March 8, 2000
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Health/Education
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Mark O. Hatfield to help guide OHSU
as member o f its governing board
CaNnUBVTEPSTPRÏ
lur T h i
P ortland O bserver
G ov. John K itzhaber has nam ed
form er U.S. Sen. M ark O. H atfield to
th e O re g o n H e a lth S c ie n c e s
U niversity’s Board o f Directors. T he
O re g o n S e n a te c o n f ir m e d th e
nom ination Feb. 24.
“T h ro u g h o u t a p o litic a l c a re e r
spanning five decades, Mark Hatfield
has distinguished him selfas a leading
voice and pow erful advocate for
health care,” says K itzhaber. “This is
a natural progression to his ongoing
co m m itm en t to th e m issio n s o f
O regon’s academ ic health center.”
Since retiring from the U.S. Senate in
1 997, H a tfie ld c o n tin u e d h is
involvem ent in the academ ic and
h ealth ca re co m m u n ities. U pon
returning to his roots in Portland that
same year, hejoined theOregon Health
S c ie n c e s F o u n d a tio n b o a rd o f
trustees, a position he will vacate this
sp ring to becom e a d irec to r on
O H SU ’s governing board.
In 1998, P residentC linton appointed
him totheN ational Institutes o f Health
Advisory Council on Aging. Hatfield
has been a cham pion o f biomedical
research, serving as chairm an o f
Funding First, a research funding
initiative associated with The Albert
Mark O. Hatfield
a n d M a ry W o o d a rd L a s k e r
Foundation.
“D uring my years in public service, it
was exciting to participate with OH SU
in building a premiere medical research
institution in O regon,” H atfield says.
“Now, I am grateful to Gov. Kitzhaber
for the opportunity to serve on the
O H SU Board o f Directors. It is my
hope that as a result o fa collaborative
effort and com m itm ent to biomedical
research, O regonians will one day
w itness and be the beneficiaries o f
dramatic scientific breakthroughs that
will provide answers to m uch o f our
hum an suffering.”
Hatfield brings a lifetime ofleadership
and success to O H SU . A fter serving
the Oregon L egislature for six years,
he was voted in as Secretary o f State
in 1956 at the age o f 34— theyoungest
person in O reg o n ’s history to hold
that office. He w as elected governor
in 1958 and re-elected in 1962,
becom ing the sta te ’s first two-term
governor in the 20th century. In 1966,
he was elected to the U.S. Senate,
w h e re h e fo c u s e d o n h e a lth ,
education, research and social service
programs. In m ore than 46 years o f
political service, H atfield never lost
an election.
“O HSU is honored to have Mark
Hatfield jo in our Board o f Directors,”
saysOHSU President PeterO. Kohler,
M.D. “Sen. H atfield has been leading
the fight for m edical research at the
national level for several years. He
will provide excellent guidance for
OHSU during the most promising time
in history for m edical discoveries,
b o th fo r c u re s an d fo r h e a lth
promotion.”
Hatfield will fill the position formerly
held by Neil Goldschmidt, who retired
from the board this winter. “ We have
enjoyed G oldschm idt’s participation
on the board for alm ost five years,
and we will m iss his keen wit and
insight,” says Kohler.
Allergy remedies may impair driving
my home
and I care
about it. "
" I care
about
building
a strong
economy
to keep our
jobs secure.
" I care
about our
parks that
A ssociated P ress
A drug com m on to over-the-counter
allergy m edicines used by millions
might affect drivers more than liquor,
suggests a study published today.
University o f Iowa researchers who
tested 40 allergy sufferers in a driving
sim ulator found the standard dose o f
antihistam ine contained in Benadryl
and sim ilar m edicines had a greater
effect than a few drinks on driving
“coherence,” or the ability to match
the speed o f the vehicle ahead.
The antihistamine, diphenhydramine,
also had an effect sim ilar to alcohol
on steering stability and the likelihood
o f crossing into the oncom ing lane,
according to the study in today’s
A nnals o f Internal Medicine.
“W e w ere quite surprised to find that
diphenhydram ine m ay have an even
greater impact on the com plex task o f
operating an autom obile than does
alcohol,” said Dr. John W eiler, a
University oflow a medical professor.
“That sends a chilling message. You
w ould not w ant to be on the road
when som eone is driving at you w ho
is taking these."
The study also looked at a new er
antihistam ine, fexofenadine, used in
the prescription drug Allegra. The
researchers said that w hen it cam e to
driving ability, fexofenadine was
indistinguishable from a placebo.
T he m aker o f Benadryl, W arner-
Lam bert Co., attacked the new study
as “seriously flaw ed” because it was
partially funded by A ventis, the
m aker o f Allegra. W eiler strongly
defended his work, saying, “ I am not
for sale.”
