The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 5

SEPTEMBER IB, 1989 gbt Atlanta journal AMD CONSTITUTION A-S Hurricane Hugo Heads For Puerto Rico, Leaving Destruction in Its Wake WILLIAM BERRYStatf Incomes Slip In World's Poor Nations The Kid frets WASHINGTON Richer countries such as the United States had a good year in 1988 and so did some Third World nations such as South Korea and India, the World Bank reported Sunday, but incomes in Latin America and southern Africa continued to fall. The bank said industrial countries, from Luxembourg to the United States, increased their production by a combined 4.2 percent Since their populations increase slowly, the average income of each citizen went up almost as much. Some countries in Asia had much bigger increases in output, but populations grow faster there, holding down per capita growth. The bank is owned by 151 governments, with the United States holding the largest block of shares. Bank representatives gather this week in Washington for the annual meeting of the bank and its sister organization, the International Monetary Fund.

Treasury Secretary Nicholas F. Brady will represent the United States, and President Bush is expected to speak. A major topic will be progress on Mr. Brady's attempt to cut the burden of Third World countries' $1.3 trillion debt and the $131 billion in interest they had to pay on it last year. He wants banks to forgive some debt or lower interest rates instead of just lending new money.

The first deals have been worked out for Mexico and the Philippines. Critics call them too small to let the debtor countries keep the money they need to create jobs, raise their incomes and buy goods from the United States and others. "The central goal of the World Bank is the reduction of poverty," the annual report said. "Ways to achieve that are at the heart of the bank's activities." It concentrated heavily in the past year on loans to countries in southern Africa. The World Bank gets most of its funds from profits generated on loans just over $1.09 billion in the past year.

Since no dividends are paid, all the profits are plowed back into the bank's lending. ricane Hugo. The region's most powerful storm this decade was expected to arrive early today. Puerto Ricans board up a storefront Sunday in downtown San Juan as residents brace for Hur- From Page Al Florida, said it was too early to tell if the storm "will even hit the United States mainland. The closest we can- forecast it is to be off the southeastern Bahamas by Wednesday.

After that, it's anybody's guess." In Washington, Brian Ruberry, a spokesman for the American Red Cross, said late Sunday that based on projections, the storm could leave up to 250,000 people homeless in Puerto Rico. The storm caused widespread damage early Sunday as it passed near Guadeloupe. Damage also was reported on the islands of Martinique, Antigua and Dominica. Guadeloupe state radio said five people were killed on that island. In Paris, French officials said up to five people had been killed on the island.

Neither report gave details. Gabrielle Carabin, mayor of the village of Le Moule on the northwestern coast of Guadeloupe, said in an interview on the island's Radio Caraibe Internationale that two village residents were killed. She did not elaborate. Beacon Radio in Anguilla said one person was killed in Montserrat and two in Antigua, but it gave no details. In the central Puerto Rican town of Utuado, a man was electrocuted when he touched a power line while removing a television antenna from his roof to prepare for the storm, police said.

He was identified as Antonio Alago Gonzalez, 51. In San Juan, the Port Authority announced that it had closed Munoz Marin International Airport to all flights at 6 p.m. It said all international carriers had removed their planes from Puerto Rico except for one American Airlines A300 left behind for emergencies. American Airlines had announced earlier that it had suspended all flights to Puerto Rico from the United States from 5:30 p.m. Sunday until 6 p.m.

today. The Port Authority also said cruise ships scheduled to arrive in San Juan had been routed to other destinations. A morning weather service bul-, letin said, "If the eye of Hurricane Hugo moves across Puerto Rico as forecast, we expect a 50-mile-wide path of extensive to extreme damage to occur." Civil defense officials said up to 15,000 people could be evacuated from flood-prone areas of western Puerto Rico, and hundreds had been moved into a sports stadium in Mayaguez, the island's third-largest city. National Guardsmen and volunteers drove Sunday through San Juan, the capital, issuing emergency instructions over loudspeakers. Gov.

Rafael Hernandez Colon flew over the island by helicopter Sunday morning and said later, "We are as prepared as we could be." In a statement on the emergency broadcasting system, the governor said waves 15 feet to 20 feet high were expected. He appealed to coastal residents not living in sturdy homes to move to shelters in hundreds of churches, schools and other public buildings. Reports indicated that the island of Guadeloupe, the most southerly of the Leeward Islands, was the hardest hit of the string of islands forming a 600-mile arc from the Leewards to the Greater Antilles. Jocelyne Vandvurdenghe, a French government official in Martinique, said 80 people were reported injured in Guadeloupe. Hugo slammed into Guadeloupe, which has a population of 337,000, shortly after midnight, downing power lines and blacking out the island's 30,700 telephones, state radio and television and telex service.

Officials said many houses and buildings were damaged. The eye of the storm passed over St. Francois, a major tourist area on the eastern end of the island. The mayor of the village of St. Francois, Ernest Moutoussamy, said on Radio Caraibe Internationale, "There's nothing left of St.

