Daily Republican-Register from Mount Carmel, Illinois • 6

rt Page Six Daily Republican-Register, Mt. Carmel, Illinois Friday, October 17, 1 986 Major MD breakthrough made NEW YORK (UPI)-The discovery of the gene that causes the most common" and severe form of muscular dystrophy was hailed as a major step in understanding and possibly finding a way to treat the muscle-wasting disease. A research team headed by Dr. Louis Kunkel at the Harvard Medical School, reporting Wednesday in the British science journal Nature, said it had identified the gene responsible for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The Muscular Dystrophy Association called the discoverv a "monumenta' breakthrough" that ma someday lead to a treatment for Duchenne's, which almost always strikes boys between the ages of 2 and 5.

There is no known cure and few patients survive past their early 20s. "This is the most important thing in the history of muscle disease," said Dr. Lewis Rowland, a prominent neurologist at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center who was not associated with the discovery. "They have taken a disease to which we had no clue to thf ransp and discovered the gene that is Wood, a researcher for the Muscular Dystrophy Association. "Now we have something very tangible to work with, for Duchenne's and perhaps for other forms," Wood said.

Kunkel, a pediatrician, said in a telephone interview that he and his associates found the gene on the male chromosome after' studying the chromosomes of boys and the only six girls known to have the disease. He said the girls all had chromosome damage in the same area, indicating that was where the gene would be located. responsible for it. There are 12 types of muscular dystrophy, all inherited, of which Duchenne's is most common, striking an estimated one out of every 3,300 boys. Researchers said1 the genes for the other forms of muscular dystrophy may be located soon.

So little is known about muscular dystrophy that until now, research had consisted of giving chickens with the disease hundreds of different drugs to see if one of them would work. They never did, said Donald a 5 ''i WAVE awards for Perfect Attendance SOVietS free David GOldtaro presented the awardsrSecond row, from left, are: Greg Bender. Dick Lamper. Bill Morris. John Sulzer.

Tony Lawrence. Linda Goodson. Steve Fisher. Sheila Kimbrel, and Patty Soauldmg. (Staff photo by Jeff Tarr) NEW YORK (UPI) reporter Nicholas Daniloff, David Goldfarb, the ailing said the sudden Soviet deci- Jewish refusenik who two sion to release him was years ago rejected a KGB nothing short of a miracle, offer of freedom in ex- Goldfarb, 67, and his wife, change for framing U.S.

Cecilia, were turned over in Wabash Area Vocational Enterprises gave perfect attendance awards to several workshop clients. In front row. from left." are: Mary Morns. Francis Scott. Phillip Keepes.

Donovan Storckman. and WAVE Board President Bob Fearheil.ey who Malpractice suits effect research CHICAGO (UPI) An leg fighting the Germans at Stalingrad during World War II, left a daughter and other relatives behind in Russia. "There is no complete happiness without misfortune, and no luck without problems," said Goldfarb, translated by his son, Alex. "The problem is that I left behind in Moscow my daughter and her family." Goldfarb was admitted to New York's Columbia Presbyterian Hospital after a private reunion with Daniloff, who said the release was "a very positive step" and called Goldfarb "one of the most admirable men I have ever -known." At the hospital, Dr. Kenneth Prager said Goldfarb has "multiple medical Moscow to American industrialist Armand Hammer Thursday and flown to the United States aboard Hammer's jet.

Goldfarb was then hospitalized for treatment of the diabetes that recently nearly cost him his remaining leg. "Yesterday, a miracle happened," Goldfarb said in Russian while propped up on a stretcher at Newark International Airport in New Jersey. "What was not possible for me for eight years happened yesterday when Dr. Hammer came to my Moscow hospital and said, 'Tomorrow I'm going to take you to the United he said. "Everything happened just as he said.

Now we are here. Goldfarb, who lost his left projection we have is it will jump 20 to 30 percent a year for the foreseeaWe future." As a result, many qualified doctors, particularly in obstetrics and gynecology, are leaving the field or refusing to treat pa-tients with certain disorders, Todd said. Lawsuits, rather than eliminating incompetency, are making quality care more expensive and more difficult to obtain. "All the evidence shows it is not the incompetent doc-t- who gets sued." hp said tors have no merit once investigated," he said. "There's an expectation in the part of the public that we're perfect and that anything less than perfection is negligence; and it's not." Todd said he would like to see a panel of professionals screen every lawsuit to decide its merits before sut mitting it to' a jury.

