214 • JAOA • Vol 103 • No 5 • May 2003 Letters
Give Yourself as a Gift
To the Editor:
The article by William M. Silverman, DO,
“Where have all the heroes gone?” (J Am
Osteopath Assoc. 2003;103:27-28), was won-derful
and made me consider the qualities
of a hero. Most heroes are not famous
and therefore do not influence large num-bers
of people, yet millions who would
never consider themselves heroes live in
ways that strongly and positively influ-ence
others.
People who were my personal heroes
never realized their impact. My 5th-grade
teacher, in choosing me to do commu-nity
work, taught me respect for others.
My 6th-grade teacher, a survivor of the
invasions that occurred during World
War II at Guadalcanal and Okinawa,
taught me to love and appreciate the mil-itary.
Finally, Wiley Rountree, DO, a
family practice physician in Texas who
is now deceased, taught me the love of
osteopathic medicine.
We need new heroes worldwide more
than ever, and they will rise as needed. It
may be that true success in life is having
heroes to help direct your life and then
becoming a hero to the generation that
follows.
I hope Dr Silverman’s article will influ-ence
other osteopathic physicians to step
up and be a hero to someone who needs
them.
Patrick J. Hanford, DO
Lubbock, Texas
A Call to Arms
To the Editor:
A recent article by Carol Smith and Sam
Skolnik, “Surgeon guilty in UW case”
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer. July 17, 2002),
reported that University of Washington
surgeon, H. Richard Winn, MD—inves-tigated
for improper billing of residents’
time and for obstructing that investiga-tion—
agreed to a plea agreement, sparing
the university a scandalous trial. This is
the 14th of our nation’s most prestigious
universities whose respected teaching
physicians fell from grace in so-called
billing scandals. Federal investigations of
Medicare and Medicaid billing scandals
that resulted in settlement without trial
have occurred at the University of Penn-sylvania
($30 million), the University of
California system—five schools ($22.5
million), and the University of Texas at
San Antonio ($17.2 million). None of these
notorious, high-profile cases has gone to
trial, so guilt or innocence is unknown.
The public assumes guilt, however, and
shame is therefore cast on the medical
profession.
I do not think anyone familiar with
the complexities of Medicare/Medicaid
billing believes the accused physicians
had any detailed knowledge of their insti-tution’s
medical billing procedures, or
intended to do wrong. I believe the
accused physicians were innocent pawns
in an outlandish scheme designed to
finance Medicare and other government
agencies. It is time for this extortion to
stop.
As for those of us in the trenches, con-sider
this strategy: Stop signing contracts,
opt out of Medicare and Department of
Social and Health Services. Medicare and
Medicaid have become too complex and
treacherous to deal with any longer. The
experience of this clinic—after opting out
of such contracts—is that patients con-tinue
to fill our schedule and are willing
to pay when necessary. Refusing to sign
third-party contracts is one way we have
returned medical decision-making to
those for whom it matters most: physi-cians
and patients.
Dale E. Alsager, DO
Maple Valley, Washington
As the scholarly publication of the osteopathic medical profession, JAOA—The Journal
of the American Osteopathic Association encourages osteopathic physicians, faculty mem-bers
at osteopathic medical colleges, students, and others—as consistent with the mis-sion
of the JAOA—to submit their comments to the JAOA.
Letters to the editor are considered for publication if they have not been published
elsewhere and are not simultaneously under consideration by any other publication. All
accepted letters to the editor are subject to copyediting. On request, the corresponding
author is responsible for providing the editor with photocopies of referenced material.
When sent by mail or fax, letters must be typewritten and double-spaced. Except in
rare instances, the text of a letter should not exceed 500 words and should not include
any more than five references and two tables or illustrations. JAOA encourages its
readers to submit letters electronically to jaoa@aoa-net.org.
Letter writers must include their full professional title(s) and affiliation(s), com-plete
address, day and evening telephone numbers, fax number(s), and e-mail address(es).
