European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 17, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday january 17,1989 the stars and stripes Page 3 Hospital retains circumcision ban Frankfurt Center cites staff shortage by Ron Jensen staff writer Frankfurt West Germany a continuing shortage of paediatricians has forced doctors at Frankfurt army regional medical Center to make Perma nent a ban on performing circumcisions. We just Don t have the people said or. Stephen Pratt chief of Newborn serv ices at the Hospital. Circumcisions were stopped at the Hospital in june he said when several doctors were reassigned and the staff was especially Short handed. We have gotten More paediatricians subsequently but the problem remains he said. With nearly 200 babies born at the Hospital each month roughly half of them boys and Only 12 paediatricians on staff circumcisions were requiring too much time away from More essential matters in the care of newborns he said. To actually perform the procedure takes about 10 minutes he said but the surgical preparation and Parent counsel ing increase the total time to about an hour. We re Able to provide Good paediatric care but in prioritizing that care circumcision is at the Bottom of the totem pole so to speak Pratt said. Other military hospitals in West Ger Many Are not following suit said Pratt who is also the neonatology consultant for 7th medical come. The medical Cen ters at Lan Stuhl and Wiesbaden have fewer births giving physicians time for circumcisions. In the past the Frankfurt Hospital has stopped performing circumcisions when reassignments left the Hospital Short of doctors but the bans were lifted when replacements arrived. This time the ban was continued so that other care would not be compromised Pratt said. Circumcision has Long been a controversial medical procedure with no solid evidence to support its necessity Pratt said. It s a very highly emotionally charged Issue he said adding that the reasons for performing circumcisions Are still grounded in social and cultural Circum  parents worry about their son being different from other boys. Some want a circumcision because the boy s father had one. Evidence from one study that the procedure reduces the Chance of urinary tract infection has not been substantiated Pratt said. Nonetheless about 85 percent of american males Are circumcised. Parents who want the procedure per formed Are being referred to German facilities most commonly the Frankfurt University clinic. As much As 80 percent of the Cost is paid by the civilian health and medical program of the uniformed services. It s Safe to say Many parents Are upset that it s not done Here Pratt said. Tina Oros who is expecting her first child in july is one of those against the Hospital policy. The Hospital should per form circumcisions she said adding i think it should be up to the  if her baby is a boy she said she will have him circumcised somewhere. I think it s healthier she said. I be heard of a lot of people who Haven t had it done and they have had bladder infection  Becky Slagle s son was not circumcised after his birth at the Hospital last August. If they had done it at the Hospi Tal we probably would have had it done she said. A slight heart murmur that would have delayed the procedure for three weeks also led to the couple s decision. Plus a Hospital list of the advantages and disadvantages of circumcision helped the Slagles make up their minds. There were More disadvantages she said. I said if it s unnecessary Why put him through the pain " the information provided by the hos Pital lists four advantages of the proce Dure citing ease in cleaning social Rea sons difficulty in having the surgery at an older age and the study on possible urinary infections. Nine disadvantages Are listed including Haemorrhage trauma and other Possi ble medical problems in the Wake of a surgical procedure. It is very scary especially if you re a new Mother Jean Overton said of the list. Overton expecting a second child in june chose not to have her son circumcised when he was born two years ago at the Hospital even though the procedure was available. It was my Choice not to have it done last time she said. It was just a per Sonal decision my husband and i Dis cussed. If we have another Little boy he probably won t be circumcised  Overton remains in the minority Pratt acknowledged. Most parents of boys born at the Hospital still want circumcision to be performed. But it is not those numbers that affect the Hospital policy. He said one paediatrician can now at tend to the same number of patients As two or three doctors did before the new policy. There s no question that if circumcisions were added to that Burden he said it would Compromise that  paper reports new Bonn View on libyan Plant Bonn West Germany a finance minister Gerhard Stoltenberg says the government now believes that a controversial libyan factory is capable of producing Poison Gas according to an Early edition news paper report available in Bonn on monday. Stoltenberg s comments reported by the die Welt newspaper Mark a turnaround from previous govern ment statements about the libyan facility. The newspaper printed the interview in its tuesday Edi Tion which was available in Bonn on monday evening. Meanwhile at a news conference monday Stoltenberg again revised the official recollection of when the West German government first Learned of possible West German involvement in the factory. He also conceded a federally owned firm May unwittingly have taken part. Die Welt quoted Stoltenberg As saying we must As sume that the factory is a facility in which Poison Gas can be  Stoltenberg said he based that Assumption on Concrete indications and intelligence reports die Welt said. West German officials have