, they were Billig was t negligent heart surgeon testifies Wasiqi Milton Lap the defense Lui rested in the manslaughter trial of Navy i null in jul m Billig after another nun surgeon void Hilli t committed serious but understandable errors during open heart operations. On thursday the  was recessed until monday. Hon prosecution lawyers said they will offer testimony from rebuttal Orinc Xvi. 1 he Case against the for Mer head of heart surgery at Bethesda my naval he spill could be presented to the jury of nine  officers As Early As tuesday following final arguments. The 12lh and final defense witness. Or. Donald boiler testified thursday that he found errors technical difficulty and the use of an out of Date procedure in his re View of five of Billig s operations. But he said he found no negligence. I think commander Dillig committed a number of Chron and sonic Are quite serious but with a More compassionate View they were quite understandable he did. The five counts of manslaughter against Billig Mem from operations in 1983 and 1984 in which put menu died on the operating table or within Day of leaving it. The government contends that they died be cause of surgical incompetence. Billig also facet 24 counts of dereliction of duly for conducting other operations without supervision. , a retired heart surgeon from Syra Cuse n.y., who pioneered some cardiac surgery methods charged that Billig did not receive proper training at the Navy s flagship Hospital and said it was wrong to base a medical judgment on five cases. Now we re reaching the Point where you lose a patient you re guilty Effler said. If that s the Case i should have been put away Long Long  Billig s defense has maintained that Sev eral of the. Operations were extremely complicated cases and that there was consider Able confusion at by Thesda Over the supervision and retraining he was receiving. Although Billig was made chairman of heart surgery at the Hospital in 1983, he had not conducted heart surgery for several years before joining the Navy in 1982. Effler based his opinions on a review of the Hospital s medical records and said he had not seen Billig operate. He objected strongly to questions by assistant prosecutor Michael Curreri about statements made in an interview with government lawyers before the trial. Curreri quoted Effler As saying Billig had very serious limitations As a heart sur  Effler said he changed his mind after further review of the cases. Firm hails accuracy of new aids antibody test Seattle a a new aids antibody test has been approved by the food and drug administration and lib More accurate than any other test available its devel of Crays. Genetic systems corp. Said its test detected the antibody in 100 percent of aft aids patients tested in clinical tues a test also lowered false Posti Vereau is by up to so percent wrongly reporting the antibody in Only 0.2 percent of Normal blood donors it said. No other test on the Market can make that statement Laid Joseph Ashley genetic s president. The Fra confirmed that the Agency has approved the test but said government officials would not characterize it As the most accurate. Seven other new tests for the antibody have been approved by the Fra and Many More applications Ore pending. The company a subsidiary of Bristol Myers co. Devel oped the test through an exclusive agreement with the Pasteur Institute in Paris Ashley said. Acquired immune deficiency syndrome makes the body s immune system unable to resist disease. As of feb. 10, aids had struck More than 17,300 people in the United states and claimed 9,112 lives. The virus can be transmitted by sexual Contact the sharing of contaminated Needles by intravenous drug abusers transfusions of blood or blood products or from Mother to child before or around the time of birth. The aids antibody is easier to find in blood serum or plasma than the aids virus itself said or. Lynn Gold Stein who led the research team that developed the test. Detection of the antibody indicates the person has been exposed to the virus. About 10 percent of the people who have the antibody develop the disease. The test is expected to Cost Between $1 and $6 per Sample. One lab technician can process 600 tests a Day Ashley said