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The Ked and Black. Thur*da\. February 23. i**7H
State
Jury returns verdict in McDonald trial
ATLANTA (UPI)-A federal
jury returned a $15,000 judg
ment today against Congress
man physician Larry
McDonald in his $6 million
Laetrile malpractice trial.
However, the jury decided in
favor cf the defendant in three
other counts in a suit filed by
the family of an Alabama
cancer victim who McDonald
treated with the controversial
drug
McDonald's Washington of
fice said the congressman
would have no comment on the
verdict because he plans to
appeal
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Allen said he doubted the
case would have much effect
on the use of Laetrile, an
apricot pit substance which the
organized medical community
has called worthless as a
cancer treatment
M( DONAI.I) and Doctors
Memorial Hospital in Atlanta
were sued by the family of
John L Scott, a Birmingham,
Ala . postman who died in 1974
The family contended Scott
might have lived longer had he
received conventional cancer
treatment
The hospital was excluded
from liability in the jury’s
verdict
One of the jurors in the trial,
Philip Green, said the jury had
not addressed itself to the
broader issue of Laetrile use,
but had confined itself instead
to the facts and evidence
pertaining to Scott
Despite reminders by attor
neys and others that the entire
medical world was watching
tho rase. l T S District Judge
Richard C. Freeman battled to
keep Laetrile from becoming
the central issue He con
stantly reminded the jury
during the two and-a-half
weeks of testimony that it was
McDonald, not Laetrile, that
was on trial.
“I always hate to lose,” said
Hunter Allen, one of the
defendants' lawyers. "There
had to be a finding of liability
in awarding $15,000 but it sure
beats $6 million.”
ALLEN. W IIO said there had
been no decision on whether to
appeal the verdict, doubted the
case would have much effecto
on the use of Laetrile, an
apricot pit substance which the
organized medical community
has called worthless as a
cancer treatment.
“If they were suggesting that
awarding $6 million for using
Laetrile would stop that use, it
didn't do that,” Allen said.
Burke Lewis, one of the
plaintiffs' attorneys, said he
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was not satisfied with the
decision. Lewis, held in con
tempt of court four times
during the trial, hinted he
would appeal the verdict after
the filing of several post-trial
legal motions.
"I believe the verdict is
inconsistent with the evidence
presented,” Lewis said. •
But he said he and his fellow
attorneys “had been told by
numerous lawyers that to get
any verdict would be a major
victory.”
Lewis said "our concern is
for the Scotts and for those
people who are being duped,
damaged and ultimately killed
by Laetrile.”
A number of highly-regarded
cancer specialists, including
the president of the American
Cancer Society, were flown
into Atlanta to testify against
Laetrile. They contended its
use amounted to quackery.
Scores of pro-Laetrile ad
vocates also attended the trial.
They included members of the
conservative California-based
Committee for the Freedom of
Choice, a pro-Laetrile lobbying
group.
Defense attorneys argued
Scott had voluntarily sought
out McDonald to obtain
Laetrile and had rejected other
medically-accepted cancer
treatments.
"Scott made a conscious
decision...this man made a
decision to go with Laetrile,
that’s the way he chose to go,
and that’s the way he wanted
to go,” McDonald’s attorney
Robert Tanner said in his
closing arguments.
A McDonald spokesman said
the Freedom of Choice
committee has begun to solicit
contributions from about 2,500
physicians who belong to an
organization for McDonald’s
legal defense fund.
Although the spokesman
acknowledged the right-wing
Georgia Democrat’s legal fees
were primarily covered by his
malpractice insurance, he said
some of the funds may help
other Laetrile-using doctors
pay for expenses in similar
suits.
He said he did not know how
much money had been collect
ed so far.
State check given,
Fox finally ‘saved’
ATLANTA (UPI)-Gov.
George Busbee presented a
$1«0,(XK) check to the “Save the
Fox" drive Wednesday, and
civic leaders who have been
working for years to protect
the famous old theater from
the wrecker’s ball proclaimed
the Fox "saved.”
Beauchamp Carr, head of
Atlanta Landmarks. Inc., and
"Save the Fox" chairman
Arthur Montgomery came to
Busbee’s weekly news confer
ence to accept the state's most
recent contribution to the three
year effort to preserve the
mosque-like behemoth in down
town Atlanta. The Fox, opened
on Christmas Day, 1929, and
showed its last movie on New
Year’s Eve, 1974.
Since then, the Fox has been
the scene of rock concerts and
Sunday afternoon ballet or
symphony performances, us
ually with a portion of ticket
prices tabbed for the salvation
effort
The building, which features
a gilt arcade and a huge pipe
organ along with myriad visual
effects inside, was recently
added to the register of
national historic landmarks.
Busbee said the state gave
$11,000 for a feasiblity study of
alternative uses of the Fox
when Southern Bell Telephone
Co., which owns the city block
it rests on, first planned to tear
down the building to make way
for an office high rise in 1974.