Such a panel could eliminate frivolous lawsuits while clarifying complicated medical issues. "No kid who bangs his head after falling off a bicycle can get out of an emergency room without having skull X-rays, and in many, many cases, they're simply not necessary," Todd said. "The same goes for electrocardiograms and any number of other tests." Despite such defensive measures, malpractice insurance premiums have continued to soar, Todd said 236 percent in the past decade, 44 percent in the last two years and "every "It's the top grade doctor at the height of his career who's caring for very ill pa-'tients and using frontier technology. He's the one who gets sued. "This is having a chilling effect on the use of new technology with uncertain results; an absolutely chilling effect." Legal reform, and a change in public attitude, is needed to avert a health crisis, Todd said.

"Better than 50 percent of the cases filed against doc decisions. Todd, in an article in the AMA's journal, outlined the impact malpractice suits were having on the medical profession and exhorted fellow physicians to modify their behavior "so as to avoid both the appearance and the reality of liability." Unfortunately, Todd said 'in an interview, avoiding the appearance of liability often involves practicing defensive medicine, performing unnecessary tests that add little to quality of care but approximately $15 billion a year to health care costs. explosion of malpractice suits is having "an absolutely chilling effect" on medical advances and may limit availability of most types of health care in the future, an American Medical Association official said Thursday. Dr. James S.

Todd, the AMA's senior deputy executive vice president, said Americans need to readjust their expectations of what doctors can and cannot do, and the legal system must be changed so uninformed jurors are not expected to make sophisticated medical ELECTION NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that at the general election to be held on Tuesday, the 4th day of November, 1986, the following question will be submitted to the electors of the City of Mt. Carmel, Wabash County, PHS orders halt to import tires ATLANTA (UPI) The from Japan to Seattle. Tiger ELECTION NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that at the general election to be held on Tuesday, the 4th dav of November. 1986. the following question will be submitted to the electors of the City ol Mt.

Carmel. Wabash County. Shall the City of Mt. Carmel, Wabash YES County, Illinois become a home rule unit rcnont in Sorlinn 6 of Article VII of the NO Constitution of the State of Illinois? Shall the City ol Mt. Carmel, Wabash YES County.

Illinois acquire the electric and gas system of the Mt. Carmel Public Utility NO known carrier of the encephalitis virus, as well as yellow and dengue fever. "We are facing a real problem as to what to do about tire imports until we find an effective way of treating them," said Dr. Thomas Monath, a viral disease specialist at the national Centers for Disease Control. -Monath said the hold order on imported used tires was issued late last week after health inspectors early this month checked 2,613 tires shipped The polls at said election will be open at 6:00 o'clock A.M.

and continued open until 7:00 o'clock P.M. of that day. DATED this 6th day of October, 1 986. Joan E. Wolfe, County Clerk, ThontjonWaMhJI Public Health Service has ordered a hold on all shipments of used tires into the country in an effort to keep out the disease-carrying Asian tiger mosquito, federal health officials said Thursday.

Water collecting in used tires stored outdoors is one of the favorite breeding place for the tiger mosquito, which earns its name from its distinctive markings, Monathsaid. The-tiger mosauito is a up in Harris County, Texas, in August 1985. Soon thereafter, the mosquito was found in several Southern states, then into Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Arkansas and Ohio, the CDS said. Health officials are concerned about the spread of. the mosquito to the five states because it is an area in which California encephalitis is known to be endemic.

"We're, quite. CQncernecL, that the presence of the tigermosquito will increase the risk of exposure with the, "California encephalitis" viruses," said Monath. mosquito larvae was found in 11 tires. He said no imported used tires can be released "until we determine whether they are infested." Of the 3.2 million used tires imported last year, 88 percent came from Asian countries with tiger mosquito populations. The tires, mostly for trucks, are recapped in this country, and sold.

Health officials believe the tiger mosquito was introduced into the United States from a shipment of" used Asian tires that ended The polls at said election will be open at 6:00 o'clock A.M. and continued open until 7:00 o'clock P.M. of that day. DATED this 6th day of October, 1986. Joan E.