Francois." "Aside from a few houses, almost all the rest were destroyed," he said, adding that several tourist hotels, notably the Meridien, suffered serious damage. Erip Moc, an independent pilot, said the international airport at Pointe-a-Pitre was closed to commercial aircraft. Martinique's La Meynard Hospital was sending a team of 10 doctors A morning weather service bulletin said, 'If the eye of Hurricane Hugo moves across Puerto Rico as forecast, we expect a 50-mile-wide path of extensive to extreme damage to 1 I 1 i I us. rf jo BERMUDA I Hurricane Hugo Atlantic Ocean I SMIamU Eary Hu9 was J. sl I about 120 l71'les 'V.

east of San Juan, Puerto si: i1 Rico, moving at 9 mph. VIRGIN lf ymaawemem JAMAICA DOMINICAN PUERTO niAnPiiPC REPUBLIC RICO gj-OUAOELOUPE A i Caribbean Sea "fyj 0 200 Ly A 1 fto5 1 I VENEZUELA Maarten, said the hurricane was passing south of the island, and there were reports of many blown-off roofs, uprooted trees and downed utility lines. He said ham radio reports monitored in St. Maarten indicated Hugo caused widespread flooding and property damage in Antigua, about 35 miles north of Guadeloupe. The Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico were last hit by a hurricane in 1956 when Hurricane Betsy caused extensive damage.

Hugo is the fourth hurricane and the eighth named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to Nov. 30. Forecasters said Hugo was the most powerful storm to hit the region since Hurricane David in 1979. That storm killed an estimated 1,200 people in the Caribbean and Florida. The Associated Press food and blankets in coordination with the Red Cross.

Louis Le Pensec, French minister of overseas territories, said his government will provide quick disaster relief funds to people who lost property. Norman Wathey, a broadcaster on the Dutch-French island of St. to Guadeloupe. A plane was sent Sunday from France with 60 rescue workers and emergency supplies for Guadeloupe, and two more planes were standing by waiting for Caribbean airports to reopen. Catholic Air announced in Paris that it was sending clothes, water, Deng Reportedly Picks Moderate as His Heir Some Western analysts have said they do not expect Mr.

Jiang to last more than a year or two as party leader. Myers Vernon Hopkins Two Black Physicians Finalists for CDC Post From Page Al he said in an interview. "I'm flattered that they are considering me. I know the other two, and I think they are very good." The CDC, which has 5,700 employees and a yearly budget of $1.1 billion, is the principal federal agency for monitoring the spread of infectious diseases and promoting health measures to prevent them. The agency has been without a permanent director since mid-April, when the Senate confirmed its director, Dr.

James O. Mason, as Dr. Sullivan's assistant secretary for health. All three candidates for the job have extensive experience in public health administration. Dr.

Myers, 35, served as president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials in 1987 and has run the Indiana health department since 1985. He could not be reached for comment. i Dr. Hopkins, 47, worked at the CDC from 1967 to 1987, and served three years as the agency's deputy director. An expert in international health issues, he played a prominent role in global eradication of smallpox.

He is now in charge of efforts mounted by Global 2000, a health group sponsored by the Carter Presiden- The CDC has been without a permanent director since mid-April. All three candidates for the job have extensive experience in public health administration. From Page Al In anointing Mr. Jiang, Mr. Deng hopes to hand over power to a more mainstream leader instead of a hardliner such as Premier Li Peng.

Mr. Jiang, a cosmopolitan technocrat who speaks fluent English and Russian as well as some Japanese and Romanian, is clearly identified with the policy of economic openness to the Western world. Mr. Deng made it clear that he chose Mr. Jiang in large part because of his commitment to that policy and to continued economic restructuring.

Mr. Deng's remarks mean that Mr. Jiang is invested with far greater authority than has generally been believed. In China, experience and connections matter much more than formal position, and Mr. Jiang has been regarded as relatively weak because he is a newcomer to national politics and has a narrow power base.

Some Western analysts have said they do not expect Mr. Jiang, who was named June 24 to succeed the ousted general secretary, Zhao Ziyang, to last more than a year or two as party leader. Even with Mr. Deng's backing, Mr. Jiang faces two major challenges.

The first is to retain Mr. Deng's support, which the last two heirs apparent Mr. Zhao and the former Communist Party leader, Hu Yaobang failed to do. The second is to maintain his power when Mr. Deng dies or gives up power.

The death of Mr. Deng is almost certain to unleash a new power struggle, and Mr. Jiang may find himself outmaneuvered by those with more experience and with more friends in the army and Communist Party central apparatus. The confidential report a virtual transcript of the talks by Mr. Deng May 31 and June 16 as well as a June 9 speech that already has been published is contained in a numbered document circulated among departments of the central party organization.

Various forms of Mr. Deng's three speeches have been circulated and studied by thousands of Chinese. But the speeches were edited before being distributed and the reference to Mr. Jiang as the new heir apparently was considered too sensitive to be included in some circulated versions of the speeches. But senior party and government officials would certainly be aware of Mr.

Deng's support for Mr. Jiang. tial Center, to combat guinea worm infestation. In an interview, Dr. Hopkins said he was reluctant to take the job particularly because he has just moved from Atlanta to Chicago.

