Hospitals Missouri

The family of track star Florence Griffith Joyner is blaming a St. Louis hospital for her death, charging in a lawsuit that doctors failed to detect a brain abnormality two years earlier. Joyner was rushed to Washington University's Barnes-Jewish Hospital in April 1996 after suffering a seizure on a flight to St. Louis, where she was to attend a relay race. The lawsuit, filed in a Missouri court under pseudonyms, says that hospital workers improperly interpreted an MRI and other tests.

Twenty-eight people were hospitalized for breathing problems Wednesday after a leak in a railroad car at a chemical plant sent a yellowish cloud of chlorine gas spewing into the air in a rural area of eastern Missouri, police said. A spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department said the leak at DPC Enterprises, a chemical distribution and production company about 35 miles south of St. Louis, was contained by midafternoon. The cause of the leak was not known.

The moment she saw the blurred outline of the fetus on the sonogram on Sept. 11, Maralee Dinsdale knew something was horribly wrong. "There just wasn't a definite round little head," Dinsdale recalled, starting to cry quietly. She spelled the word that the doctor used: a-n-e-n-c-e-p-h-a-l-i-c. It meant that the 22-week fetus would be born without a brain. Three months ago, she might have had an abortion at either of the two hospitals where her doctor practices.

The family of track star Florence Griffith Joyner is blaming a St. Louis hospital for her death, charging in a lawsuit that doctors failed to detect a brain abnormality two years earlier. Joyner was rushed to Washington University's Barnes-Jewish Hospital in April 1996 after suffering a seizure on a flight to St. Louis, where she was to attend a relay race. The lawsuit, filed in a Missouri court under pseudonyms, says that hospital workers improperly interpreted an MRI and other tests.

The Federal Trade Commission voted to challenge Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s purchase of a 230-bed hospital in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Tenet said it will fight the FTC in court, setting up a legal showdown over the company's bid to purchase Doctors Regional Medical Center from a physicians group for an undisclosed sum. The FTC charged that the acquisition would give Tenet a virtual monopoly--78%--in the market for acute-care inpatient hospital services near the town, located in southeastern Missouri.

Twenty-eight people were hospitalized for breathing problems Wednesday after a leak in a railroad car at a chemical plant sent a yellowish cloud of chlorine gas spewing into the air in a rural area of eastern Missouri, police said. A spokesman for the Jefferson County Sheriff's Department said the leak at DPC Enterprises, a chemical distribution and production company about 35 miles south of St. Louis, was contained by midafternoon. The cause of the leak was not known.

Andrija Artukovic, the 85-year-old man ordered extradited to his native Yugoslavia to face Nazi-era murder charges, was flown by air ambulance early Friday to a federal prison hospital in Missouri. The ailing Seal Beach man was moved about 5 a.m from his Long Beach Navy Hospital room, where he has been under 24-hour guard since shortly after his arrest last Nov. 14, said his attorney, Michael Dacquisto.

Tenet Healthcare Corp. announced on Monday a $550-million deal to sell five hospitals, underscoring the company's departure from an aggressive growth strategy. Less than a year ago, Santa Barbara-based Tenet was a finalist to buy a 14-hospital chain based in Kansas City, Mo., an acquisition that would have made Tenet the dominant player in a prime Midwest market. Now, Tenet plans to sell 12 hospitals and close two others by year's end to pare debt. The sale announced Monday -- to Naples, Fla.

The Federal Trade Commission voted to challenge Tenet Healthcare Corp.'s purchase of a 230-bed hospital in Poplar Bluff, Mo. Tenet said it will fight the FTC in court, setting up a legal showdown over the company's bid to purchase Doctors Regional Medical Center from a physicians group for an undisclosed sum. The FTC charged that the acquisition would give Tenet a virtual monopoly--78%--in the market for acute-care inpatient hospital services near the town, located in southeastern Missouri.

The moment she saw the blurred outline of the fetus on the sonogram on Sept. 11, Maralee Dinsdale knew something was horribly wrong. "There just wasn't a definite round little head," Dinsdale recalled, starting to cry quietly. She spelled the word that the doctor used: a-n-e-n-c-e-p-h-a-l-i-c. It meant that the 22-week fetus would be born without a brain. Three months ago, she might have had an abortion at either of the two hospitals where her doctor practices.

Andrija Artukovic, the 85-year-old man ordered extradited to his native Yugoslavia to face Nazi-era murder charges, was flown by air ambulance early Friday to a federal prison hospital in Missouri. The ailing Seal Beach man was moved about 5 a.m from his Long Beach Navy Hospital room, where he has been under 24-hour guard since shortly after his arrest last Nov. 14, said his attorney, Michael Dacquisto.