Wolfe. County Clerk. The County of Wabash. Illinois ELECTION NOTICE NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that at the general election to be held on. Tuesday, the 4th day of November, 1986, the following question will be submitted to the electors of the City of Mt.

Carmel, Wabash County, CITY OF MT. CARMEL MT. CARMEL PUBLIC LIBRARY Red Tide spreads Proposition to increase the tax rate. The approximate amount of taxes extendi Wabash Valley Arts Council proudly presents Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra ble under the maximum rate now in force (.15) is the sum of $55,372.43. The ap proximate amount ot taxes extendible under the proposed increased rate (.25) would be $92,287.40.

Shall the Annual Library Tax for maintenance and operation in the City of Mt. Carmel, Illinois be increased from .15 to YES NO officials in flying the length of the coast. Stanley said late Thursday that flights showed the tide, discovered in late August near Freeport, had spread 300 miles to the Rio Grande and extended as far as 18 miles into the Gulf of Mexico. Wildlife officials say the toxins have killed "hundreds of thousands of fish," and said the organisms were thriving in the bright sunshine. The polls at said election will be open at 6:00 o'clock A.M.

and continued open until 7:00 o'clock P.M. of that day. DATED this 6th day of October, 1986. Joan E. Wolfe, County Clerk, The County of Wabash, Illinois DONT MISS THIS SPECIAL HALLOWEEN TREAT! Mcdonald's 1 Halloween Pumpkin HAPPY MEAL Starts Oct.

17 3:00, Sunday, October 26 Brubeck Arts Center SOUTH PADRE Texas (UPI) Blooming rapidly in the sunshine, the worst toxic red tide in Texas history pushed to the Mexican border, killing thousands more fish and spewing acrid fumes that closed miles of beaches. The tide, which looks like brake fluid, was spotted Thursday near the mouth of the Rio Grande at the Mexican border, meaning it has spread 100 miles south this week and covers 300 miles of the Texas coast, south of Freeport. Seventy miles of the state's coast have escaped the plague. "It's all over the island. Have you ever smelled ammonia?" said police chief Edward Sanders in South Padre Island, just north of the Rio Grande.

"You take a breath, and it stops in the middle of your throat, then you goto coughing." The red tide is produced by billions of dynaflagellate organisms that reproduce rapidly in warm water, bloom and die, releasing toxins that kill fish and cause red eyes, runny noses and respiratory problems in humans. Because of the tide, federal officials Thursday closed 63 miles of the Padre Island National Seashore. In Corpus Christi, 100 miles north of South Padre Island, city officials closed public beaches Wednesday. The Texas Health Department extended to the Rio Grande its ban on harvesting oysters, clams and mussels, which store the toxins in their systems. Sanders said there were no contingency plans on the island other than to warn people with respiratory problems.

"But I don't think you'll have to tell them, because if they go down on the beach, they'll leave quickly," he said. Several people reported becoming ill from the fumes on South Padre Island, and Sanders said several beach- Ers reported flat tires running over the dead littering the coast. "Wait until they hit a 200-pound tarpon like we've seen," said, field in-vestigatoiTTBudHy Stanley, whose Water Commission inspectors joined Texas Parks and wildlife Wabash Valley College Mt. Carmel, Illinois McBoof McGoblin and McPunk'n. Three different Halloween pumpkins.

Get one with each Happy Meal They're perfect tor carrying all your trick-or-treat treasures. In honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Security Bank and Trust a reception in the Brubeck Art Gallery will immediately follow the concert. HURRY. COLLECT ALL THREE PUMPKINS WHILE THEY LAST! AT PARTICIPATING McDONALD'S. Tickets $5.00 Patron Passes Honored McDonald McDonald I I Ij 1986 McDonald' Corporation McO H86-O04 FC 932-430 Printed in United States ol America Princeton Mf.

Carmel Tickets are available through the WVC Office of Community Services or at Roberts Jewelry, 422 Market in Mt. Carmel. The Performing Arts Series is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and the National Endowment For The Arts. Locally owned operated by Mel Anna Justak and their friendly staff i.