European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 3, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 28 the stars and stripes sunday. May 3.1987 a Hospital death rates studied medical mishaps up panel reports Washington a patients May have died Needle in in veterans Adrai nitration Hosp iwo be came of preventable mistakes made by doctors according to a report saturday by a congressional panel. The report concluded that incidents of medical mis haps Are increasing at a medical centers and the committee accused the a of failing to take Steps to lower its High mortality rates. The report blamed higher risks for a patients on what it said was the failure to adequately Analyse and then Correct High death rates failure to adopt measures to reduce avoidable malpractice and failure to Creden tial and discipline a physicians it said incidents such As unexpected deaths Medica Tion errors patient suicides and Falls have increased 1 1 percent since 1983, rising to 85,357 in 1985. The report Laid a review of selected unanticipated deaths liter bean surgery found so percent involved preventable errors that May have been a cause of Detoh. A officials took Issue with the report saying that Tome portions appeared to be based on faulty compan ions Between patient at a hospitals and private bos the report was released by the House committee on government operations based on an investigation by its human resources and intergovernmental relations subcommittee. Among the incidents cited in the report was one involving a 51 year old Veteran who checked into the Ford recalling 1.1 million 1984-, 1985-Model autos Detroit a Ford motor co. A Recal Ling  million 1984 and 1985-Model vehicles equipped with 1.6 and 2.3-liter four Cylinder engines because of possible ignition problem. The recall involves the following Ford and Mer Cury models with those engines escort Lynx exp Tempo Topaz. Mustang Capri thunderbird Cougar Ltd Marquis and Merkur. All but 27,500 of the vehicles were sold in the United Stales Ford said. Owners will be notified by Tetter Ford Aid. Navy not obligated to disclose nuclear data new York not a Federal judge in Brooklyn has ruled that the Navy is under no obligation to disclose whether ships based at a planned port on Staten Island will carry nuclear Wespon the judge Charles p. Sifton ruled against opponents of the plan who demanded that the Navy confirm or deny that the vessels would be tone with Nudera weapons. The Navy said such a disclosure would endanger National Security. The port to be built at Simpleton a largely rundown Section on upper new York Bay will be the Home of the battleship Iowa six support vessels and 4,600 sailors and other personnel. Ferry crewman admits he fell asleep in Cabin London a the Man responsible for closing the Bow doors on the Herald of free hat he was asleep in sized off the belgian 10 lives. I always closed the doors when i was on deck said assistant Boatswain Marc Stanley. No one would have known if 1 had not closed the doors. No one would have checked  on the fifth Day of an inquiry into the March 6 disaster Stanley said he fell asleep id his Cabin after finishing maintenance duties while the ferry was in the port of Zee Knigge and did t hear the Call to Harbor stations which was the signal for him to close the Bow doors on g deck. Attorney David steet representing transport Secretary John Moore said monday the inquiry probably would conclude that open Bow door caused the Dover bound ferry to capsize. A medical Center in la Jolla. Calif., in 1983 and died after a liver Biopsy performed by a physician in train ing. The patient s blood pressure dropped steadily after la Biopsy and a student nurse monitoring his Condi Tion did not Call for a doctor until the blood pressure was unobtainable according to a a inspector Gen eral s report cited by the committee. The doctor treated the patient for a drug reaction but not a Haemorrhage. Four hours after the Biopsy the Painem was taken into surgery the a report said. The liver was found to be lacerated and he had an arterial Blejer. After much difficulty the bleeder was controlled. ,. His condition deteriorated and he was pronounced dead on sept 9,1983." or. Francis Conrad director of Quality Assurance for the a medical system said in an interview that the a has moved to Comet some problems High lighted in the report including new oversight of physician credential. The a is aware of surgical mortality As an Issue and does Monitor. A surgical mortality rates against tales in the non Federal sector he said. In stances in which variation exist Are very few and involve a remarkably email number of  the a last year reviewed its heart surgery facilities and closed units Ai four hospitals because of concerns about High death Rales. The congressional report Bow Ever raised concerns about mortality rates Al 10 other a heart surgery units saying they were above a standards or had mortality Rales in 1986 that were nearly twice the National average. The 10 listed in the report were Denver Memphis Oklahoma City Otla. San Juan puerto Rico Shreve Pon. La. Indianapolis ind. Iowa City Iowa Lexing ton by. Nashville Tenn. And is. Louis. However the a maintains that its mortality Rales May be higher in some cases because its patients Are cider and sicker than average. Conrad said the com Mittee May have mistakenly assumed that raw mortality rates alone Are sufficient to base a judgment about heart surgery units. The report cited reviews by the a s inspector Gen eral and a a committee of heart surgery consultant of unanticipated deaths within 24 hours of surgery at 21 medical