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The Seaforth News, 1962-05-10, Page 6Doctor Dissects His Own Racket During Sen. Estes lOefauvex'e two-year investigation of the oation's drog industry, a young JohnHopkins phyalciari proved himself something of a medical 'maverick, Dr, Lours C. Lasagna, a 39 -year-old associate professor of medicine, made headlines for his strong criticism of some in, dustry practioes. Now, with a skillful dissection of his own Pro- fession in a book written for lay- men, he has become even more of an insurgent. In "The Doctors' Dilemmas," published recently, Dr. Lasagna appraises medieine today — with glimpses at its sometimes shady past. What he says is often hard- ly the. thing a doctor would tell a patient, In fact, the book contains many things that a doctor would rare- ly tell a doctor. Yet the book is a thorough examination, backed by facts in objective matters and logic in subjective matters. Still, many of Dr. Lasagna's conterre porartes are certain to be irri- tated by some of his conclusions. The Baltimore physician is most outspoken in a chapter on the American Medical Associa- tion. Every doctor feels the or- ganization's power from the time he enters medical school, Dr. La- sagna says. "His school has to have AMA approval, his hospital needs AMA sanction for intern- ship . . , and his license to prac- tice medicine is issued under What Do You Know About CENTRAL AMERICA? roles laid clown , in close col- laboration With the AMA," he says, At its Chicago beadquarter3, the AMA maintains a' complete file on every doctor in the country, even if he isn't a mem, bet.: (Dr. Lasagna Isn't.) While noting the AMA's sup- port of auto scat belts and child - labor laws, Dr. Lasagna pointedly adds that they have "voted against Federal aid to the aged and opposed Federal sub- sidization of medical education." Such stands, he says, Sometimes incur "the ill will of liberals and coneervatives As a research physician who specializes hi the testing of new drugs, Dr. Lasagna turns an ex- pert eye on the drug industry, major criticism: The "pharma- ceutical numbers racket." A new compound, he explains, is touted as more potent than an older agent, because it can be given at a tenth of the dosage, Usually, he says, "at these doses both drugs do the same job and pro- duce about the same incidence of untoward side reactions, so it is like saying a dime is more potent than two nickels," Discussing medical education, Dr, Lasagna touches upon a problem that is rarely exposed: Racial discrimination, His obser- vations, in this instance, are weakened only slightly by a dearth of documentation. Al- though Negroes do attend many medical schools, some institutions "have never accepted Negroes, despite lip service to . 'equa) consideration'," he says. "Anti - Jewish bias is little discussed, but almost certainly exists in medical schools." Relaxing last week in his tiny, cluttered office on the ninth floor of Johns Hopkins'. Clinical Science building, Dr. Lasagna was Prepared for the criticism that the book was sure to bring. "Af- ter the drug hearings I was call- ed a crank and a malcontent," he said. "I'm used to it." From NEWSWEEK FORGIVENESS Nature will not forgive those who fail to fulfill the law of their being. The law of human beings is wisdom and goodness, not unlimited acquisition, —Robert Maynard Hutchins. The one who Is willing to do you a favor is never in a position to do it. ISSUE 1'1 — 1962 Fashion Hint FOR WARMER WEATHER • 11 t i riIlPilljiI 11111 MESS — Singer -actor Paul Anka samples real Army chow on the set of his newest film in London. His face tells the whole story: use of Army food is carrying realism in the movies a little too far, Yet, it's only one morn's opinion. The refrigerator type of cookie, all ready to be sliced an baked, is one of the easiest to prepare in a hurry. The cookie that pass- ed our kitchen testing with fly - Ing colours is so versatile that it has no less than six variations, A rolled oat cookie mix may be kept in a covered jar at room temperature and we think no kitchen should be without it. Just add tnelted shortening and flavouring when you're ready to bake, and 'put it right into the oven, or you may also use a fill- ing such as mincemeat for bars that will keep fresh and moist .for days. * * The thir d way to produce cookies in no time at all is to have "no -bake" recipes on file. For the youngsters, here's a real quickie: Spread round crackers with peanut butter, place a halv- ed or whole marshmallow on top, and brown slightly • under the broiler,writes Marjorie El- wood in the Toronto Star Week- ly. * * ROLLED OAT COOKIE MIX (ICeep in covered container at room teinp.) Preparation time: 15 minutes 4 cups sifted all-purpose bread .flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 11/2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons