European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 11, 1989, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday february 11, 1989 the stars and stripes Page 5 a nurses claim serious Supply crunch Washington a supplies Are so Short in veterans administration Hospi tals that nurses Are scrounging souvenir bars of soap and shampoo bottles from hotels to bring to a patients a nurses association official told Congress. Supply accounts Are frequently raided to pay salaries and avoid layoffs an outside medical administrator told the House vet Erans affairs committee thursday. Claudette Morissey a nurse at the Brooklyn n.y., veterans Hospital and president of the nurses organization of the veterans administration said in testimony submitted to the hearing at one a Hospital in the South nurses were frustrated by the refusal of the prosthetics department to Supply wheelchair Cush ions for patients on the Long term care unit. The nurses obtained a $25 donation went to the local upholstery store and Pur chased a Large foam mattress and with an electric knife borrowed from the Mother of one of the nurses Cut the foam to make wheelchair cushions for their  she did not identify the Hospital or the Hospital in other anecdotes nurses in one Hospital brought in Sou Venir hotel soaps and shampoos for the patients and in another brought and Cut Large bars of soap in Small pieces for patients to  at her own Hospital she said we can not properly Monitor diabetic patients when there Are no lancets to do Finger Sticks no chem Sticks for blood samples and no insulin syringes to use to give Insu Lin if it is needed. This is the situation i have faced Over the past month at my facility and i thank god there has been no crisis because of  a soviet report last week of Hospital patients getting aids from a sterilized Needles is a startling reminder to us in this country that mistakes can happen when the system starts to Cut Corners and worker perform daily under inordinate pressure As we do in the a she said. Also testifying was l. Thompso Bowles vice president for medical affairs at the George Washington University med ical Center a member of a a advisory committee and a consulting surgeon to two a hospitals. He said Supply accounts have been raided at a hospitals to avoid layoffs by moving funds from other accounts the department of Medicine an surgery was Able to remain near the congressionally mandated 194,720 employ ment  Kenneth i. Shine Dean of the University of California at los Angeles medical school told the committee that next year veterans medical budget should be $12.42 billion a 14 percent or $1.48 billion in crease Over this year s total instead of the $186 million increase proposed in presi Dent Reagan s budget. Four veterans organizations have endorsed a similar amount for next year. Donald r. Smith a spokesman said he could not address allegations made a specific facilities in the a system of 172 hospitals and More than 220 out patient clinics. Where we have specific allegations we would defer to the local Hospital for com ment said Smith. I would t want to speak to the allegations of one nurse or on who represents a group of nurses As some thing that exists throughout the  he said however that a director Des Ignate Edward Derwinski told the commit tee earlier this week that he would seek More Money As a supplemental budget for1989 and in the 1990 budget. He is aware of problems caused by the budget crunch said Smith. He met with president Bush wednesday and i am sure the problems of the hospitals were Dis  at congressional hearings in september a officials said they faced a $600 million to $1 billion shortfall in their budget for medical care in the current fiscal year. Ruling allows abortion for comatose woman Frederick Zusselman congratulates son in Law Martin Klein tuesday after a judge granted Klein guardianship of his pregnant wife who is in a coma. A court then dismissed guardianship requests by two anti abortion activists thursday. New York a a state appeals court thurs Day ruled the husband of a comatose pregnant woman can become her Legal guardian so he can authorize a abortion that doctors say could help her recover. The appeals court dismissed requests by two anti abortion activists to be appointed guardians of 32 year old Nancy Klein. Her husband Martin Klein was awarded the guardianship tuesday in a state trial court but the decision was stayed pending the out come of the Appeal. I am relieved and pleased with the decision said Klein by Telephone from the couple s Home in the Long Island suburb of upper Brookville. I Hope this will Bethe end of it  in rejecting the Appeal the five judge appeals pane said the record confirms that these absolute strangers to the Klein family whatever their motivation Haven place in the midst of this family  but John Short and John Broderick who filed the Appeal said they would take the Case to the court of appeals the state s highest court. It would be a tragedy if they go through with that abortion Short said by Telephone after the Appeal was denied. Short founder of the Long Island right to life committee said his attorney was trying to Contact the court of appeals to obtain a stay. Mrs. Klein who is about 17 weeks pregnant has been in a coma at North Shore University Hospital i Manhasset since a dec. 13 car Accident. She is severely brain damaged and is Given a slight Hance at recovery. Klein sought an abortion for his wife after he said some physicians advised him that a abortion May enhance her recovery and could save her life. The couple has a 3-year-old daughter. In testimony before the appeals court five medical experts said that pregnancy increased the risks for the comatose patient and could possibly threaten her  two medical experts testified the pregnancy was not life threatening. In the lower court ruling judge Bernard Mccaffrey said that As of this time an abortion is not medically necessary to save mrs. Klein s life. Nevada wants study of High suicide rate in the stars and stripes40 years ago today. Reno Nev. A Nevada leads the country in suicides and has asked Federal officials to study Why More than twice a Many Young people than the National aver age take their lives in that state. Suicide does t just happen stat health officer Joseph Jarvis said at a news conference. If we can understand Why i happens to some people and not others maybe we can begin to prevent  Jarvis asked gov. Bob Miller to re quest the study by the centers for Dis ease control. They study is expected to take six to nine months. We probably won t be Able to come up with All the answers but if we can answer one question i would consider it a Success cd researcher Patric Meeghan said. He and Patrick o Carroll both of the Atlanta based Center s intentional injuries Section will look at suicides and attempted suicides for trends that might contribute to Nevada s unusually High rate. An average of 29 of 100,000 resident Sage 15 to 24 kill themselves each year compared to the National rate of 13 per100,000 in that age group. The state re corded 1,631 suicides during 1982-87. Until we do the study we Don t know if there s something special in Nevada that makes the rates High Meeghan said. This gives us an Opportunity to shed some Light on the  feb. 11, 1949 responding to soviet demands in the United nations president Truman announced that the United states had no intention of disclosing any of its atomic secrets to the world. 30 years ago today. Feb. 11, 1959 the British government disclosed that it had rejected the Ameri can Polaris rocket in favor of its own top secret Blue Streak As its main weapon of nuclear retaliation. 20 years ago today. Feb. 11, 1969 the worst northeastern snowstorm in eight years brought Newyork to a standstill with 15 inches recorded in Central Park and More than 18 inches reported by the weather Bureau at John f. Kennedy International Airport. 10 years ago today. Feb. 11, 1979 president Carter said . Troop withdrawals from Korea had been temporarily stopped pending a review of developments in the Region including the buildup of North korean forces and the effect of . Recognition of China