said for the past three weeks they have seen no proof that the Plant in rata Libya is intended for the production of chemical weapons. Die Welt also quoted Stoltenberg As saying confiscated documents open up a possibility or a suspicion that West German firms involved in the Plant could be guilty of illegal transactions. The documents were confiscated last week from the " now defunct . Engineering company of Frankfurt. Stoltenberg also gave further information about the libyan Plant scandal. Three Days after Chancellor Helmut Kohl s spokesman corrected official statements to acknowledge that Intelli gence sources linked West German companies to the libyan project in mid october Stoltenberg told reporters his ministry had vague information in Early August. Asked about a report by Stern Magazine contending that a government owned company developed Blue prints for the controversial Plant near Tripoli Libya Stoltenberg said the firm believed its drafting were for a pharmaceutical Plant in Hong Kong. The developments have cast further doubt on the government s handling of the Issue that has dominated West German news reports for three weeks and complicated relations with the United states. . Allegations of a West German hand in the Plant which Libya says is a pharmaceutical factory were made Public in late december. West German officials said at the time that they could find no evidence to support the accusations and after an initial probe of one firm implicated Imhausen Cherie of Lahr cleared the Black Forest chemical company of any illegal Trade activity with Libya. However Kohl last Stoltenberg week acknowledged mounting indications of West German involvement in the project and said criminal charges against some of the firms could not be ruled out. His spokesman Friedhelm Ost announced Friday that West Germany had been informed in mid octo Ber by the West German intelligence Agency and of suspected West German ties to the Plant. The govern ment had said a week earlier that it knew nothing of the Case until Kohl s visit to Washington on nov. 15. Officials continue to say they have insufficient Evi Dence to proceed against any of the West German Compa Nies named in the scandal. A regional prosecutor in Offen Burg however has launched a criminal investigation into the Export activities of Imhausen Cherie. Stoltenberg was asked later about a report by Stern Magazine that Sal Gitter Indus Riebau a Mph a subsidiary of the government owned Sal Gitter a made Blue prints for the Plant in rata 40 Miles outside of Tripoli. Sal Gitter a denied the Stern report that its subsidiary was involved in the libyan Plant. Stoltenberg however indicated that the government firm May have provided the blueprints for what it believed was a Hong Kong construction project. He repeated the government s position that there Are insufficient grounds for embarking on a Federal criminal investigation of the companies alleged to have been involved with the Plant. Stern a nationally circulated weekly published in Hamburg said the involvement of Sal Gitter possibly explains Why officials Are dragging out their investigation against West German firms. The Magazine said its report is due to appear in thursday s editions and was sent by telex to other news Media in  a manufactures steel products and Industrial equipment. Both the company and its subsidiary Are located in Sal Gitter about 170 Miles Northeast of Frankfurt. Sal Gitter a in a written statement issued late monday denied drafting any plans for the construction of a chemical Plant in , the statement said Sal Gitter Indus Riebau was involved with Imhausen Cherie named by . Officials As a key participant in the libyan Plant in constructing a pharmaceutical Plant in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Plant was built to disguise involve ment by Imhausen Cherie in helping to build the Plant in Libya Stern said in its report. Stern also said Imhausen Cherie had obtained through indirect channels the Central computer for the libyan Plant from the . Electronics company Harris. The Magazine did not further elaborate on How Imhausen Cherie obtained the computer but said Harris specialized in aircraft and satellite electronics and worked closely with the . Defense department. Stern did not provide the location of Harris in the United states. Reagans end final visit to Camp David Washington a president Reagan returned from his final weekend visit to Camp David on sunday saying he will miss the presidential Retreat in the Cato tin mountains and that the White House has been a very Nice place to  the president and first lady Nancy Reagan flew Back from the 45-year-old hideaway in Western Maryland aboard the familiar Marine helicopter they have used in the past. On saturday they flew to the Camp in a new helicopter which will take the place of another helicopter used primarily on overseas trips. The president told reporters that while at the Camp he said his farewells to the sailors and marines who run and guard it. Asked if he would miss it he replied yes very  he said the Only souvenirs he and mrs. Reagan took away were the jackets inscribed with the words Camp David that Are Given to guests at the presiden tial Retreat. Camp David originally called Shan Gri la has been operated As a hideaway for presidents since it was opened in 1943 during the administration of presi Dent Franklin d. Roosevelt. The reagans have visited it almost every weekend when they were in the Washington area and did not have commitments that kept them in the capital. When he was asked what he would miss about the White House Reagan re plied a lot of things the people have been so very kind and a very Nice place to  Reagan s eight years in office will end Friday with the inauguration of presi Dent elect George Bush