European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 28, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Friday february 28. 1986 the stars and stripes Page 7 Billig convicted of surgery related deaths Navy doctor could get almost 72 years in prison Washington a Navy surgeon or. Donal m. Billig faces a maximum sentence of nearly 12 years in prison for causing the deaths of patients in the operating room and for other errors in open heart surgery at the Navy s Premier Hospital. Billig awaits sentencing after a jury of nine Superior officers convicted him wednesday of involuntary Man Slaughter in two cases and negligent homicide in a third All stemming from operations at Bethesda naval Hospital outside Washington where he was chief of heart sur he was acquitted in the deaths of two other patients. He was found guilty of 19 of 24 counts of dereliction of duty for operating unsupervised when his privileges were restricted. Billig 55, a commander also faces a possible Fine and dismissal Billig from the Navy. He left the court martial at the Washington Navy Yard without speaking and was accompanied by his wife Bon Nie. His military lawyer it. Cmdr. Stephen Baker told reporters the Case turned on the overwhelming assault on the character of or. Billig by the prosecution. He is the first Navy doctor to be convicted of Man Slaughter according to the Navy and Only the second Ever to be charged. His Case came at a time of increased scrutiny of problems in military Medicine by Congress and others. It brought questions about the Quality of care at Bethesda the Hospital where presidents often go for treatment. The eight week trial involved Complex testimony on the delicate procedures of open heart surgery with the prosecution arguing Billig had killed five patients through Clumsy and dim sighted incompetence. Under military Law Only a two thirds majority of the jury is required to convict on any charge. The jury re turned the verdict after More than 10 hours of deliberation Over two Days. I think it s quite fair said assistant prosecutor it. Cmdr. Michael Curruri. The jury of eight captains and a rear Admiral also will decide a sentence. The judge capt. Philip Roberts scheduled a sentencing hearing for monday when the defense May present witnesses and evidence. Billig faces a possible maximum sentence of 11 years and nine months in prison and dismissal from the Navy. Billig became head of heart surgery at Bethesda in 1983 after being commissioned. All the operations took place in 1983 and 1984. Prosecutors maintained he concealed from the Navy his background including near blindness in one Eye and a record of being fired or asked to leave a series of civilian jobs because of questions about his surgical ability. Billig was convicted As charged of involuntary Man Slaughter in the deaths of retired it. Col. John Kas or. And retired gunner s mate Joe Estop. The lesser conviction of negligent homicide was in the death of retired maj. William f. Grubb. He was found innocent in the deaths of retired it. Col. Harold Coplan and Lois Parent. Coplan s was Billig s first operation at Bethesda and Parent s Case was a third time heart valve operation that the defense maintained was complicated and risky. Billig was charged in Kas death with a series of errors including mistaking a vein for an artery being unable to repair a Hole he placed in the heart and Overly manipulating the heart during surgery. Kas heart was so swollen his Chest could not be closed after surgery and he bled to death a Short time later. Billig was accused of leaving Kas care to nurses and residents in those final hours. In Estop s heart bypass operation Billig was accused of sewing vessels so that Little or no blood could flow leading to a fatal heart attack. In Grubb s death he was charged with poorly tying vein bypasses. Billig had not conducted heart surgery for several years and had failed an air Force vision exam before being commissioned in the Navy in late 1982. Nine other Navy officers including recruiters and supervisors have been disciplined or face discipline for their roles in the Case. More than s75 million in malpractice claims have been filed against the Navy by Billig s former patients or their survivors. Billig s conviction will be subject to an automatic re View by the Navy Marine corps court of military re View. From there it May be appealed to the court of military appeals and ultimately to the . Supreme court. Rent control Laws dont need state of court says Washington a apartment dwellers looking for help from City Hall in coping with escalating rents and perhaps other Consumers As Well have received encouragement from the supreme court. The court ruled 8-1 wednesday that communities May impose rent controls without slate Legislatures approval. The Justice upheld a Berkeley calif., rent control Law attacked by landlords As a Price fixing  landlords said the Law violates Federal antitrust i ". In California lawyers on both ides of the landlord tenant controversy said the tight May shift to the state legislature. Myron Moskowitz a Golden Gate University Law professor in san Francis co nailed the ruling As Protection for a Host of municipal regulatory functions. Any other decision would have been horrendous for every City in the coun try he  the Challenge to Berkeley s rent control Law had succeeded such activities As zoning and building regulation the bread and butter of what cities do would be vulnerable to expensive lawsuits he said. Chip Nielsen a lawyer for Berkeley landlords said he will try next to convince state lawmakers to reduce municipal Power to impose rent controls. A pending Bill in the legislature is the prime focus at this Point he  supreme court said the Berkeley ordinance is