“W e are in no w ay recom m ending
that these m edications be taken o ff
the market. Benadryl is an extrem ely
effective antihistam ine, it is the side-
effect profile that is disturbing,”
W eiler said.
The researchers said m ore than 39
m illion A m ericans suffer from hay
fever and allergies and 4.8 million take
"Oregon is
preserve
our open
spaces."
A ssociated P ress
Benadryl is seen Monday, March 6 in Philadelphia. Over-the-
counter remedies like Benadryl, which is used by millions o f
hay fever sufferers, may impair driving more than alcohol, a
new study indicates.
prescription drugs. M ost go without
treatm ent or take over-the-counter
medications.
T hese m edicines often com e with
w a r n in g s th a t th e y c a n c a u s e
drow siness and should not be used
w h i l e operating heavy m achinery.
N ational H ighw ay T raffic Safety
A dm inistration researcher Richard
Com pton said that there had been too
little research on the effects o f allergy
m edications on driving safety and
that people often ignore w arnings
about m ixing them with alcohol.
H ow ever, Com pton said a study o f
blood tests on victims o f fatal crashes
in the early 1990s suggested that
antihistamine impairment was far less
prevalent than alcohol impairment.
The Iowa researchers had the allergy
sufferers, ages 25 to 45, report once a
w eek over a four-week period to the
driving sim ulator.
Each w as tested once after being
g iv e n
th e
u su a l
d o se
of
diphenhydram ine; once w ith the
usual doseoffexofenadine; once with
enough alcohol to produce a blood-
alcohol concentration ofO. 1 percent,
the legal limit in som e states; and
once with a placebo containing no
m edication or alcohol.
O ver a sim ulated 45-m ile course on a
tw o-lane rural road, the m achine
m easured p articip a n ts’ ab ility to
m atch sp eed s as a lead vehicle
speeded and slow ed, their ability to
stay in their lane, and their ability to
avoid a crash w hen a vehicle pulled
out from a drivew ay in front o f them.
Test drivers’ follow ing ability was
significantly better after they took
alcohol or fexofenadine than after
d ip h e n h y d ra m in e .
S te e rin g
in s ta b ility w a s g r e a te r w ith
diphenhydram ine or alcohol than
fexofenadine or placebo. The number
o f tim e s th e y c ro sse d in to the
oncom ing lane w as tw ice as great
after taking diphenhydram ine as after
fexofenadine or placebo.
W eiler also pointed out that the
p articip an ts’ assessm ents o f how
drow sy they w ere did not correlate
with their perform ance, suggesting
that people w ho take antihistam ines
m ay not be able to ju d g e w hen they
are impaired.
" I care about our water. It's essential
fo r healthy fish and healthy people."
" I care about
preparing
our sons and
daughters fo r
the fu tu re ."
OHSU looks at new alternative to open-heart surgery
EOR T i l t PORTLAND O bs ERX ER
Anne Lingle flew all the w ay from
A laska to be one o f the first two
patients to participate in a new study
at Oregon Health Sticntti
U n i v e r s i t y . T h e 7 9 -y e a r-o ld
grandm other was bom with a hole the
size o f a dim e betw een the upper
c h a m b e rs o f h e r h e a r t. I t ’s a
congenital heart defect called atrial
septal defect (ASD ) and one out o f
every 1,500 children are bom with it,
but also is the m ost com m on form o f
congenital heart defects diagnosed
in a d u lts . T h e o n ly p ro c e d u re
currently available to correct the
d efe ct is o p e n -h e a rt su rg e ry , a
surgery that requires a four- to seven-
day hospital stay and w eek s o f
recovery. But a new study at O H SU ’s
School PfMedkinc and Doembecher
C hildren’s Hospital is looking at the
effectiveness o f a new device that
can close the hole w ithout surgery
and only requires a 24-hour hospital
stay, allow ing patients to resum e
normal activity soon after discharge.
The device iscalledtheC ardioS E A L
STARFlex Septal O cclusion System.
It looks like two small umbrellas facing
each other and is m ade o f polyester
fabric attached to metal that can be
1
im planted in the body during cardiac
catheterization. A catheter, w ith the
device inside, is gently inserted into
a vein in the patient’s leg, then routed
into the heart. O nce in the heart, the
device is pushed out o f the catheter
w here it opens on each side o f the
hole to cover and close it. N ew tissue
grow s over the fabric o f the device,
closing the hole perm anently.
“ I feel wonderful and so very happy
because now I can go hom e,” said
Lingle. The hole in her heart was
discovered more than a year and a
h alf ago, but she d id n ’t w ant to have
open-heart surgery, so she w aited for
the opportunity to participate.
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