"It's just a difficult time for me," he said. "If Dr. Sullivan were to ask me, I'd have to think about it." Dr. Vernon, 50, has worked at the Colorado Health Department since 1972 and has run the agency since 1983. He is past president of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

2 Lawsuits Accuse Aetna of Conspiring to Cut Payments on Legitimate Claims ES9 said the opinions in the reviews saved Aetna money and appeared to encourage Aetna to send more cases to CCI, which earned $50 per review. But in a second affidavit, signed over Labor Day weekend at a Florida convention for chiropractors, Mr. Yocum stated that he agreed with the contents of a report he wrote for CCI on Ms. Cantrell. Sensing that the new testimony threatened his case, Mr.

Falanga, attorney for Ms. Cantrell, immediately flew to Florida to get yet another affidavit from Mr. Yocum. In that third affidavit, Mr. Yocum said, "it was virtually impossible for me to have formulated the opinions contained in the Amy Cantrell chiropractic review report" based on the one-page bill Aetna gave him.

Also this month, one of CCI's three founders, E.M. Bateson, said in an affidavit that he quit the company in 1982 because Mr. Cunningham altered his reports in order to reduce Aetna's claims exposure. Mr. Bateson is chairman of the Georgia Chiropractic Association's peer Review committee.

insurance companies across the U.S." Allegations that Aetna arbitrarily resisted paying claims come at an awkward time for the company. Aetna and other insurers are lobbying the General Assembly to restrict victims' rights to file liability lawsuits in auto accident cases. Georgia Insurance Commissioner Warren D. Evans added his support to the cause Thursday when he announced that he would ask insurers to roll back their rates by 20 percent if the General Assembly restricts eligibility to sue insurers. For Aetna and other insurers, bad faith claims and liability suits are a fact of doing business.

"There are plaintiff lawyers who make a business soliciting this business," said Jason Wright, Aetna chief of corporate communications. "It's part of the whole claims process, an unfortunate part that can get very adversarial. But we are very comfortable that we have handled the Atlanta claims completely appropriately," he said. Ms. Cantrell filed her case in 1983 after sheuffered strains in an auto accident.

She sued after Aetna From Page Al sicians are parties in the suit, it will work to our advantage." Another suit against Aetna, which Judge Cooper certified as a class action last November, charges that the company slashed chiropractic claims by citing opinions from a consultant who was not objective. The consultant, Robert E. Cunningham of Chiropractic Consultants Inc. (CCD of Marietta, consistently produced reports favorable to Aetna, according to sworn affidavits in a case filed by Amy Cantrell. One former CCI employee testified that he quit the company after his opinions were altered in Aetna's favor, while another former CCI employee said his opinions were based on insufficient information.

Harry W. Bassler, attorney for co-defendants CCI and Mr. Cunningham, declined to comment. "It's a massive sham on the consuming public," said Robert A Fa-langa, attorney for Ms. Cantrell.

"It's not just Aetna though. Many compares were using CI. Cunningham wrote reports for over 130 lead attorney. His successor, Thomas Carlock, left the case last month. Since then Aetna has hired two other local law firms, including one headed by Atlanta City Council President Marvin S.

Arrington. The legal team's immediate goals are to convince Judge Cooper to end the $1,000 a day fine in the Fried case and to decertify the Cantrell case as a class action. Judge Cooper issued an order Sept. 6 which denied an earlier request to cut off the fine. Aetna has asked him to reconsider.

"The documents already produced are all the non-privileged documents that Aetna can locate Aetna attorney H. Lamar Mixson said in a Sept. 12 letter to Judge Cooper. Meanwhile, Aetna provided a surprise in the Cantrell case last week when it provided an affidavit from a key witness that undercut his previous testimony. The witness, Paul J.

Yocum, a former CCI employee, said in a 1987 affidavit that CCI reports would "either cut the chiropractic bills, alter chiropractic treatment programs or advise Aetnal to cease payment for chiropractic services." Mr. Yocum that he decertify the Cantrell case as a class action. The class includes an undetermined number of people who were denied reimbursement based on CCI opinions. An attorney for Aetna estimated that about 300 people qualify. Mr.

Falanga estimated that the figure is much higher. The Fried case was filed in 1986 after Aetna refused to reimburse Dr. Fried $2,100 for medical treatment he provided a patient hurt in an auto accident. "Dr. Fried took an assignment of benefits from his patient for humanitarian reasons," Dr.

Fried's attorney, Larry H. Chesin, said Wednesday. "Then he told Aetna he'd sue if they didn't pay him." Judge Cooper ruled Aetna liable for the $2,100 earlier this year after the company didn't oppose Mr. Che-sin's request that the judge do so. Mr.

Chesin said the case is headed for a jury trial later this year to determine punitive damages against the company. In the midst of the controversy over Aetna's handling of the initial documents request, William L. Spearman, retired as the company's Judge Clarence Cooper ordered the company to pay a $1 fine for withholding documents. denied $593 of her claim for treatment by a chiropractor based on a CCI review. Judge Coaper is expected to rule this month on Aetna's request.