baking soda 2 cups brown sugar 114 cups shortening 4 cups quick rolled oats Sift together 3 times the flour, baking powder,' soda and salt. Mix in sugar. Cut in shorten- ing until mixture resembles fine crumbs. Add rolled oats, mixing thor- . • oughly Store ho covered contain- er at room teinperature, until. .ready to use in following recipes, * MINCEMEAT BARS (from Rolled Oat Cookie Mix) Preparation time: 10 minutes cups oat cookie mix 2 tablespoons melted butter 1 cup mincemeat MI cup maraschino cherries quartered 1 teaspoon vanilla Heat oven to 350 degrees, Mix together cookie mix and melted butter. Combine mincemeat, cherries and flavouring, Sprinkle a cup of the butter - cookie mix over bottom of un - greased 8-ineh square pan. Cov- er with an even layer of mince- meat filling. Sprinkle remaining cup of cookie mix evenly over mincemeat layer and press down. Bake in moderate oven for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool and cut in bars, Note — Try other fillings with these bars such as date, cran- berry or .t aisin. * REPRIGERATOR COOKIES (6 dozen 21/2 -inch cookies) Preparation time: 15 minutes 1 cup soft shortening ltft cup granulated sugar 2 eggs PA teaspoons vanilla 2' cups sifted all-purpose (bread) flour 'ft teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon salt Combine shortening and su- gars, Beat thoroughly, Add eggs and flavouring and beat well. Stir irt sifted dry ingredients. Press and mol d into a long smooth roll from 2 to 21/2 inches in diameter, Wrap In waxed pa- per or foil and store in refrig- aratot, As needed, out in thin slice and place on ungreased cookie sheet, Bake in moderately hot, 400 - degree oven for 6 to 8 minutes, VARIATIONS Nut Refrigerator Cookies — Add 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts to basic recipe. Date -Nut Refrigerator Cookies — Add 2 to 3 teaspoons cinna- mon, 1/2 cup finely chopped nuts and ½ cup finely cut dates to basic recipe. Orange - Almond Refrigerator Cookies — A d d 1 tablespoon grated orange rind and • 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds to basic recipe. Chocolate Refrigerator Cookies — Blend 2 squares (2 oz.) un- sweetened chocolate, melted and cooled, into the shortening mix- ture. Q. When giving a formal din- ner, should the dishes be left on the serving' table, in case they Are wanted for second helpings? A, Dishes are never passed twice at a formal dinner. After being passed. once, they are re- turned to the.kitchen. Corning To Begum From The North Sea I first •saw Belgium as a light winking in the darkness at the end of a North Sea race, We were driving hi under full can- vas and the seas were breaking on the banks of Rhine -borne sill, apilieri out from the German hin- terland. Six hundreds years be- fore, square-rigged sailing ships ploughed this same route, bring- ing England's wool harvest to the weaving factories of Ypres and Ghent and Bruges. It is worth coining into Bel- gium from the sea, for water is the key to this thriving little kingdom. Sail up the Scheldt to Antwerp and your eyes are suddenly opened to a whole new world; the world of the barges. Belgian barges, Dutch barges, German barges — barges from Rotter- dam, Bremen, Hamburg, Dussel- dorf, Cologne, Frankfurt and dozens of other inland ports; they crowd the twisting water- way, a nightmare hazard to cap- tains bringing their ships into the docks, Deep,laden and with decks awash they are strange •looking creatures, narrow of beam to get through the locks and sometimes a hundred Yards long, Coming into Antwerp you are not conscious of having arrived in Belgium as you are when you eater Ostend. Antwerp is simply Antwerp, a proud, independent city, like all the cities of the flat north land that runs out into the sea with hardly a change in the landscape. . . . Ghent, Bruges, Malines -- they're all the same. The people of these cities grow up in the shadow of history — history as told in carved stone, towering belfry and statue, or painted on the priceless canvases that fill to overflowing their churches and their city museums. The knowledge of their indepen- dence and past greatness is all about them, an overwhelming in- fluence in their lives, To think of themselves as Belgians is something comparatively new. Belgium only became a nation in 1830 and her people live in a Venetian atmosphere, with the waterways that brought them greatness still running like silver threads through their lovely cities. They do not look south, hut north, with their faces turn- ed toward the sea. I saw Bruges once at night, and not even Venice is mere beautiful. Two pinnacles reach up above the As to 1114 sky — the deltcate *!!..tagunal belfry and the great overpower- ing mass of the cathedral tower. Theso twill aspirations -I .1 peo- ple living in a flat land greet you unexpectedly at every twist and turn of the narrow streets. But it is by the 'water that Bruges comas to life, Lit by the soft glow of orange floodlights,. the quaint winding waterways by 1 h e Gruuthuse are as enehanting as Fairyland. The Quai du Nliroir, the Quai Vert, the Quai de la Potterie . Place Ven EYek, Place Memling: everything in this city (^ries out to he painted, —Fx orri "Harvest of Journeys," .