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Page 9 « Thursday, September 30, 1999
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■)STON (AP) — Newly approved laser drills ap-
ear 10 relieve heart patients’ chest pain, but a med
al-journal critique questions whether the benefits are
n illusion.
Tine technique, called transmyocardial laser revas-
iari/.ition, became available in large medical cen-
trslarlier this year as the latest approach to treating
Bidating chest pain caused by bad hearts.
The Food and Drug Administration approved heart
lers developed by PLC Medical Systems of Franklin,
lass., and Eclipse Surgical Technologies of Sunny-
ale, Calif.
The approval was based on data from two large
udios being published in today’s issue of the New
ngl.md Journal of Medicine. The journal carries an
nulually negative editorial about the studies and the
H technology.
Hne technique uses a laser to drill 10 to 50 holes
itlle heart. The two studies, using the competing
iser instruments, both found that three-quarters of
everely impaired patients improve significantly af-
.r the laser-drill treatment.
However, the editorial, written by two cardiologists
om the University of Texas Southwestern Medical
enter in Dallas, raises the possibility benefits were
naeinary, or a placebo effect as doctors call it.
“These apparently impressive results must be
iewed with caution,” Drs. Richard A. Lange, South-
such tari/estern’s director of cardiac catheterization, and L.
gloves ig faVid Hillis, vice chair of medicine, wrote.
In the studies, half the patients got laser treatment,
1IB? the rest received standard medicines. Among
J ae Texas doctors’ concerns:
■ 1 P at ' ents knew they had gotten the laser, so their
I fr/Hctations of benefit may have made them believe
uieir chest pain had eased.
■ Doctors who performed the study assessed the
tatients’ conditions. These “presumably enthusiastic”
Soothing an aching heart
Transmyocardial laser revascularization is used to treat patients
suffering from the severe chest pains that come along with heart
disease. The approach yields positive results, but critics suggest that
the benefits may be imaginary. Here’s a look at how TLR works.
□
The laser's
handpiece is
inserted
through an
incision in the
chest. The
procedure is
performed on
the beating
heart.
□
The laser is
synchronized with
the hearbeat to
automatically fire
when the ventricle
fills with blood.
Blood is forced into the
channels and delivered
to oxygen-deprived
areas, reducing pain.
The outer surface of
the channels heal over.
Source: PLC Medical Systems, Inc.
AP/ J. Axamethy
1
sing the a:fl
e plane’s if
iations Corf
d the Lortl
physicians may have been more likely to see benefit
in those getting the laser.
• Patients in the group getting medicine alone were
allowed to receive the laser if they failed to improve.
This arrangement “implies a bias on the part of the in
vestigators” that the laser treatment was better.
• No one can convincingly explain why the treat
ment works. One theory — that it creates new blood
channels — has been discredited. Another is that it
destroys nerves in the heart, so patients feel less pain.
Lange said he thought the lasers should be used
only in studies, not routinely on heart patients.
Dr. Keith B. Allen of St. Vincent Hospital in Indi
anapolis, who directed one of the studies, said, “I’ve
heard it all before. All you have to do is interview pa
tient after patient who had this procedure and see the
effect and realize there is more than a placebo effect.”
■-ewdingF-
wing of die I
Ul)of them*
1 would rept
ore looks
to change
campaign
> T^tO P|
.Jptew-i «^5//INGTON (AP) — Vice
tPres/dent A1 Gore, shaken by
:ix bf thtwe unexpected strength of Bill
addition Iradley’s challenge for the De
year. Hcratic presidential nomina-
providetpi, abruptly uprooted his
st siimifside-the-Beltway campaign
■terday for a move to Ten-
in July, Wssee and “an opportunity for
|y tested fansformation.”
iseprcgra*“This is a hard, tough fight,”
■re said, challenging Bradley
to ,i series of issue debates.
