LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
thing out of context from the statute. In the law a balance has been struck that the influence (that) providers of health care, consumers of health care, and elected officials can exert. All of these must be represented on the governing board of a Health Systems Agency with non-health industry people in the majority. There is no attempt in the law explicit or implied which precludes the state or local health agencies and officials from carrying out their legal functions. The law also requires that the state develop a health plan within a specified time. The state comprehensive health planning agency in Vermont, which was under Dr. Robbins aegis during his tenure, was in place eight years and never developed a plan. One might ask the question: why, if the state agencies can do so much better than voluntary health planning agencies, was a state plan never developed in Vermont? Health officials like Dr. Robbins would do a public service by letting
the public make up its own mind whether planning for health care would best be left in the hands of state and local government bodies whose records are sometimes spotty and often unresponsive to public needs, or whether members of the public should participate in the planning for one of our most vital commodities-health care: John B. Dunne, MPH 3 Summer Hill Springfield, VT 05156 Mr. Dunne is Executive Director of the Connecticut Valley Health Compact, an areawide comprehensive health planning agency serving southeastern Vermont and southwestern Vermont.
On Lead Exposure Limits Thank you for your courtesy in printing in the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health my guest
editorial, "Lead Poisoning in Industry.'"I I was delighted to have the opportunity to express my views on the important subject of occupational safety and health in your publication. I regret that I must call to your attention an error in my text. In discussing August, 1975 recommendations of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that exposure limits to lead be lowered, I incorrectly wrote that the recommended levels were to be "in the range 75-150 ug/ mi3". That should have read "in the range 50-150 ug/m3." I would appreciate it if you could bring this correction to the attention of your readers. Thank you for your consideration. Morton Corn Assistant Secretary of Labor
REFERENCE 1. Corn, M. Lead poisoning in industry, 1976. Am J. Public Health 66:531-532, 1976.
I
Turning the Tide T 7 here is now a growing movement within medical education to provide more formal training in
behavior, but there is also formidable opposition. As John Knowles has pointed out, medicine gained acceptance within the university as a valid discipline not because of its advances as a social science, but because of its discoveries as a natural science. For nearly a century, natural science has been the paydirt, and the behavioral art has taken a subordinate position. Reversing the trend of a century will take some doing."
Michael Crichton: Five Patients: The Hospital Explained, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1970, p. 205.
AJPH October, 1976, Vol. 66, No. 10
1007
thing out of context from the statute. In the law a balance has been struck that the influence (that) providers of health care, consumers of health care, and elected officials can exert. All of these must be represented on the governing board of a Health Systems Agency with non-health industry people in the majority. There is no attempt in the law explicit or implied which precludes the state or local health agencies and officials from carrying out their legal functions. The law also requires that the state develop a health plan within a specified time. The state comprehensive health planning agency in Vermont, which was under Dr. Robbins aegis during his tenure, was in place eight years and never developed a plan. One might ask the question: why, if the state agencies can do so much better than voluntary health planning agencies, was a state plan never developed in Vermont? Health officials like Dr. Robbins would do a public service by letting
the public make up its own mind whether planning for health care would best be left in the hands of state and local government bodies whose records are sometimes spotty and often unresponsive to public needs, or whether members of the public should participate in the planning for one of our most vital commodities-health care: John B. Dunne, MPH 3 Summer Hill Springfield, VT 05156 Mr. Dunne is Executive Director of the Connecticut Valley Health Compact, an areawide comprehensive health planning agency serving southeastern Vermont and southwestern Vermont.
On Lead Exposure Limits Thank you for your courtesy in printing in the June issue of the American Journal of Public Health my guest
editorial, "Lead Poisoning in Industry.'"I I was delighted to have the opportunity to express my views on the important subject of occupational safety and health in your publication. I regret that I must call to your attention an error in my text. In discussing August, 1975 recommendations of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health that exposure limits to lead be lowered, I incorrectly wrote that the recommended levels were to be "in the range 75-150 ug/ mi3". That should have read "in the range 50-150 ug/m3." I would appreciate it if you could bring this correction to the attention of your readers. Thank you for your consideration. Morton Corn Assistant Secretary of Labor
REFERENCE 1. Corn, M. Lead poisoning in industry, 1976. Am J. Public Health 66:531-532, 1976.
I
Turning the Tide T 7 here is now a growing movement within medical education to provide more formal training in
behavior, but there is also formidable opposition. As John Knowles has pointed out, medicine gained acceptance within the university as a valid discipline not because of its advances as a social science, but because of its discoveries as a natural science. For nearly a century, natural science has been the paydirt, and the behavioral art has taken a subordinate position. Reversing the trend of a century will take some doing."
Michael Crichton: Five Patients: The Hospital Explained, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1970, p. 205.
AJPH October, 1976, Vol. 66, No. 10
1007
