European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 30, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 the stars and stripes saturday june 30,1990va Hospital gives patient blood of aids victim Albuquerque . Apr a veterans Hospital mistakenly injected the blood of an aids victim into another patient in the same Ward who had the same surname. A this is an absolute tragedy. We Are devastated by this a said or. Darwin Palmer chief of infectious diseases at the veterans administration medical Center. The error was discovered less than an hour after the patient who is seriously ill with an undisclosed ailment was injected wednesday Palmer said. A if this patient who is very ill lives Long enough he will unfortunately have a Good Chance of developing the aids virus infection a Palmer said. The Hospital immediately notified the patient about the error and offered him High dose antiviral therapy including the drug at a a the Best therapy we have a in an Effort to stave off any infection Palmer said. A doctors were calling hospitals around the country to discuss other possible treatments and samples of the patients blood were being sent to several laboratories Palmer said. The patients both men had recently undergone a rare blood test within 24 hours of each other Palmer said. The Hospital said it could not release their identities or say what the wrongly injected Man had been receiving treatment for. The blood test an Indium White blood cell scan uses a radioactive tracer to find sources of infection. Blood samples Are taken and treated with the chemical Indium then returned to the patient to see where the Trace element shows up in the body. White blood cells accumulate at the source of an infection. The Hospital normally takes several precautions to prevent injection of the wrong patient including checking the patients name identification number and armband and talking to the patient about the test Palmer said. A i have to assume they did All these things but they did no to look closely enough a said Palmer who also is a professor at the University of new Mexico school of Medicine. The question of liability remains to be determined but it appeared several people were involved m the mistake Palmer said. A a we Are investigating very hard to see where the slip up occurred to see it does no to occur again a he said. 7 charged with keeping drugs seized at sea by coast guard Miami apr seven current or former coast guard Petty officers were indicted thursday on Federal charges they kept drugs seized at sea authorities said. The charges in two indictments stemmed from operation tempest a continuing investigation by the Justice departments organized crime drug enforcement task Force. The investigation entered around alleged drug activities by coast guard members formerly stationed at Islamorada in the Florida keys. Four other coast guard members were charged in 1988 on cocaine charges. Leonard Freedman regional director of the customs services office of internal affairs said the coast guard members had betrayed their duties in the War against drugs. In one indictment six defendants were charged with conspiracy to possess cocaine Possession with intent to distribute and trying to cover up the seizure and Possession of six kilograms of cocaine. They were James s. Atkins 26, of Springfield mass. David g. Barr 24, Deland Fla. Kevin w. Bland 29, Rockport mass. Ralph r. Carr 25, Clearwater Fla. Thomas j. Kumes 24, Concord Calif. And Stephen m. Savastuk 29, Bradenton Fla. All but Carr face a maximum 85 years in prison and $500,000 in fines if convicted on All counts said . Attorney Dexter Lehtinen. Carr was also charged in the same indictment with lying to a Federal grand jury when he denied Ever participating in the pilfering and subsequent distribution of cocaine. Carr could face up to 90 years in prison Lehtinen said. Bland Carr and Kumes have been on Active duty. The others Are no longer in the coast guard authorities said. The other indictment charged Paul j. Mcguirk 34, of Davie Fla., with conspiring to possess at least 50 kilograms of marijuana. Mcguirk was also charged with lying in a customs service Job application when he denied being involved in drug activities or having associates who were involved. He could face up to 45 years in prison authorities said. Some defendants have surrendered or will be arrested authorities said. No Date had been set for their first court hearings on the charges. The investigation was a combined operation of the . Attorneys office the coast guard the drug enforcement administration and the customs service. 