The Battalion
STATE & LOCAL
7
Monday, November 13,1989
Caperton clarifies laws, medicine
By Juliette Rizzo
Of The Battalion Staff
Although the fields of law and
medicine may seem unrelated, law
yers and doctors frequently have to
interact with one another.
State Sen. Kent Caperton, D-
Bryan, took a break from politics last
week to inform students in Medical
Humanities 91 1 in the Texas A&M
College of Medicine of some of the
ways the fields relate directly to each
other.
“All too often it is believed that
the relationship between law and
medicine is purely adversarial,” Ca
perton said. “To an extent it is but
not to the extent that you (students)
as doctors should be fearful of law
yers.”
He went on to clarify to the stu
dents that medical malpractice liti
gation is real, but fear of this should
not inhibit their desire to practice in
the field.
Students should not fall prey to
the myths and “scare stories” that
surround the two fields, Caperton
said.
“The courts sometimes act upon
horror stories involving medical
malpractice but sometimes the cases
are dismissed,” he said. “Do not be
lieve all you read.”
As a practicing lawyer since 1975.,
Caperton said he has directly dealt
Kent Caperton
with only one medical malpractice
suit. In the case in point, the jury
found the doctor not guilty of neg
ligence and therefore not account
able when a young boy developed a
pulmonary embolism which resulted
in death.
The idea that a person can waltz
into a court room and say “the doc
tor did it, pay me” is a misconcep
tion, he said. In a case such as the
one just mentioned, the plaintiff
must have sufficient elements of
proof that the doctor’s failure to use
ordinary care was blatant and that it
was foreseeable that a deviation
from ordinary care caused injury or
death.
Caperton said doctors are held ac
countable in a situation where they
fail to use ordinary care. The situa
tion is the same as when a driver who
fails to use ordinary care and causes
an accident is held accountable those
who are hurt as a result of his neg
ligent actions.
Caperton, a senator in the state’s
fifth district, which includes Bryan-
College Station, said tort reform in
the area of medical malpractice is
hard on the legislature.
Landmark legislation in the area
of health care was introduced dur
ing the last session of the Texas leg
islature, Caperton said. It was pro
posed to the House that a doctor
should be held accountable in a mal
practice situation only if the doctor is
found quilty of gross negligence.
Caperton said he felt this was a
contradiction of terms because it
stated that it was OK for a doctor to
be negligent as long as he wasn’t
grossly negligent. This proposition
did not become law but a new tort
reform was voted into effect that did
away with traveling testifiers or
“hired guns.” Now only expert wit
nesses can testify on the behalf of the
injured party.
The courts also made it clear to ju
ries that finding evidence of neg
ligence should not be based solely on
finding bad results, he said.
“People die despite the best medi
cal efforts,” Caperton said. “Now ju
ries are told evidence of a bad result
is not evidence of negligence.”
Another major philosophical hur
dle in medical policy change came
about in the area of damages, he
said. If a doctor devotes 10 percent
of his time to charity patients, the
state of Texas will pay the first
$100,000 of any judgment against
the health-care provider.
Although these changes in the
constitution are beneficial to doc
tors, there are some proposed
changes Caperton does not feel
strongly about. He believes the limit
on the amount of damages the in
jured party can recover should be
left up to the jury. The legislature
cannot abridge one’s right to seek re
medies through the system, he said.
Caperton said the national health
care debate is on-going in Congress
and in the state but legislators, in
cluding himself, are working to bet
ter the relationship between law and
medicine.
Caperton’s speech heightened the
students’ awareness of clinical com-
E etence and its relationship with the
iw. He left them familiar with situa
tions they may have to face when
they graduate.
Association of Hispanic Journalists
at A&M one of first student chapters
of NAHJ to get national recognition
By Julie Myers
Of The Battalion Staff
Texas A&M will be home to one of the first nation
ally recognized student chapters of the National Asso
ciation of Hispanic Journalists next month.
“In the journalism department, there is no place for
Hispanics to get information about internships and
scholarships,” NAHJ president and junior journalism
major Suzanne Calderon said.
Enrollment figures estimate 25 to 30 students in the
journalism department are Hispanic. Calderon said she
thinks this estimate is not an accurate picture of mi
nority enrollment. *
“Those are only the students who have identified
themselves as Hispanic,” she said. “Many minorities
hesitate to identify themselves as Hispanic or black.”
Because the University is trying to increase minority
enrollment, Calderon said its important for everyone to
specify their race.
“With more organizations like NAHJ and the Na
tional Association of Black Journalists, we can hopefully
entice more students to come to A&M,” she said.
Calderon said she wants NAHJ to make success attai
nable for more Hispanics because minorities have a
tough time in journalism. For this reason, NAHJ pro
vides a job exchange program for all journalists looking
for work.
“It’s harder to move up because we can’t get the more
visible jobs in the field,” Calderon said.
In the future, NAHJ members would like to visit
their hometown high schools to encourage students to
come to A&M, but Calderon said the association is pres
ently concentrating on “housekeeping” and preparing
paperwork for the national organization.
Besides their basic goal of minority recruitment,
NAHJ also will focus on acquiring more financial aid
for eligible students. Various corporate scholarships as
well as broadcasting internships and NAHJ student
scholarships totalling $15,000 annually are available to
Hispanic students.
Previously, these opportunities were not directed at
Hispanics. Calderon said NAHJ now functions as a
clearinghouse for these jobs and scholarships.
Although the organization’s name implies that all
“With more organizations
like NAHJ and the National
Association of Black Journalists, we
can hopefully entice more students
to come to A&M.”
Suzanne Calderon,
NAHJ president
students are journalism or communications majors,
Calderon said any student having an interest in the
journalism field can join.
In fact, although the organization hopes to advance
Hispanics in journalism, students of any race can partic
ipate.
“We are hoping to find students who are really moti
vated, outgoing and aggressive to get this going,” Cal
deron said.
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1989-1990
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Rally defends
women’s right
to abortions
AUSTIN (AP) — Thousands of
pro-choice activists bolstered by re
cent election wins and appealing to
Texans’ sense of freedom rallied
Sunday at the Texas Capitol and
vowed to defend a woman’s right to
an abortion.
“Texas won’t be the first state to
roll back abortion rights,” Lt. Gov.
Bill Hobby promised a crowd that
police estimated at between 15,000
to 20,000, one of the largest demon
strations ever held at the building.
Political and religious leaders antjj
Hollywood celebrities, including Cy-
bill Shepherd and Morgan Fairchild,
spoke during the afternoon rally!
Texas Treasurer Ann Richards, a
Democratic candidate for governor,
said that as Germans tear down the
Berlin Wall, “We as Texans . . . are
not going to stand idly by and watch
the construction of a new wall be
tween us and our freedom.”
Richards said that since the 1973
U.S. Supreme Court decision of Roe
vs. Wade that legalized abortion, “we
have listened to the voices of people
who want to take us back to the days
of back-alley butchers and preg
nancy as punishment. We are not
going to go.”
The crowd then began chanting,
“Hell no, we won’t go.”
Texas Attorney General Jim Mat
tox, also a Democratic contender for
governor, said 29 years ago a close
friend of his died as the result of an
illegal abortion.
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