Evening star., 1941-02-22
u. 5. May End
Medical Case
By Next Week
Prosecution Nearing
Close of Presentation
In Antitrust Trial
BY HAROLD B. ROGERS.

AAEhAtOAD Ds AtoSHAtOs
Government prosecutors today
predicted they probably would be
able to complete the presentation
of their antitrust case against Or
ganized medicine in District Court
some time next week.
The trial, which started February
and has run for 13 court days,
is in recess over the week end but
will resume Monday morning.
Defense counsel estimate that
they probably will require about
two weeks to answer. So the pros
poets are that the trial will run a
total of at least three weeks longer
If some unexpected development
should occur during the trial, such
as point of law which would re-
quire extended argument, the case
would be extended further.
Most of the documentary evidence
which the Government has been
piling into the record is from the
| files of the Medical Society of the
District of Columbia and the
American Medical Association in
Chicago, two of the defendants in
the case. Other papers have come
from the files of Group Health As
sociation, medical cooperative of
Government workers, against which
organized medicine is charged with
conspiracy and boycott in viola
ton of the Sherman Antitrust
Act.
Hope to Break" G. III. A.
One of the letters read into the
record yesterday by prosecution
counsel from an officer of the Dis
trict Medical Society said: 1--WE hope
to break this organization &C. H. A.
completely"
The majority of the Govern
ment's documentary evidence has
been submitted to the court, &C
cording to John Henry Levin and
Grant w. Kelleher, special assist
ants to the Attorney General. who
have led the prosecution forces.
Only few more selected papers
remain to be offered Late yester-
| day many more exhibits were in
troduced, running the total num-
Der up to 373. Not all of these
have been admitted to the record,
however, about 25 of them having
been rejected, according to esti-
mates by both prosecution and de-
fense counsel.
The size of these exhibits vary
from small letters, memoranda and
| kilograms to the many volume docu-
ments Of the District Medical So
ciety, such as its official minutes.
One of the important documents,
of four volumes, which still is in
| controversy as to its admiSsibility
is a court reporters transcript of
four nights hearings by the Ex-
ecutive Committee of the Medical
Society on charges against Dr.
Mario Scandiffio, now medical di-
rector Of Group Health Association
Justice James NJ. Proctor took the
question of its admissibility under
advisement Thursday afternoon
and planned to study the matter
over the week end. He expects to
rule on the controversial four VOL
umes Monday morning.
Was Forced to Resign"
All four books deal with the case
of Dr.. Scandiffio, who. the record
already shows, once was a member
of the Medical Society. He joined
the staff of G. H. A, submitted his
resignation to the society, withdrew
this resignation and then was
charged with violation of the rules
of the society and expelled from its
membership. The first volume con-
Germs DR.. Allan E. Lee, who had
| joined G.. H. A. resigned from the
Medical Society, withdrawn that
resignation and then later admitted
in a letter to G. H. A: II am forced
to resign as a member of the staff
of your clinic" Documents intro
duced yesterday to the jury showed
/ that in view of his resignation from
G. H. A. charges brought by the
Medical Society were dropped.
Efforts of prosecution yesterday
to bring out more of the story of
DR.. Lee from witness, William F..
Penniman, first president of G. H.
A, were blocked when Justice Proc
tor sustained objection by William
E. Leahy, defense counsel. The de-
fense claimed that conversation be-
| tween Mr.. Penniman an DR.. Lee
would constitute 'hearsay" testi-
mony and would not be admissible
to the court record under the rules
of evidence. Mr.. Penniman then
! spent most of the rest of the after
noon identifying long list of prose-
cution documents concerning the
alleged conspiracy of the Medical
Society to keep G. H. A. patients
and doctors out of the Washington
hospitals. These new pieces of evi-
dence will be read to the jury early
next week.
Privileges Withdrawn.
Garfield Hospital first admitted
to temporary" courtesy privileges
for emergency cases only DR.. Ray
mond E. Selders, G. H. A. surgeon,
it was shown in a series of letters
read to the jury. But, according
to the last letter. from DR.. Francis
j. Eisenman. superintendent of
Garfield Hospital, to DR.. Selders,
these temporary privileges were
withdrawn. His application had
been referred to the Washington
Academy of Surgery. In DR.. Eisen-
mans letter of January 25, 1887, he
told DR.. Selders that his temporary
privileges had been withdrawn ION
recommendation of the medical
staff" of the hospital until such
time as the legality Of G. H. A.,
now before the court, has been de-
cided."
The documents introduced late
yesterday concerned several differ
ent Washington hospitals. The in
dictment against organized medi-
cine charges that the boycott of
G. H. A. was perpetrated through
pressure on II private hospitals in
Washington, which are named not
as defendants but as co-conspira-
tors.
The defendants include the A. M.
A., District Medical Society, WASH
ington Academy of Surgery, the
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