■By relocating his headquar-
/y | Ills from Washington’s K
4^ HSleet, the former Tennessee
O ilia tor who grew up in Wash-
' recogn ilgton said he hoped to “get
/olvingi closer to the American people,
such fa [closer to the grassroots and
f/ebshot out of the Beltway and into
iy cot® the heartland.”
intent for® After months of acting out
said. Tk[the presumption that his only
■mpetitor was Republican
front-runner George W. Bush,
Gore said yesterday he was ea
ger to debate Bradley as a way to
“make of this campaign a
chance for our country to rekin
dle the spirit of democracy.”
thalweg
tions.
gh to
also cant
; sell foh
er make!
Is for $9^
? Presidff
Clinton OKs pay raise
for future presidents
CLINTON
WASHINGTON (AP) — Presi
dent Clinton signed legislation yes
terday that will double future pres
idents’ annual salaries to $400,000
and let members
of Congress col
lect their second
pay increase in
two years.
Congressional
salaries will climb
by $4,600 to
$141,300 a year
beginning in Jan
uary. Members of Congress last got
a pay increase in January 1998 and
before that in 1993.
The increase to $400,000 will be
the first presidential pay raise since
1969, but it will not take effect un
til Clinton leaves office Jan. 20,
2001. The Constitution forbids any
change in a president’s salary
while he is in office.
The measure also gives raises to
Vice President A1 Gore, Cabinet
secretaries and about 1,300 other
top-level branch officials in Janu
ary. By law, they are entitled to the
same 3.4 percent increase received
by members of Congress.
Gore will earn $181,400. Cabinet
secretaries will make $157,000.
Under congressional pay scales,
leaders earn more than rank and
file members, topped by House
Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., who
will make $181,400 in January.
Federal civil servants’ salaries
will rise by 4.8 percent a year, their
highest annual increase since 1981.
The increases were part of a $28
billion measure financing the Trea
sury Department and some small
er agencies for the fiscal year be
ginning Friday. Clinton signed the
bill in an Oval Office ceremony at
tended by several members of Con
gress and news photographers.
In a statement, Clinton did not
mention the pay increases. Instead,
he called attention to a new re
quirement that health plans for
federal employees must offer pre
scription contraceptive coverage,
with an exception for plans that
object to such coverage on reli
gious grounds.
By law, members of Congress re
ceive an annual salary increase un
less they vote to block it, and the
Treasury bill is the traditional vehi
cle for doing that. The measure con
tained no language preventing the
congressional pay increase, nor was
it mentioned during brief debate.
While congressional pay in
creases often have triggered heat
ed debates, there was no serious
challenge to the latest increase.
Elect vrar Leaders
VOTE IZI 2003
Freshmen Elections
Wednesday, Sept. 29; Thursday Sept. 30
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V«te at the fallawlng convenient locations:
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Commons, Duncan, and Zachary
2 did not
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Or you could attend the
Co-op Career Fair
Oct. 4-5
8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Zachry Lobby
All majors invited!
Monday, Oct. 4
Ingersoll-Rand
ABB Vetco Gray
Hewlett-Packard
Alcatel USA
Raytheon
Texas Instruments
Advanced Micro Devices
Freese & Nichols
Deltal Airlines
Nortel Networks
Cirrus Logic
Dow Chemical
Intervoice Brite
Trane Company
HEB Grocery Company
Celanese
Vetrotex America
Tivoli Systems
LinCom Corporation
BICCGeneral
FMC
SMI-Texas
Parker Hannifen
UFE, Inc.
Kimberly-Clark
Hovensa, L.L.C.
Tuesday, Oct, 5
Granite Construction
Traulsen & Company
Pratt & Whitney
Flow Products, Inc.
Ericsson
Brasfieid & Gorrie, LLC
Alcoa Fujikura
Union Pacific Railroad
National Instruments
Elk Corporation
Eastman Chemical
United States Gypsum
3M Corporation
Union Carbide
Bayer Corporation
Lyondell-Citgo
Mobil Corporation
IBM
Sperry Sun Drilling
DuPont
American Airlines
Lockheed Martin
Nokia Mobile Phones
Heat Transfer Research
Central Intelligence Agency
Entergy Corporation
Flowtronex International
NASA-JSC