Capsules

P: Laura MacDanald, aged 20 months, left hospital in Darby, Pa. in good condition after a unique operation to combat the ravages of acute leukemia, which threatened her with early death. Laura is one of identical twins. When her disease became resistant to drug treatment, doctors gave her a massive dose of whole-body X rays to destroy bone marrow that was making abnormal blood cells, then took 40 cc. of marrow fluid (containing an estimated 2 billion healthy cells) from twin Mary, injected the material into Laura's bloodstream. Though pleased that Laura's blood returned to near normal and she soon showed no signs of active leukemia, the doctors refused to predict how long the improvement might last. P: Psychiatrists who seek membership in the powerful American Psychoanalytic Association must first be analyzed themselves, according to the rule laid down by Freud (who analyzed himself). For years many psychiatrists have deducted the cost of such analysis as a business expense against federal income tax. Now the Internal Revenue Service has cracked down, holding that the membership is sought for prestige, is therefore no proper business expense. Two psychiatrists are suing to have their right of deduction confirmed, arguing that to carry on his profession, an analytic psychiatrist needs a higher degree of mental health than other men. If the Revenue Service will not come around to allowing deduction of the full cost as a business expense, analysts in the making might still settle for treating their analysis bills as medical expenses, thus charging off some portion. P: Two Kansans filed suit against medical laboratories and highway patrolmen for damages in return for small blood samples (less than two teaspoonfuls) taken from them to test their sobriety after highway accidents. Fred Pfizenmaier, 50, of Clay Center, asked $10,000 for his blood, which tested at 185 mg. of alcohol in 100 cc. of blood (150 mg. being the legal intoxication line). But Alva Nichols, 41, of Eldorado, wanted $75,000 for his sample, which tested at a riotously drunk 285 mg. after a three-car crash in which one man was killed. Purpose of the suits: to test Kansas' law which says that anybody driving on the state's highways is presumed to have given his consent to a post-accident blood test.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.