93% drop in toxic Shock syndrome attributed to improved tampons Atlanta apr changes in tampons have led to a 93 percent drop in toxic Shock syndrome since 1980, when the disease was linked to tampon use Federal officials say. Just 61 cases of toxic Shock syndrome were reported last year compared with 890 cases in 1980, the National centers for disease control said thursday. Toxic Shock a bacterial infection found most often in menstruating women was strongly linked to the most absorbent brands of tampons. Cd researchers in Atlanta Are convinced that the decrease is real and that tampon characteristics had been much of the problem said or. Anne Schuchat a cd infectious disease specialist. A your initial concern was that after the Public attention and the Media attention went away. People were not bothering to report cases a she said. But a 1986-87 study which actively sought to locate cases across several states found one Case per 100,000 women Between the Ages of 14 and 44 a a tenfold drop from the 1980 rate Schuchat said. The United states recorded 45 cases of toxic Shock in menstruating women last year and 16 non menstruation cases. A decade ago 812 of the 890 cases were associated with menstruation. Three important developments occurred in tampons in the 1980s, the cd said a rely the Brand implicated in Many Early cases was taken off the Market. A tampons became less absorbent. In 1980, 42 percent of tampon users used very High absorbency products a the Type considered most sky for toxic Shock. By 1986, it was 1 percent. A the material makeup of tampons changed. Rely consisted of polyester foam and  lose. Tampons containing Polyac relate were withdrawn in 1985, and current tampons Are made with Cotton or Rayon. The withdrawal of rely and the drop in use of High absorbency tampons a correlate with a marked decrease in incidence of menstrual toxic Shock syndrome a though its still unclear Why those types of tampons increased the risk the report said. Stateside Harlem to preserve stage where Malcom x was slain new York apr the stage where Malcolm x was slain will be preserved under a plan to build a $25 million biomedical research Laboratory at the site of the Audubon ballroom in Harlem. The City planning commission approved the Laboratory construction with the provision that a substantial portion of the building across from Columbia presbyterian medical Center be preserved. That includes 40 percent of the Audubon ballroom and the stage on which the Black nationalist Leader was shot on feb. 21, 1965. The commission had reserved decision last May on a plan to demolish the ballroom to make Way for the partly state funded research building being planned by Columbia University and the  educator named president of Ohio state Columbus Ohio apr e. Gordon gee president of the University of Colorado has been elected by Ohio state University a trustees to become the University a 11th president on sept. 1. Gee 46, will succeed Edward Jennings who announced in december he was stepping Down to a faculty position. Gee who will be paid $150,000 a year said after his selection tuesday that his top priorities will include fund raising and seeking Federal Aid for students. Gee a native of Vernal Utah has a Law degree and a doctorate in education both from Columbia University in new York. Senator s marriage proposal turns out to be a Capitol idea Hartford Conn. Apr a 29-year-old Man looking for a Nice spot to propose marriage to his Girlfriend decided to use his workplace a the ornate 111-year-old Senate chamber. A Carolyn will you marry me a state sen Stephen Somma of Waterbury asked 26-year-old Carolyn Miller using the Senate a electronic message Board to spell out the words. Without debate Miller pressed the Green Button on Sommars Senate desk lighting up the message Board with a  a she did not remark a said Somma using the formal language of the Senate. He added a she was floored. Somma said he planned the proposal for nearly a month. He asked Senate staff members to program the message Board with the proposal and then brought Miller to the Senate chamber on the pretence of looking at photographs for a Campaign brochure. Miller works in Public relations for the Connecticut food stores association a lobbying group. A i wanted to do something unique and i chose the Capitol because we both spend a lot of time up Here said Somma a freshman  International gives service award to Havel Portland Oregon apr Czechoslovakia s president Vaclav Havel has been honoured by rotary International with the organizations service award. Havel a brother Ivan accepted the award at the rotary International  your people Are Well aware of the Price of the hard won Freedom and democracy a said Ivan Reading from a speech written by his brother. Injuries prompt exercise device recall Washington apr a the manufacturer of a stomach reducing device thursday recalled 700,000 of the exercisers because of several incidents in which Consumers were Hurt while using them. The consumer product safety commission said Harrison Hoge industries inc. Recalled the new gym stomach eliminators after the company and Agency Learned of 62 incidents in which Consumers using the exercisers suffered a serious facial or body injury after a Spring or clip broke. The devices sold nationwide from 1985 to december 1989 by mail and in retail outlets Are composed of three 12-Inch Black Metal Springs attached to a Black plastic Handlebar and Foobar. The Foobar Bootstrap or Handlebar is marked a made in Italy or  Consumers should immediately discontinue use of the exercisers and Contact Harrison Hoge for a refund or credit toward other company products the Agency said