
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 4, 1992                   TAG: 9203040303
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A10   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

BE VOCAL ABOUT OUTRAGES

I READ IN your paper recently of a situation in California where a taxi driver apprehended a mugger (who was later convicted of the crime) by pinning the man against a wall with his taxi. In the process, he broke the man's leg. The taxi driver was sued by the criminal, who was awarded about $25,000 by a jury.

This is an outrage! How did the jury arrive at the dollar figure? Is this the amount the criminal would normally have gotten in his future mugging if not apprehended? What if the victim had defended himself? If he had broken the man's leg, would he have been sued also?

I've also heard that a gravely ill person can starve to death in our hospitals. In a hospital room, food is delivered to the bedside. If that person is not capable of feeding himself/herself, it is my understanding that the tray is taken away without conscience.

I hope I heard wrong. But by the same token, doctors turn away old and poor people every day by demanding payment up front. Where is the Hippocratic Oath? How many doctors are starving or in need of help of any kind?

I'm not against the medical profession. I just think they, as well as our judicial system, have lost their vision of what their profession is all about.

Lastly, people have got to stop waiting for a politician or someone else to solve their problems. This country was founded on certain principles dictated by the people. The people should be indignant about these outrages. The politicians won't fix these things because their life is OK.

Write your congressman; write your newspaper. Be vocal. RODGER DOSS ROCKY MOUNT

by CNB