valid because it was imposed by the City government and did not involve any concerted action by owners of rental property banding together to fix prices. In a Lone dissent Justice William j. Brennan said the court without acknowledging it wiped out "40 years of carefully considered precedent which limits municipal Powers. Until today we have not held or indeed even suggested that government imposed restraints on economic actions cannot constitute concerted action he said. Brennan said the decision Means a City May act to protect the Public welfare even if such action violates the Sherman act a major Federal antitrust Law passed by Congress in 1890. The Law prohibits con tracts combinations or conspiracies in restraint of Trade and also bans any attempt to monopolize markets. In a series of decisions since 1943, the supreme court has held that acts of state governments and local government Laws specifically authorized by the states Are immune from antitrust attack. But until now the court has said that local governments Are not shielded from antitrust suits if they act independently of state authorization. Most municipal rent control regulations Are authorized by state Law. Besides Berke Ley however some other cities in California and new Jersey and the District of Colum Bia have rent control Laws that do not rely on state authorization. The decision also signals other communities nationwide that they May enact rent controls on their own. Car s rampage $23 million Short through 12 stores May Cost $250,000 Arizona insurance firm in receivership Brunswick Maine a a 28 year old Man hat been charged with ram Ming his car into 12 downtown businesses causing up to $250,000 damage police said. Richard j. Murphy of Brunswick was charged wednesday with aggravated Crimi Nal mischief and operating a motor vehicle while under suspension police chief do Minic f. Vermette said. When he was arrested Murphy also was served with an arrest warrant in connection with an april burglary. Murphy was being held at the Cumber land county jail in Portland on $15,000 Bond. He was accused of hitting a paint store a pharmacy a doctor s office chinese restau rant two department stores a Bank Gas station two Auto parts stores an insurance Agency and a hardware store. When it was All Over the half mile stretch of Street was littered with broken Glass and twisted Metal. Vermette said damage could reach $250,000. Murphy made no comment after he was arrested police said. The car was registered to his father. Phoenix Ariz. A great global Assurance co., an insurance com Pany that operated in 49 states has been placed in receivership after being discovered $23 million Short in its assets Ari Zona officials say. The company based in suburban Scottsdale has been ordered to Stop pay ing claims but some state insurance Gua Rantee funds have already started to pick up the Slack. Officials said wednesday they hoped to get the company Back on its feet with $29 million in new assets from a Texas businessman. The businessman . Mckellip of Corpus Christ agreed to provide the As sets in november but changed his mind after discovering what he says were deceptions about the condition of great global s holding company court records show. The company which operated in every state but Connecticut insured everything from High risk Drivers and race horses to municipal governments and blood trans fusions. Arizona guarantee funds have been activated to pay life and disability claims nationwide and to pay property and casualty claims inside the state officials said. Some other states have also activated guarantee funds to pay property and casualty claims for their citizens but Laws vary and some of them still cannot trigger their funds assistant Arizona insurance director Roy Gill said. Arizona s funds will pay a maximum of $100,000 per insured but Gill and other officials said they did not know whether any claims above that amount were pending when the company was ordered into receivership. Great global appears to have done the bulk of its business in eight states. Court records show it took in $33 million in premiums in California $7 million in Minnesota $2 million each in Arizona and Texas and about $1 million each in Arkansas Colorado Oklahoma and South Dakota. The company prospered for years by specializing in a form of insurance that guaranteed to pay for blood transfusions if an insured fell sick. Allin m. Karls. A plym Outh minn., businessman bought the com Pany in 1982 or 1983 and officials say he expanded its line of business dramatically appointing 17 managing agents around the country. The company began insuring High risk Drivers in California municipalities in Michigan racehorses and hospitals in other states. The agents got their commissions whether or not the business they generated was profitable Gill said. In Many cases however the re insurance companies that the agents chose were not licensed in Arizona and did not provide the letters of credit or other sure to Arizona Law requires for unlicensed re insurance. Arizona officials discovered the problems in a routine examination last Spring but did not publicize their findings. Instead they worked to keep great glob Al going and persuaded some unlicensed companies to provide the needed commit ments. But that was t enough especially when a Canadian company that had re insured about $10 million of great global s business was declared insolvent last sum Mer. A court hearing was scheduled for thursday afternoon on Mckellip s claim that he was deceived about the condition of great global s holding company and is entitled to Back out of the Deal. Great global agreed to Stop writing new business More than six months ago and is due to bed All current coverage next month