Letters.

Overtime

I have been General Counsel of The Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) / SEIU for 10 years. CIR is a labor union that represents 10,000 resident physicians around the country, including in Washington D.C. I have just finished reading Robert Worth's wonderfully titled article, "Exhaustion That Kills" (Jan./Feb. 1999).

The issue of excessive hours worked by residents has been in the forefront of CIR's work for many years. We fought to bring the hours regulations into existence in New York state 10 years ago. But we could not afford to rest and enjoy the victory. Immediately afterward we had to oppose the hospitals' efforts to overturn those regulations through the courts. And from then until now we have been in a long struggle to get effective enforcement of the regulations. Most recently we are concerned about new efforts to weaken or remove the regulations.

I am familiar with all the arguments and have read many articles, both scholarly and journalistic, on the subject. I was impressed by Mr. Worths article. He addressed the excessive work hours comprehensively, yet in a manner that made it accessible to the general public. It was impassioned and precise, a wonderful combination especially suited this issue.

We are grateful to The Washington Monthly for putting a much needed spotlight on this important issue and for assigning a writer of Mr. Worths caliber to the project. We are hopeful that this quality article will obtain some notice by policy makers in Washington, D.C. and move the issue forward there. