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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 1980)
Page 6 THE BATTALION WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1980 Venom treatment possible forarthriti : United Press International ATLANTA, Ga. — The govern ment is considering a request to test for the first time a controversial snake venom treatment for two in curable diseases — arthritis and mul tiple sclerosis. Dr. Frederic C. McDuffie, senior vice president for medical affairs for the Arthritis Foundation, said a qual ified physician has been identified to perform the tests on a group of pa tients with rheumatoid arthritis “if funds for necessary laboratory tests are provided and drug approval com es through.” McDuffie also said medical au thorities from the Food and Drug Administration, the Arthritis Found ation and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society plan to meet soon to work out details for the testing. The snake venom treatments, which use venom from two poiso nous Asian snakes — the cobra and the krait — are available only in Flor ida because of restrictions imposed by the FDA. The foundation said controlled sci entific trials have not been con ducted on the treatments. Patient testimonials, however, have gained extensive publicity. One out of every seven Americans has arthritis and the foundation says a million new victims are added each year. Sufferers of these crippling ail ments include 250,000 children. McDuffie s comments were car- Man indicted for sex abuse United Press International HOUSTON — A former chil dren’s home manager, against whom homosexual child abuse charges were dropped two weeks ago, has been indicted on new charges of compelling child prostitution. Robert Cuellar, former supervisor of the Harris County Burnett- Bayland Home for Children, was in dicted on the new charges last week but the indictments were withheld until Monday. Prosecutor Chuck Rosenthal said the first charges — 14 counts of sex ual activity with boys aged 14 to 16 — were dropped because of weaknes ses in stories told by teen-age com- plaintants and, in one instance, be cause a boy disappeared. Rosenthal said the two new child prostitution charges arose from some of the same alleged incidents. Parents to get $ settlement in son's death United Press International AUSTIN — The Texas Depart ment of Mental Health and Mental Retardation will pay $75,000 to the Family of an autistic youth who died at Austin State Hospital, lawyers Familiar with the case said. The MHMR Department also has agreed to revise its rules for the treatment of autistic patients, said Mack Kidd, attorney for the family of Michael Shipley, 16. Shipley died at the state hospital in July while re ceiving heavy doses of tranquilizers. Shipley had been in the ste hospit al since November, 1976. An auto psy determined he died from swal lowing his own vomit and from heart Failure. An investigation determined the boy also received insufficient atten tion by medical personnel, that he was given Thorazine in amounts above those recommended, and that the department had a general inabil ity to care for autistic patients. Attorney General Mark White de clined to confirm the cash settlement reportedly agreed to by the state and attorneys for the Shipley family. “There have been some offers made, but no settlement reached,” White said. “But I’m not saying that that dollar amount is inaccurate.” One participant in the negotia tions said MHMR agreed to the set tlement to avoid a court battle. “I think that the state preferred to pay the money and correct condi tions than have us file a major lawsuit protesting treatment throughout the entire system,” said Dayle Bebee, executive director of Advocacy Inc., a federally-funded organization cam paigning for rights of the hand icapped. The agreed settlement in the case is expected to incorporate many of the recommendations of the MHMR investigation into the boy’s death, including increased staff-to-patient ratios and stringent guidelines for the use of drugs. The proposed agreement will be presented to the MHMR board when it meets Friday. Energy talks in Kingsville United Press International AUSTIN — Representatives of >oth government and industry in the Jnited States and Mexico will parti cipate in an International Confer ence on Energy Thursday and Fri- lay at Texas A&I University in •Cingsville. Dr. Duane M. Leach, president of Texas A&I, told a news conference at he Capitol Tuesday more than 100 Vfexican representatives were ex acted for the two-day seminar to liscuss energy problems common to )oth countries. Speakers for the conference will nclude Robert Krueger, ambassa- lor-at-large and U.S. Coordinator or Mexican Affairs; Dr. Charles rCbinger, director of the program on energy National Security; G. Dan lambo of the regional Department >f Energy office in Dallas, and rederico Price of Monterrey, Mex- eo. Texas Railroad Commissioner vlack Wallace also is to speak, along vith Carlos Castillo of Pemex, the vlexican national oil company. The conference is sponsored by Texas A&I, Institute Tecnologico y le Eustudios Superiores de Monter ey, and the Texas Good Neighbor Commission. ried in the inaugural issue of the foundation’s new quarterly news paper, “The National Arthritis News.” The publication said the venom treatments for arthritis and multiple sclerosis were provided by two physicians, Dr. Ben J. Shepard, 77, a general practitioner who operates a clinic in Miami, and Dr. Murray Sanders of Boca Raton, Fla. The venom is supplied by William Haast, whose Serpentarium is a Miami tourist attraction. According to the foundation news paper, both doctors were offering varieties of the cobra venom treat ment to sufferers of arthritis, multi ple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Haast and Sheppard applied in August 1979 for approval of the venom treatments as an “investiga tional new drug.” Hearings on the application were held in Washington in November and the FDA is now considering authorizing tests of the drug. The foundation publication said the venom treatments may not be completely harmless. “Doctors Sheppard and Sanders have not performed scientifically- valid tests to prove their effective ness, and manufacturing methods used to produce the venom, accord ing to inspection reports issued by the FDA, are questionable.’’ The dramatic improvement t by some recipients of the venomj not be an improvement at i the foundation, but rathera remission of the disease. Foundation spokesmen! however, medical authorities \ tate to discount the possibilihj cobra venom may provide a pole remedy for some forms of the q pling diseases. NEW LOW PRICES SAFEWAY 1 <5 Open 24 HOURS EVERYDAY! Express Checkstand Open 'til Midnight! Limit 1 with *10.00 purchase or more, less beer, wine or tobaccos. Town House Sugar §8 5 Lb. Bag Scotch Buy ] flVIrs. Wrighfs Biscuit Mix DiP Ccike Mixes (Except Pudding Mixes) Treat yourself this week to extra savings with our own Safeway Brand products, the top of our line, equal to or some times better than comparable national brand products. And, generally cost you less! Look for the red ($) on the label, on such products as Town House, Manor House, Bel-Air, Mrs. Wright's, White Magic and many more! It's your assurance of getting our finest quality! Scotch Buy Soft Spread Lucerne * rc.’T.j Yogurt Fruit on the bottom or Pre-stirred V2% Lowfat MILK Scotch Buy Paper Towels © 125 Ct. .... 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