Faculty Bibliography

Yasser Arafat's medical records from the French military hospital where he died in November, which have been held in secrecy, reveal that he died of a stroke that resulted from a bleeding disorder caused by an unknown infection. A first independent review of the records, obtained by The New York Times, shows that despite extensive testing, his doctors could not determine the underlying disease that killed him. But the records dispel one significant and widespread rumor that Arafat died of AIDS. The course of his illness and pattern of his symptoms make AIDS highly unlikely, according to independent experts who have reviewed the records at the request of The Times. They also suggest that poisoning was highly unlikely, although senior Palestinian officials continue to allege that Arafat, who died Nov. 11 at age 75 after an illness lasting a month, was indeed poisoned. The records also indicate that Arafat did not receive antibiotics until Oct. 27, or 15 days after the onset of his illness, which was originally diagnosed as a flu. That was only two days before he was transferred to the Percy Military Training Hospital in Clamart, outside Paris, and it was probably too late to save him, according to the Israeli and American medical experts consulted by The Times, who agreed to review the records on condition that they not be identified by name. The specialists have no prior connection to the case. Israelis note that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon saw Arafat as a terrorist and an obstacle to peace, and had been on record as favoring his elimination. In 2002, Sharon told the newspaper Maariv that he regretted not 'eliminating' Arafat in 1982, during the Lebanese war. Arafat's death would have saved many lives, Sharon said, 'but we had a commitment' not to harm him, 'and commitments must be honored.' He also said then that 'we have no intention of harming Arafat personally.' Uri Dan, a Sharon confidant, wrote in November 2004 that he remembered meetings in 1982 held by Sharon, then defense minister, in his Tel Aviv office 'in which he asked the heads of the Mossad when they would finally carry out Prime Minister Menachem Begin's order to eliminate Arafat.' In September 2003, Sharon's vice prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said of Arafat that 'killing him is definitely one of the options.' He added: 'We are trying to eliminate all the heads of terror, and Arafat is one of the heads of terror.' There have been reports in the Israeli press of a secret cabinet decision made in late 2003 to eliminate Arafat, which Dan describes as 'a deliberately vaguely worded decision to remove Arafat, since he was an obstacle to peace.' Officials have hinted that operational plans were drawn up to eliminate Arafat, although they say no action was taken

The Ramallah doctors initially thought Arafat had ''a flu.'' His own physician, Dr. Kurdi, was not allowed to come to Ramallah until Oct. 28, the day before Mr. Arafat was evacuated to Paris, an indication of the war over Arafat's care between Suha Arafat and his closest political colleagues, which continued until his death, and afterward. Israelis note that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon saw Arafat as a terrorist and an obstacle to peace. In 2002 Mr. Sharon told the newspaper Maariv that he regretted not ''eliminating'' Arafat in 1982, during the Lebanese war. Arafat's death would have saved many lives, Mr. Sharon said, ''but we had a commitment'' not to harm him, ''and commitments must be honored.'' The French records say Arafat died of natural causes. And Israel denies it had anything to do with Arafat's illness or death. On Wednesday a senior Sharon aide, Raanan Gissin, repeated the denial and pointed out that Mr. Sharon offered any medical help necessary last October to care for Arafat, allowed doctors to visit him and allowed him to seek medical care abroad

[Jeanna Giese] told her pediatrician, Dr. Howard Dhonau, about the bat shortly before she left Fond du Lac, Dr. [Rodney E. Willoughby Jr.] said. Dr. Dhonau passed on the information to Children's Hospital, where Dr. Willoughby initially was skeptical about the possibility that she had rabies, a viral disease, largely because it is so rare in the United States. From his search of scientific articles and telephone discussions with the diseases centers, Dr. Willoughby said he learned that only five patients had recovered from rabies and that all had received rabies shots. No one who had not been immunized, as was Jeanna's case, had survived. Dr. Willoughby learned that laboratory researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Paris had shown that an anesthetic, ketamine, was active against the bullet-shaped rabies virus. So Dr. Willoughby proposed giving Jeanna ketamine to induce a deep coma and midazolam, a sedative, to prevent hallucinations