Letter writers are responsible for disclosing financial associations or other possible con-flicts
of interest.
Although JAOA cannot acknowledge the receipt of your letter, we will notify you
if the letter has been accepted for publication. Rejected letters and illustrations will not
be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope.
Address letters to: Gilbert E. D’Alonzo, Jr, DO, Editor in Chief, JAOA, American
Osteopathic Association, 142 E Ontario St, Chicago, IL 60611-2864. Fax: (312) 202-8200.
E-mail: jaoa@aoa-net.org.
LETTERS
JAOA • Vol 103 • No 5 • May 2003 • 215
LETTERS
Letters
NSUCOM Establishes
Bioterrorism
Preparedness Center
To the Editor:
The year 2002 was a notable one for the
Nova Southeastern University College of
Osteopathic Medicine (NSUCOM) in
Davie, Florida. As we continued to pro-vide
exemplary education to our students,
we also reached out to medically needy
individuals across South Florida and
throughout the world by participating in
various health fairs and medical missions.
One of NSUCOM’s most notable
accomplishments occurred in August
2002, when the college’s year-old Task
Force on Bioterrorism and Weapons of
Mass Destruction Preparedness was offi-cially
upgraded to become a center of
excellence. The new Center for Education
and Research in Bioterrorism and
Weapons of Mass Destruction Prepared-ness
will provide leadership as a vital
education, training, and research resource
for the health care profession, and the
community at large.
In this period of heightened national
stress, the center aims to impart a sense of
calm. All community members can rest
assured that their concerns related to
bioterrorism are being addressed in an
ongoing way.
Anthony J. Silvagni, DO, PharmD
Dean
Nova Southeastern University College of
Osteopathic Medicine
Davie, Florida
Corrections
JAOA—The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association regrets the following
errors:
Sweet S. Undergraduate osteopathic medical education. J Am Osteopath
Assoc. 2002;102(11):576-581.
In Table 2, first-year enrollment for Midwestern University’s Chicago
College of Osteopathic Medicine (CCOM) for the 2000–2001 academic year
was mistakenly reported at 210. The correct number is 156. Further, the
total enrollment at CCOM for this period was incorrectly listed as 805; the
actual number was 638. Therefore, the total number of first-year enroll-ments
at all schools in the 2000–2001 academic year should be 2870. Sim-ilarly,
the total enrollment for all schools should be 10,650, rather than
10,817.
In Table 5, the number of nonresidents for CCOM in the 2000–2001
academic year was incorrectly listed at 159, instead of 85. Similarly, the
total number of nonresidents for CCOM was incorrectly presented as 210,
when it should have been 156.
Vorro J, Johnston WL. A myoelectric model for thoracic spinal motion
dynamics during clinical rotation tests: Part 1. Ipsilateral regional motor
performance. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2003;103(4):187-193.
The authors’ corrected text for the last two sentences of the introduction was
mistakenly not inserted. The text, as printed, reads as follows:
In our hypothetical considerations, we sought to maintain sym-metry
of ipsilateral myoelectric activity during shoulder and trunk
rotation in opposing directions to maintain this feature in our func-tional
model. Further, in response to regional rotation tests, we
wanted to include the uniform distribution of myoelectric activity.
The text should have been edited to read as follows:
Our first hypothetical consideration concerned the symmetry of
ipsilateral regional motion in the active and passive phases, incor-porating
myoelectric activity as a feature in our functional model of
spinal rotary function. Further, we sought to investigate the distri-bution
of myoelectric activity in response to regional motion tests.
JAOA—The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association would like to make the
following clarification:
Obradovic JL, Bronersky VM, Winslow-Falbo P. Osteopathic grad-uate
medical education. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2002;102(11):582-589.
In Tables 2 through 4, the abbreviation for Midwestern Univer-sity’s
Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine should have appeared as
CCOM rather than MWUCOM.