„ By Hanonood Immo Mrs. Smith confided to a next- door neighbor that she'd filially cured her husband of biting his nails. "Good gracious," said the neighbor, "how'd you do it? "It was really simple," was the re- ply. "I just 1ic1 his teeth." STRIPED—New multi-verticol ss - striped beach shirt is sh'bIv-C* by Eileen Herlihy in San Jd86.;',;!- Puerto Rico. The summer-..; time fashion is done in cot- ton, orange -green combination with front pocket. Memories of an Angel in Hell's Kitchen By GAILE DUGAS Newspaper Enterprise Assn. New York — She is a little blonde, jiat five feet tall and weighing less than a hundred pounds. When she took the job, they neglected to tell her that she got it because a vacancy had been created in an unusual way. The man who held the job be- fore her had been murdered On the job. Today, she bears the scars of the years she spent as "The An- gel of Hell's Kitchen." Her legs are criss-crossed by ugly marks from the night when she was flung down two flights of tene- ment stairs and beaten brutally by a madman, Her hands bear the marks of a teen-ager's knife, honed razor sharp, Her face is scarred from a beating adminis- tered by two hoods. Her name is Bernice Offen- berg. For 10 years, she was an investigator in the worst slums of New York: first the area known as Hell's Kitchen, then Harlem, San Juan Hill and the Bowery. At the beginning, she was known as "that dame frorn Welfare," But it was Father William A, Scully, now Bishop Scully of Albany, who first called her "The Angel of Hell's Kitchen." And this is the title by which she has become a living American legend, "If I had the choice," she told, this interviewer, "I'd never do it over again. Those years drain- ed roe both emotionally and physically. But what do you know at 21? And I do have the enormous satisfaction of know- ing that I really was able to help people." Indeed, she did roach out a helping hand to those who could not help themselves, A young woman today owes her eyesight to Bernice Offenberg. A man has been cleared of a murder charge and 12 years of unjust imprison- ment because of Bernice Offen- berg's efforts. A kidnapped child was traced and returned to his mother after years of absence, "Of eourse," she explains, "there were some clients with whom 1 could do nothing. There was the woman who was prac- ticing an art she learned in Ma- laya as a child — head shrink- ing, Literally, Her apartment was full of crates containing the shrunken heads of animals, And ghe seemed to feel slightly apolo- getic because she had Only ani - trials to work onl" During World War II, Bernice Offenberg made a routine call to a house in the German section of New York known as Yorkville. And thus found herself involved in a nightmare of espionage, a story told partially in the motion picture "The House on 92nd Street." "It was an old brownstone house," she says. "I went there to investigate a complaint about heat, There were two men and a woman in the apartment. They had no idea, of course, that I both spoke and understood Ger- man. While I was there, I heard a strange clicking from the next room. Angrily, the woman said in German: "Tell that fool 'to stop.'" It was enough to tell Bernice Offenberg that something here was very wrong and that quite probably, she was listening to the clicking of a short-wave transmitter. When she filed her report on the matter, her superior turned it over to the FBI. And that was how she found herself working for the FBI. A special agent instructed her to call reg- ularly at the house each week and to find out whatever she could. On the pretext of finding a job for one of the men, she was able to extract the names of other Germans involved in the espionage ring. And these names led to still others, Exactly 11 months later, she picked up a tabloid one night and found that the FBI had raided the strange house (actual- ly on East 81st Street) and rounded up the spy ring. Today, Bernice Offenberg lives quietly in an apartment on lower Park Avenue. She has memories, both warm and bitter, that few women could match. She has told her story in the recently published book, "The Angel of Hell's Kitchen," She does not know what may be coming next. But one thing is certain: a woman of her really remarkable courage faces the future with complete confidence. THIS IS Bernice Offenberg in the coat she wore on her daily rounds of Hell's Kitchen — at the request of the police. rhey. wanted to be able to identify her easily "if something happened,"