DATE: Thursday, February 27, 1997           TAG: 9702270485

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B8   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Briefs 

                                            LENGTH:   65 lines

VIRGINIA [DIGEST]

Alexandria

Lawyer must pay

cancer patient

after double mishap

An Alexandria jury has ordered Vicki Stathos' lawyer to pay her $1 million for losing the only copy of her mammogram needed in a medical malpractice suit against her doctor, who allegedly misdiagnosed her in 1992.

The jury ordered Benjamin W. Glass III on Monday to pay Stathos the money after deciding that without the X-rays, the malpractice suit had to be dropped.

Although no one knows for sure, the mammogram probably was thrown out by a cleaning crew after Glass left it too close to an office trash can, according to court testimony.

The suit alleged that the delay in diagnosing the cancer irreparably damaged Stathos' chance of recovery. Fairfax

Special education chief

fired after complaints

The head of special education in Virginia's largest school system was fired after staff complaints about his management style.

Fairfax County school officials dismissed Raymond Healey on Tuesday. He was on leave from his job as assistant superintendent for special education after staff members complained he made unspecified inappropriate remarks.

School Superintendent Robert Spillane said investigators found no basis for those complaints, but did find Healey mismanaged his department and was no longer an effective leader. Ladysmith

Senator Chichester hurt

in hit-and-run accident

State Sen. John H. Chichester was slightly injured Wednesday when the motorcycle he was riding was struck by a car on U.S. 1 in Caroline County, police said.

Virginia State Police spokeswoman Mary Evans said three people in the 1986 Mercury Cougar that collided with Chichester's motorcycle fled the scene. Two were arrested but the driver was still at large.

Chichester suffered a dislocated shoulder, cuts and bruises.

A juvenile who was riding in the other car was found hiding in a nearby neighborhood with $2,600 in cash and an unspecified amount of marijuana. James Baylor was found about two miles from the scene, carrying a concealed 9 mm pistol, police said.

COMING UP

TODAY: Charlottesville - AFL-CIO treasurer Richard Trumka, consumer advocate Ralph Nader and civil rights leader Julian Bond participate in the seminar ``Rights are Civil Rights: A Teach-In With the Labor Movement,'' University of Virginia, Chemistry Auditorium through Feb. 28. Lexington - Film critic Michael Medved speaks at Washington and Lee University, 7:30 p.m., duPont Auditorium on campus.

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