The state Board of Natural
Resources recently recom
mended that Busbee put up the
additional $100,000 to help pay
off the mortgage.
“The Fox Theater opened in
1929 as a fantastic and widely
acclaimed movie palace, but
only three years ago the
theater faced demolition for a
modern high rise structure,”
said Busbee “The belief that
this fine building could con
tinue to serve the community
has spurred the efforts of
many Georgians to preserve it
as an economically viable
structure.”
Montgomery told the gover
nor,"Not that we aren’t still in
need of contributions, but for
all practical purposes we think
the Fox has been saved.” He
said contributions are still
needed for renovations and
restoration of carpeting inside
the auditorium.
Carr said individual contri
butions over the past few years
have paid $350,000 in interest on
the mortgage of $1.8 million,
and that the state’s $100,000
brings the "Save the Fox"
bank account to about $1.2
million. He said another
$000,000 in pledges is outstand
ing. making enough to retire
the mortgage.
"Once those pledges are in,
we’ll be able to pay off the
mortgage at a fairly early
date," said Carr.
In brief
Dividends to be returned
BLOOMINGTON. ILL. (UPI) —Georgia motorists insured
by State Farm Insurance will receive dividends totaling
about $15 million, an average of about $3 per driver, the
company announced Wednesday.
The dividends come from underwriting profits earned by
State Farm during the second half of 1977. In all, some $126
million will be distributed among 32 states and the District
of Columbia.
The profits stemmed from a drop in the rate of claims
among policy holders and were apportioned on the basis of
the profit in each state Georgia’s State Farm clients,
totaling 518.000 will get back 3.1 percent of their premiums.
Jewelry store robbed
AUGUSTA, (UPI)—Two men armed with a snub-nosed
revolver robbed a jewelry store in a shopping center
Wednesday of an estimated $100,000 in cash and jewels.
Donnie Thompson, managed of the store said one of the
bandits wanred "if anyone moves, I’ll blow your head off.”
There were two customers in the store at the time but no
one was injured.
Thompson said the gunmen cleaned oyt the store safe
and all display cases, then demanded a red-white and blue
company bag for their loot before fleeing down an alley
alongside the store
Augusta jurists selected
AUGUSTA (UPI)—A Richmond County jury of six men
and six women was selected Wednesday to hear the case
against 25-year-old Len Arnett of Augusta, who was
charged with beating a two-year-old boy to death
Arnett was charged with first degree murder in the death
last Sept. 10 of Raymond Joseph Struebing, the son of his
girl friend, Deborah Rae Streubing, 20, police said.
During a preliminary hearing last fall, a pathologist
testified that the child was bruised from head to waist and
that he died as a result of extensive internal bleeding.
Tax
from p. 5
day when they go to the store"
and prov ide just a few dollars
for the average homeowner.
Prior to its first defeat two
weeks ago, utiltities were
exempted from any tax breaks
and the House Wednesday took
out banks and large corpora
tions in an amendment spon
sored by Hill
A move to apply the tax
relief only to homesteads was
defeated as was a measure to
exempt food and drugs from
the sales tax.
The Collins plan is dead for
the session although a similar
plan is before the Senate Ways
and Means Committee. That
proposal would raise the sales
tax by one percent, reduce
property taxes and exempt
food and drugs from the sales
levy.
Also Wednesday, the Senate
easily approved another consti
tutional amendment which
would tie personal exemptions
under the state income tax to
the consumer price index The
measure by Sen. Roscoe Dean,
D-Jesup, would raise the
exemption by the same percen
tage as increases in the
consumer prices index.
But the Senate accepted an
amendment by Sen. Don
Ballard, D-Oxford, which
would lower the sales tax by
that same percentage. Dean
called that amendment the
"kiss of Judas" because it
would give more tax relief
than the House is likely to
approve.
Under Dean's proposal, if a
taxpayer had a.$1500 personal
income tax exemption and the
cost of living went up 10
percent in a year, the personal
exemption would be $1650.
Under Ballard’s amendment,
the 10 percent hike in the cost
index would bring the state
wide sales tax down a like
amount, making it 2.7 percent
The House also approved
bills to put a tax on coal mined
in the state and raising the
limits on purchases of insur
ance coverage protecting driv
ers when involved in accidents
with uninsured drivers.
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Hep. Killian Townsend. R
Atlanta, warned the coal tax
could set a precedent that
might apply to other products
such as timber and kaolin
Rep Jerry Money, I) Summer
ville, said, however, that coal
was mined only in Chattooga,
Walker and Dade counties and
Rep Wayne Snow, D-Rossville,
said those counties needed the
revenue to repair roads being
"torn up" by coal trucks
The bill would impose a
severance tax ol 15 cents per
ton on all coal mined in the
state and allow counties to
tax the coal at 50 cents per ton
The insuran .e measure spon
sored by Rep Rene Kemp,
would allow customers to
purchase as much uninsured
motorist protection as they do
regular liability insurance and
lilt current limits.
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