Banner Graphic, Volume 15, Number 98, Greencastle, Putnam County, 28 December 1984 — Page 3
Terminally ill have right to refuse treatment: California court
c. 1984 N.Y. Times LOS ANGELES the national “right to die” movement, a state appeals court ruled on Thursday that a man who was suffering from five usuallz fatal diseases had a constitutional right to refuse medical treatment. The man, Willilam F. Bartling, who died on Nov. 6, had sought to be disconnected from the respirator that had sustained him for six months. The California Court of Appeal for the Second District ruled that William F. Bartling’s right to die naturally of his diseases outweighed the arguments of the Glendale Adventist Medical Center. The center contended that medical ethics and the responsibility to preserve life prevented the hospital and Bartling’s physicians from removing the respirator. The decision read: “If the right of the patient to selfdetermination as to his own medical treatment is to have any
Economy gaining again, figures show
WASHINGTON (AP) - The government’s main economic forecasting gauge jumped 1.3 percent in November, the biggest gain in nine months, as various business barometers offered new evidence that a four-month slowdown is ending, the Commerce Department reported today. The sharp increase in the Index of Leading Economic Indicators followed a revised 0.5 percent drop in October. Before November, the index had fallen
Comet's tail stretches 10,000 miles c. 1984 N.Y. Times NEW YORK The first artificial comet was launched from a satellite 60,000 miles over the Pacific early Thursday in solar wind so great that it sprouted a tail 10,000 miles long in 10 minutes. The Christmas Comet “exploded like a bright star,” one observer said, and its tail eventually stretched 25,000 miles in what was believed to be the firstexperimental demonstration of solar wind behavior. The event was observed from two satellites and photographed from aircraft but clouds prevented most viewers in the United States from glimpsing it. Residents of Honolulu did see it briefly. “It was like a volleyball,” said Mary Yamamoto. “It was beautiful. Its color was orange and blue.” The experiment began at 4:22 a.m. Pacific time when two canisters of barium were jettisoned from a West German spacecraft. After the canisters and spacecraft separated, the two pounds of barium were released and began glowing from activation by sunlight. Although most ground observations of the test were frustrated by weather, the view from aircraft and spacecraft was said to have been “excellent.” It is believed to have greatly enlarged knowledge of how the Earth and its magnetic envelope plow through the wind of very thin gas that blows from the Sun at a million miles an hour. Despite its high velocity, however, the particles of the solar wind, chiefly hydrogen nuclei, are too sparse to have a marked effect on a heavy spacecraft. Solar wind was first recognized through its role in forming comets’ tails. According to a coordinator of the test, Dr. Gerhard Haerendel of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, near Munich, the solar wind on Thursday was blowing with special intensity and variability. As a result, the comet tail developed irregularly, with waves forming on various scales from tens of miles down to very short kinks. This is much like the behavior seen where the solar wind forms a real comet tail by sweeping up material from the comet head. The observations, Haerendel said in a telephone interview, will be very helpful in understanding comets.
Hoosier heart recipient can't afford S2OO-a-bottle medicine for survival
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) The transplanted heart James Simpson received in September 1982 has given him a new lease on life, but he feels in jeopardy again because the S2OO-a-bottle anti-rejection medicine he needs no longer will be provided free. Simpson, 40, uses Cyclosporin A to fight the body’s natural defenses against foreign tissue. When the drug was considered experimental, he received it free. Now it costs about S2OO for a 50-milliliter bottle, which Simpson says he can’t afford. He’s skeptical about using less expensive drugs. “I’ve got about a 10 day supply (about V& bottles), and I don’t know what I can do when that’s gone,” the Bloomington resident said Thursday in a telephone interview. “I can’t afford to buy the drug. I’ve written to the drug company; and I’ve called them, but they haven’t replied.” Simpson, who received his new heart in Pittsburgh, says he feels healthy and optimistic. “I feel like I can live to be a 100. I’m a fighter. I’m determined to keep going, but sometimes you wonder. It seems like the cards are stacked against you. “I’ve become very involved in working with others who have had transplants, and I’m aware of problems concerning other drugs. I want to use Cyclosporin A. I’m convinced I need it to keepalive.” The drug was approved for use by the Food and Drug Administration in May.
meaning at all, it must be paramount to the interests of the patient’s hospital and doctors. The right of a competent adult patient to refuse medical treatment is a constitutionally guaranteed right which must not be abridged.” Bartling died 23 hours before the appeals court could hear his plea to have the system disconnected. But in June the hospital’s attorneys had argued successfully in the state Superior Court that medical ethics outweighed the patient’s right tn privacy, and that turning off the respirator would be tantamount to aiding suicide, or even homicide. Because modern medical technology has promoted a rise in tuman longevity, such questions arise routinely in hospitals across the country. Relatively few reach the courts; more often, over a period of time, family members, doctors, and other hospital personnel reach a consensus that recovery is impossible and that further life-sustaining treatment only prolongs suffering.
in three of the last five months something that had not occurred since the recession year of 1981. The declines had spurred growing concern that a new recession might be imminent. Overall growth, as measured by the gross national product, dipped to an anemic 1.6 percent from July through September far below rates of 10.1 percent and 7.1 percent turned in during the first and second quarters this year.
