Evening star., 1938-03-25

Group Health Association. Inc.
1928 street, is charged uith cor
porate practice OF medicine by Dis
trict Medical Society, which has
onsted one G. H. A. doctor: pre-
tents its society members from, per-
Sonal consultations Uith G. II. A.
doctors. Operation on young NOM
an G. H. A. member has stirred
controversy.
A resolution for congressional in
vestigation of the increasingly bitter
row between the Group Health Asso-
ciation and the Medical Society will
be introduced Monday in the House.
Representative Byron N. Scott, DEM
ocrat, of California, whose champion
ship of G. H. A. and attack on the
Medical Society had provoked the
society to charge him with "slander." :"
announced he would ask the House
Monday to authorize an Investigation
by selected committee.
Representative Paul w. Shafer. Re-
publican. of Michigan, said he would
seek an investigation of the contro-
versy by the Hospitals and Charities
Subcommittee of the House District
Committee, of which he is a member.
Sees Action Unnecessary.
Mr.. Shafer believes an authorization
by the House is unnecessary and that
an investigation can be initiated at
any time by the hospitals and charities
subcommittee.
Representative Jenckes. Democrat,
OF Indiana is chairman of the sub
committee. Mr. Shafer said as soon as
she returns to Washington from a trip
to Indiana he proposes to urge her to
order the investigation.
If the charges Mr.. Scott made in
the House are true" declared Mr..
Shafer. Il believe it is the duty of
our subcommittee to make an i'm
mediate investigation.
Serious Charge, He Says.
Il cannot believe Washington
doctor would refuse to operate on a
patient. as MIR. Scott has charged, be-
cause she happened to be member of
G. H. A. That's serious charge, and
if it's true, something should be done
to correct the situation And our
subcommittee is the proper place to
start.
'Inasmuch as the charges have been
made, Mr.. Scott should be called before
the subcommittee to prove them But
I think the inquiry will disprove the
charges"
Crux of the latest bitterness in the
fight is a young woman member of
Group Health Association. An opera
ton she underwent in a hospital here
drew serious charges from Representa-
tive Scott and G. H. A., and sharp
denials and counter charges from the
Medical Society.
Says Operation Refused.
G. H. A. and Representative Scott
charged the woman had been refused
the privilege of an emergency opera
ton for appendicitis by a G. H. A.
surgeon at one hospital and that later,
when operated on by another surgeon
at another hospital, she was found to
have ruptured appendix.
DR.. F. x. McGovern, public rela-
tions chairman for the Medical So
ciety, charged Representative Scott
with Islander" and with making state
ments grossly untrue" He said the
facts showed the young woman's ap-
pendix was not ruptured nor acute.
Decision to introduce the investi-
CATION resolution Monday was an
nounced by Representative Scott to-
day, following the attack on him by
DR.. McGovern last night.
First Saw Letter.
Explaining he had read a letter
from DR.. McGovern, in which the
medical society spokesman had de-
manded a retraction by yesterday
afternoon, Mr.. Scott said:
"The letter was written March %
and arrived in my Office on March "a,
while was in New York. I just re-
turned from New York last night and
this morning I had the first oppor-
tunity to read the letter which he had
released to the press.
He says in his letter that I had
made the questioned statement with
out full knowledge of the facts, or
that some one misrepresented the
facts to NE.
Il made the statement" continued
Mr.. Scott" on what were purported
to be facts presented to me by officers
Of the Group eEalth Association. They
say the statement was true. DR.. Nc