The nation in brief

QUOTE OF THE DAY “Everyone’s gotten way ahead of themselves, and most

importantly, they

have gotten way ahead of her.” Philippe Reines, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s communications aide, on constant speculation over whether the former secretary of state will run for president in 2016 Article, this page

Worried patients line up for testing

TULSA - About 150 to 200 patients of a Tulsa oral surgeon accused of unsanitary practices queued outside a health clinic Saturday, hoping to discover whether they had been exposed to hepatitis or the virus that causes AIDS.

Letters began going out Friday to 7,000 patients who had seen Dr. W. Scott Harrington during the past six years, warning them that poor hygiene at his clinics created a public-health hazard. The one-page letter said how and where to seek treatment but couldn’t explain why Harrington’s purportedly unsafe practices went on for so long.

Testing for hepatitis-B, hepatitis-C and the virus that causes AIDS began at 10 a.m.

Saturday, but many arrived early and stood through torrential downpours.

Inspectors found a number of problems at the doctor’s clinics in Tulsa and suburban Owasso, according to the state Dentistry Board, which filed a 17-count complaint against Harrington pending an April 19 license-revocation hearing. According to the complaint, needles were reinserted into drug vials after being used on patients, expired drugs were found in a medicine cabinet and dental assistants administered sedatives to patients.

An instrument reserved for patients with infectious diseases was rusty, preventing effective sterilization, and the office autoclave - a pressurized cleaner - hadn’t been certified as effective in at least six years, according to the complaint.

Attempts to reach Harrington have been unsuccessful.

2 5th-graders ruled fit for trial over plot

COLVILLE, Wash. - A northeast Washington judge found two boys, ages 10 and 11, competent to stand trial as youthful offenders on a murder-conspiracy charge.

Stevens County Prosecutor Tim Rasmussen said the fifth-graders had a handwritten plan listing seven steps that would lead to the killing of a female classmate.

A county judge ruled that the boys understood the nature and consequences of their actions.

The boys were arrested Feb. 7 at Fort Colville Elementary School after a fourth-grader saw one playing with a knife on a school bus and told a school employee. A backpack search also turned up a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and ammunition.

Body of man thrown from plane is found

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.

  • Authorities in Tennessee found the body of a man who was thrown from an experimental aircraft while an instructor was teaching him to fly.

Bradley County Interim Fire Chief Troy Spence said search crews located the student pilot about 11:45 a.m. Saturday.

Collegedale Municipal Airport employee Lowell Sterchi told the Chattanooga Times Free Press that the man was being trained Friday by an instructor in his Zodiac 601 aircraft when the canopy flew off.

The man’s seat belt was not fastened and he was thrown out of the plane.

Front Section, Pages 4 on 03/31/2013

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