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An oil-soaked duck is carefully cleaned by Judy Lantz of the Pilchuck Audubon Society at an emergency cleanup center at
European scientists'discovery may lead to AIDS breakthrough
NEW YORK (AP) The discovery that the AIDS virus latches onto a protein in a key immune system cell and kills the cell, crippling the immune system, could lead to a way to block the varus, researchers said. The finding by scientists in France and England may help in the search for chemical “antibodies” that can bind to and neutralize the AIDS virus, said British researcher Robin Weiss. Weiss said he “would not wish to make large claims” about medicinal uses of the discovery, but added it “does give us possible ideas” for prevention or treatment and helps illuminate the process of acquired immune deficiency syndrome infection. Di. Robert Gallo, an AIDS expert at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda,
Theresa Irwin, a friend of Simpson’s, said. ’’Since he was one of the people who proved the drug works, why can’t they continue to supply him with the drug?” Mrs. Irwin and Simpson are officers in the Indiana chapter of the Pittsburgh-based Transplant Recipient International Organization, a support group for transplant patients and their families. Simpson said he wrote Sandoz Pharmaceuticals of East Hanover, N.J., Dec. 3 but has not received a reply. “I’ve called there and been put on hold without receiving an answer.” A secretary at the company said Thursday there was no one available to answer questions about the situation. The divorced father of three children says he also has had difficulty obtaining help from state and federal relief agencies. Because he has life insurance policies and other assets, he was told he was not even eligible for food stamps. “I’m not bitter. My goal is to show that I can be a useful citizen again. I was a hard-working chemist when my medical problems began. I’ve had insurance give me some help, but my current insurance only provides S2OO a year for medicine.” According to Simpson, the need for his transplant stemmed from a 1979 accident at Riley Tar & Chemical Co. in Indianapolis when he inhaled dangerous fumes after an explosion. His suit against the company is pending.
However, a variety of economic statistics have pointed to renewed strength last month. Unemployment fell sharply and orders for manufactured durable goods posted their biggest gain in almost four years. The Commerce Department’s Index of Leading Indicators is a compilation of 12 forward-pointing economic measurements. The increase for November was broad
Mukilteo, Wash. The dqck was one of several covered with oil after a weekend spill washed ashore at Whidbey Island. (AP Laserphoto)
Md., said it was important to identify the “receptor” protein that the AIDS virus latches onto for infection. “If you know a lot about the receptor, it opens up ideas you didn’t have before,” he said Thursday. “You can start doing things that might interfere with the virus infection of the cell.” Weiss, professor of viral oncology and director of the Institute of Cancer Research in London, was among six British researchers to report the work in a recent issue of Nature, a British scientific journal. In the same issue, a team of eight French researchers reported the same conclusion. The protein is at least an essential part of the receptor, and other factors may also help determine what limits the targets of the AIDS virus, Weiss said Thursday
The Bartling court case was unusual because it involved a patient who asked for an end to respirator treatment. More common are cases like that of Charles Perricone, a Long Islander who died on Wednesday after a New York state judge ordered his life-support systems removed. Perricone was declared brain dead on Dec. 14 after suffering two heart attacks; his family went to court after Mid-Island Hospital, in Bethpage, N.Y., refused to comply with their request to discontinue treatment. Bartling had been in poor health for six years and suffered from emphysema, arteriosclerosis, a malignant lung tumor, chronic respiratory failure, and an abdominal aneurysm. The former dental supply salesman, who was 70 years old when he died, had signed a living will and other documents in an effort to have the machines that regulated his breathing, vacuumed his throat, and performed other vital functions disconnected.
based with nine indicators contributing to the gain. The biggest boost came from an increase in building permits during November. Other positive factors in order of their influence were a gain in the money supply, an increase in plant and equipment orders, a rise in sensitive materials prices, gains in net business formation and the length of the average workweek, a drop in initial claims for unemployment insurance, a Liver recipient reported fair PITTSBURGH (AP) - A 5-year-old Indiana girl who helped First Lady Nancy Reagan trim the White House Christmas tree has arrived in Pittsburgh to recover from a life-saving liver transplant operation. Arnie Garrison of Clarksville, Ind., was assigned to a private room in fair condition Thursday, said Irene Marinakos, spokeswoman for Children’s Hospital. “I saw her walking down the corridor. She looks quite good,” Mrs. Marinakos said. Arnie underwent an eight-hour operation Friday at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. She was transferred to the Pittsburgh hospital, one of the nation's leading centers for liver transplants, for a recovery estimated to take six to eight weeks. The child suffered from an abcess in her congenitally malformed liver, and doctors said she would have died within weeks without the operation.
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rise in stock prices and in new manufacturers orders for consumer goods. Analysts cautioned about reading too much into the latest increase. “It would be a mistake to get carried away and say things will really bounce back next year,” Michael Evans, head of Evans Economics, a Washington forecasting firm, said in advance of today’s report. “This is just telling us things are returning to normal. ”
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December 28,1984, The Putnam County Banner-Graphic
“This is what we’ve been fighting for, even though it’s too late for Mr. Bartling,” said Dr. Richard S. Scott, a doctor and attorney, who represented Bartling. “The court is very clear on the patient’s right to say, ‘Enough is enough,’ and that hospitals and doctors must respect those decisions or be sued.” William H. Ginsburg, an attorney for the hospital, could not be reached for comment, and a hosptal spokesman said the hospital did not yet have any response to the decision. Ruth Bartling, Bartling’s wife, could not be reached. “We’re delighted with the decision, and it goes along with our positions, particularly in saying that removal of such devices is an act of self-determination,” said Michael Feurer, an attorney with the Society for the Right to Die Inc., which filed a friend of the court brief in the case. “The hospital still has time to appeal, but I think the court was very specific in outlining the rights of the patient.”
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