Chief Justice [William Rehnquist] leaves his home in Arlington, Va., on Friday. Rehnquist remained at work in his chambers at the court Friday, as he has every day since the court finished its term and began its summer recess. J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dr. Leonard Wartofsky, chairman of the department of medicine at Washington Hospital Center, said that he was 'surprised Mr. [William Rehnquist] has done so well.' Wartofsky, a thyroid cancer specialist, said the chief justice's case was 'a big topic' among thyroid experts. 'It's on people's minds' and 'we talk,' he said

[Jeanna Giese] told her pediatrician, Dr. Howard Dhonau, about the bat shortly before she left Fond du Lac, Dr. Willoughby said. Dr. Dhonau passed on the information to Children's Hospital, where Dr. Willoughby initially was skeptical about the possibility that she had rabies, largely because it is so rare. He learned that laboratory researchers at the Pasteur Institute in Paris had shown that an anesthetic, ketamine, was active against the rabies virus. So Dr. Willoughby proposed giving Jeanna ketamine to induce a deep coma and midazolam, a sedative, to prevent hallucinations. Colour Photo: Rick Wood, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Jeanna Giese greets Dr. Rodney Willoughby Jr. The two made medical history when Jeanna contracted rabies from ...; Colour Photo: ...a bat bite and survived -- the first time anyone has lived through the rare illness without vaccination -- thanks to Willoughby's radical treatment involving a drug regimen that put Jeanna into a coma for a week

The booster vaccine for whooping cough, or pertussis, is needed because immunity to it wanes 5 to 10 years after the initial vaccination. But an additional shot will not be needed because the new vaccine would be part of a booster routinely given for diphtheria and tetanus. Many hospitals stopped administering the vaccine because of a controversy over the use of thimerosal, which critics contend causes autism. Health officials say there is no evidence to support the contention. Thimerosal was eliminated from hepatitis B vaccines in 2000, but hospitals have been slow to reinstate orders to administer the vaccine to newborns, said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University. The panel rejected adding a routine second dose of chickenpox vaccine for children 4 to 6 years old. The cost, the feasibility of delivering the vaccine to such a large population and the lack of persuasive data about how long immunity of a second dose lasts were cited as reasons

The authors of the new studies, Dr. Robert Rector, a senior research fellow in policy studies at the foundation, and Dr. Kirk A. Johnson, a senior policy analyst there, said their findings contradicted those published in March in The Journal of Adolescent Health by Dr. Peter Bearman, the chairman of the sociology department at Columbia University, and Hannah Bruckner of Yale University. The earlier study found that a majority of teenagers who took the pledge did not live up to their promises and developed sexually transmitted diseases about the same rate as adolescents who had not made such pledges. It also found that the promise did tend to delay the start of intercourse by 18 months. Dr. Bearman said: ''Our analyses showed that pledgers are less likely to get tested for S.T.D.'s, be diagnosed as having an S.T.D. and to see a doctor because they are worried about having an S.T.D. Most S.T.D. infections are asymptomatic, and therefore, people don't know that they have an S.T.D. unless they get tested. The use of self-report data for S.T.D.'s is therefore extremely problematic.''

The agency said that about one-quarter of those with H.I.V. did not know they were infected because they had not been tested, limiting the number of H.I.V.-positive Americans whose lives might be extended by the use of newer and more effective drugs. C.D.C. officials said that some prevention programs were substantially reducing sexual risk behavior among people with H.I.V. and those at risk for the infection. Also, H.I.V. diagnoses have steadily declined among adolescent and young adult women in all ethnic groups. Leaders of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, the Community H.I.V./AIDS Mobilization Project and other groups advocating for people with AIDS blamed the government for the increase, citing long-term underfinancing for efforts to prevent and treat H.I.V