Faculty Bibliography

The interviews follow a new wave of conspiracy charges raised by Oliver Stone's movie 'JFK' and a book, 'J.F.K. Conspiracy of Silence' (Signet, 1992) by Dr. Charles A. Crenshaw, who was a junior member of the team that tried to save Kennedy's life at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. Among Crenshaw's charges is that the bullets struck Kennedy from the front, that Kennedy's wounds were altered between the time his body left the hospital in Dallas and the autopsy in Bethesda and that his body was received in Bethesda in a body bag, not a coffin. The pathologists said they were not aware of Crenshaw's book at the time of the interviews. Speaking to Crenshaw's charge that Kennedy's body arrived in a bag, [James J. Humes] said that he and [J. Thornton Boswell] lifted Kennedy's body from the coffin directly onto the examining table

The interviews follow a new wave of conspiracy charges raised by Oliver Stone's movie JFK and a book, J.F.K. Conspiracy of Silence by Dr. Charles A. Crenshaw, who was a junior member of the team that tried to save Kennedy's life at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963. The pathologists, Dr. James Humes and Dr. Thornton Boswell, said there was no doubt about the nature of the gunshot wounds and denied that there had been any interference from military or political officials, a major contention of conspiracy theorists

Federal health officials reported on May 14, 1992 that no new cases of patients being infected with the AIDS virus by health care workers were found in tests of more than 15,000 people. The sole known case of such a transmission remains a dentist, David Acer, who reportedly infected five patients

The only known such transmission of HIV, the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome, is in five previously reported cases in the practice of a Florida dentist, Dr. David J. Acer of Stuart, who died of AIDS. The controversy also led health officials to review test results of 15,795 patients who were treated by 32 HIV-infected health-care workers. No infected patients were found in the practices of 23 of the 32. They were 11 dentists or dental students; six surgeons and obstetricians, and six other physicians in various nonsurgical specialties. Because the dentist died before scientists could do genetic studies on his HIV, there is no way to know for sure whether any of the 35 were infected by the dentist, said Dr. James Curran, an AIDS expert at the Centers for Disease Control

Hours passed in the coronary care unit. Dr. [Franklin K. Yee]'s abdomen felt bloated and the pain began shifting into the lower right area. Dr. Yee used his hands to examine himself the way he would a patient. He pressed hard with his fingers and let go quickly. It was painful. The symptoms and signs pointed to appendicitis, Dr. Yee said, although he also knew his white blood count was not elevated, as it usually is with appendicitis. Meanwhile, Dr. Yee's son, Laurence, had rushed from San Francisco, where he is a surgeon-in-training, to visit his ailing father. Dr. Yee had anticipated teaching his son how to examine a patient with atypical signs of appendicitis, he said, but 'I never expected to be that patient.' Now, the senior Dr. Yee asked his son to examine him. When he was through, the young doctor said: 'Dad, you're right, you have acute appendicitis.' Monday morning, after a sleepless weekend punctuated by repeated checks of his blood pressure, temperature and other signs, Dr. Yee's cardiologist told him his heart 'checked out great.' But just to be sure he wanted Dr. Yee to do a treadmill exercise test. Dr. Yee objected. 'My abdomen hurts too much,' he said. 'I don't think I could do it right now. Could you wait?'

Federal health officials on Apr 30, 1992 announced a wide-ranging plan to fight the increasingly deadly tuberculosis epidemic in the US, including a strengthening of efforts for notification about newly arrived infected aliens and the creation of new laws to detain, quarantine and care for people who refuse to comply with standard measures of treatment

In reporting the plan, federal officials said they still believed they could meet the goal of eliminating tuberculosis from the United States by the year 2010. But that goal has been jeopardized by the emergence of strains of the tubercle bacterium that have become resistant to standard anti-tuberculosis drugs. Tuberculosis experts say that drug-resistant tuberculosis strains have often developed when patients stop taking medication midway through their therapy. Although the overwhelming majority of new cases of tuberculosis are caused by strains of the bacterium susceptible to drug treatment, health officials fear that without aggressive immediate action the drug-resistant strains could gain a major foothold

American health officials said on Apr 27, 1992 that the drug interferon alpha, also known as Kemron, which African researchers said had shown striking results as an AIDS treatment, is not effective and is not recommended for people infected with HIV

Mr. [Paul E. Tsongas] and his doctors could have summarized the 15 or so volumes of his medical records and issued a document to serve as a standard reference. But Tak Takvorian, Mr. Tsongas's personal doctor, said a one-and-a-half-page summary of Mr. Tsongas's complicated case that he prepared for the campaign was not released. Mr. Tsongas said he did not know why the summary had not been made public. Dr. Takvorian said his team told Mr. Tsongas that it was cancer. But the numerous accounts of Mr. Tsongas's case make it unclear what the doctors actually told him and what he heard them say. In interviews, Mr. Tsongas said the additional radiation treatment was a preventive measure and that he did not remember being told the node was cancerous. Such confidentiality is designed to protect patients, not doctors. On broader terms, the Tsongas story raises questions about the credibility of doctors in dealing with cancer patients. Instead of helping Mr. Tsongas battle job discrimination as a cancer survivor, the [Dana-Farber] officials have added to it. Mr. Tsongas might have been better off if had he been able to follow the example of [Franklin D. Roosevelt]

Yesterday, Gina Vild, a spokeswoman for [Dana-Farber], said that doctors detected the lymph node about four months after the transplant and watched it until a biopsy was done. The pathologist's report, dated July 15, 1987, said the node was 'non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, nodular and diffuse, poorly differentiated lymphocytic type, or small cleaved follicular center cell type.' Dana-Farber issued a news release yesterday saying that the facts about Mr. [Paul E. Tsongas]'s case were 'previously on the record.' But previous reports did not say the lymph node was a lymphoma, only that there were suspicious or potentially cancerous cells. He also said that his request may set a precedent that could make some doctors 'uncomfortable.' But he added, 'There will be no other way to lay this matter to rest.'