Saturday, ,tune 7, 1975
PtH M tC#!I GAN DAILY
Page Three
Doctors await malpractice
law; slowdown unlikely
By DAVID BLOMQUIST
Although Michigan doctors are
still waiting for final legislative
action on malpractice insurance
reform, it seems unlikely that
the state faces any massive
work slowdowns in health ser-
vice professions, a University
Hospital spokesman said yester-
day.
"There seems to be some sort
tif general feeling that some-
thing is being done," said Ro-
bert Bier, health service rela-
tions editor. "No one is ready
to drop their scalpels and walk
out.,"
HOWEVER, frustration over
rising costs of malpractice in-
sarance and increasing cancel-
lation rates has led hundreds of
doctors in New York, Cafor-
nia, and Texas to refuse all but
emergency treatment work in
recent weeks.
Bills providing for major re-
Osions in Michigan's malprac-
tice codes passed committees in
the Legislature earlier this
seek, and the state has already
established a commercial ral-
practice insurance pool.
Bier explained that Unaversity
flosaital - unlike some Michi-
gan health care institutions -
was not in danger of -losin its
insurance coverage. "It's d'ffi-
colt for gross negligence to hap-
pen here. Someone's looking
over a doctor's shooulder all the
time," he said.
HE NOTED, however, t h a t
the hospital's insurance rates
had nevertheless tripied in the
past year. "Prices are high --
and it's all reflected in the pa-
tient fees," he stated. The Re-
gents recently approved an in-
crease in daily rates fo: hospi-
tal in-patient care.
Officials at the Michiga State
Medical Society in Lansing
agreed with Bier's assessment.
"The society's house of dele-
gates voted back in May against
a work stoppage," said a press
spokesman. "There will in Al
probability not be a slow-
down."
The spokesman added that the
society was waiting ftr ap-
proval from the state insurance
commissioner and capitalization
of $5 million in resery- furts
that would enable it to issue
malpractice coverage throggh
its own , non-orofit campany,
Michigan Physicians Mutual
Liability Co.
"We would hope for the eir-
liest approval pr)oiba,-' ne
said. He indicated that the new
firm would begin to offer cover-
age to doctors unable to pur-
chase low-cost comnmercial pl-
cies sometime during the sum-
mer.
Sex laws attempt to
ban 'unnatural acts'
By TIM SCHICK
On April first of this year, an
historic piece of state legisla-
tion went into effect - a law
dealing with rape. victims in a
humane manner. However, the
state still has repressive sex
laws which are little different
from those enforced a century
While many of the laws con-
cerning incest, polygamy and
rape stand as examples of
progressive legislation, Michi-
gan sex laws still contain refer-
ences to "unnatural acts .-
gross lewdness . . . and lewd
and lascivious cohabitation."
FOR EXAMPLE the law
states that "Any man or wo-
man, not married to each other,
who lewdly and lasciviously as-
sociate and live together, or any
person guilty of open and gross
lewd and lascivious behavior
shall be guilty of a misde-
meanor . . . punishable by one
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year in jail."
In cohabitation cases, the
courts have ruled that the
crime does not have to be "open
and notorious" - meaning that
situations, involving two con-
senting adults in the privacy of
their bedrooms can result in jail
sentences.
One statute used frequently to
arrest homosexuals is the solici-
tation law, a statute originally
intended to control prostitution.
It states that "any person, male
or female who shall accost, so-
licit or invite another in any
public place . . .to commit pro-
stitution or any other lewd or
immoral act shall be guilty of
a misdemeanor."
WHEN IT comes to sodomy
(anal intercourse), the legisla-
ture in 1846 stomped its foot
down. "Any person who shall
commit the abominable and de-
testable crime against nature ei-
ther with mankind or with any
animal shall be guilty of a fel-
ony." A violator can receive
up to 15 years in prison.
However, a loop hole in the
law allows a person who has
been declared "sexually delin-
quent" to receive life imprison-
ment.
By law a sexually delinquent
person is "any person whose
sexual behavior is characteriz-
ed by repetitive and compul-
sive acts which indicate a dis-
regard of consequences of the
recognized rights of others, or
by the use of force upon anoth-
er person in attempting sexual
relations..
DESPITE the obvious bias
against gays, judges have ruled
that "this law does not punish
homosexuality or mental illness,
but only the act of sodomy."
However, the law's language
has been upheld because "so-
domy is of an indelicate nature
and as a result was not graphic-
ally outlined." The law also
declares that sexual penetration
need not be proven.
See SEX, Page 10
The great escape
Hijacked at knifepoint yesterday, pilot Richard Jackson was ordered to snatch inmate Dale Rem-
ling out of Jackson prison. After delivering the two desperados to their destination, the pilot pick-
ed up police to lead them to the scene of the crime.
Harvard Medical School
withhods student ipoma
By ANN MARIE LIPINSKI
It's been a long time since Barry Brooks
faced the morning with a smile on his face.
Four years of Harvard Medical School can
steal that from a man. ,
He had marked June 12-graduation-a red
letter day on his calendar, and he was confi-
dent that he could endure the remaining
headaches during that home stretch.
HOWEVER, Brooks has just come down with
one headache that two aspirin and plenty of
rest aren't going to cure. Harvard officials
have learned that the aspiring doctor falsified
;information on his application to the university
in 1969 and they aren't about to hand Brooks
that sheepskin until he's swallowed a healthy
dose of consequence.
When filling out his application form in a
bid to become a Crimson med student, Brooks
falsely listed his alcoholic father and pros-
titute mother as deceased. Saying he was
"ashamed" of the fact, Brooks added, "At the
time I thought that it (knowledge of his par-
ents' standing) would politically keep me from
being admitted.
"I've now been told by members of the
Medical School Administrative Board that it
wouldn't have made any difference. That's the
kind of thing they like to say, but I don't be-
lieve it for a moment," Brooks told the Daily
yesterday.
DR. JACK EWALT, administrator of clinical
services at the Harvard Medical School, claims
Brooks is inaccurate in believing that uni-
versity officials would have denied him ad-
mssion because of his family background.
"We admit people for their brains, not their
breeding," said Ewalt. "And you can be sure
that we didn't take this action capriciously.
We have thousands of dollars invested in this
man."
Complicating the controversy are several
other "minor incidents" which Harvard offi-
cials claim also effected their decision to
withhold Brooks degree. However, they have
refused to elaborate on the nature of the in-
cidents.
EXPRESSING a difference of opinion with
Harvard officials, Brooks contended yesterday
that the additional accusations are "incor-
rect. There have been no other incidents,"
Brooks' troubles began three months ago
in Dayton when he was applying for a medical
internship. While there he sparked a heated
argument with a hospital secretary who re-
lated Brooks' behavior to the Harvard Medical
School administration.
"When she brought that to their attention,"
Brooks said, "a whole investigation started.
They said they wouldn't tolerate that kind of
behavior."
BROOKS originally began legal proceedings
last Thursday asking that the school be order-
ed to allow him to participate in commence-
ment next week. However, "national publicity"
forced Brooks to drop the suit yesterday.
"I have to portect my family. I have no
alternative," explained Brooks. "Whatever
little my sisters, brothers and parents have
going for them would be ruined in the media."
Burton Atkins, a Boston attorney who was
handling Brooks' case, contends the university
is withholdirg the degree "because they're
See HARVARD, Page 5