centers during 1983 and 1984. It said More than half the factors cited As possible cause of death were classified Ai preventable. The report grew out of a hearing conducted last year by subcommittee chairman rep. Ted Weiss , we. Were Given a lot of excuses about How difficult it is to oversee such a Large medical system Weiss said in a statement. The a must Lake the report s findings  nine republicans on the panel dissented in joint statement saying that the committee has sought to Over dramatize incidents of Quality Assurance program sat a medical centers. It paints an Overly Bleak picture of the Type of Cire veterans arc hot to receive at a medical centers North from Page 1 same polish port. The Fri document written by an agent who inter viewed North at Bis National Security Council office on july is 1985, stemmed from an investigation of a Case ill which a fake saudi arabian Prince Mou Salleza Ebrahim Zadith defrauded a Philadelphia Bank of 1210,000. North who was fired from his Csc Job last novem Ber for his role in the Iran Contra affair allegedly was involved in raising private Money for the Contra rebels seeking to overthrow the sandinista government. In his interview with the Fri North said he first Learned about the princes offer to help support the contras from Kevin Kauke a maintenance Engineer from Freeport ., in 1984. The Prince was allegedly interested in placing a Large sum of Money at the disposal of the nicaraguan Freedom fighters the Fri memo said. North told Kattke that since use of government funds to Aid nicaraguan insurgents was illegal the Contact with the saudi Prince would be Richard Millet a Public relations consultant who worked on contract to the Csc and the slate department the memo said. Miller s work concerns the funnelling of private funds to nicaraguan Freedom tighten who oppose the Sandi Nuta government the memo said. Congress barred the United states from providing military Aid to the contras Between october 1984 and october 1986. The Prince apparently never made any donation to the contras. Through checking with Csc sources. North deter mined that Kattke was a right Wing ideologue known to frequently Contact . Government defense Aad Security agencies fora variety of causes the memo said. North characterized Kattke As like rogue Cia agent who has no identifiable ties with toe . Government the memo said. Kattke who has an unlisted Telephone number an could not is reached for comment Friday was involved it kiting up a private organization known As lit National Freedom Institute on Long and Kattke told new Day in March thai tic Institute collected information about International developments and fed that data to government agencies. In other developments Friday White House spokesman Martin fit water said Friday he did t know Why David Fischer a former personal aide to Reagan until april 198$, was allowed to keep his White House pass until nov. 24. 1986. After be left the White House Job and became a private consultant Fischer arranged meetings Between tie president and Contra Aid contributors according to Jane Mclaughlin who worked with Fischer. Sen. William Cohen of Maine a p publican Mem Ber of the Senate Iran Contra committee said he expected significant revela Lions when the House and Senate pan Els begin their joint hearings tuesday with testimony from mired air Force maj. Gen Richard Soord. A source familiar with the Senate investigation said late Friday that former National Security adviser Robert Mcfarian had made plans to commit suicide in Case he was kidnapped or held prisoner by mosle extremists during his secret Mission to Iran a year ago. Mcfarlane took Large quantities of the inn quilter valium with him on the trip during which be sought to free the american hostages in Beirut Lebanon the source said. Mcfarlane attempted suicide feb. 9, by taking an overdose of valium after becoming Despon Dent Over uproar Over the failure of the Iran overture. Rejected Barge is still at Large new Orleans up a homeless Barge haul ing More than 3,000 tons of rotting new York garbage was about 65 Miles Southwest of key West fh., sat urday and chugging slowly to the East with no known port of Call the coast guard Seid. It has no destination at this Lime Petty officer Fred Kiphart said saturday in the coast guard s new Orleans office. The tugboat spent Days last month in Louisiana Waters As officials wrestled with the problem of what Todo with the scow. A Louisiana environmental aide said officials with the new York department of environmental Conser vation told her Friday they were working in some Way with the people that bad the Barge to Sec if the could assist them. A spokesman said the new York dec was Contact ing owners of four privately operated upstate landfills to see if they would accept the refuse. The garbage which includes used Hospital Bedpan and discarded hypodermic Needles is from Islip  The town recently passed an ordinance that bars Indus trial waste from the Community Landfill. Since leaving Long Island March 22, the cow has been rejected by four states and Mexico and Belize dispatched naval units to keep it out of their Waters. Louisiana North Carolina Alabama and Mississippi have refused to accept it. The trash originally was bound for Morehead City is a where a land til operator had promised to accept the Load. But North Carolina health officials banned it after new York officials refused to certify that the garbage was not in any Way hazardous. National waste contractors later decided to Dis Patch the garbage to a Landfill near new Orleans. Stale officials got a court order to Stop the dumping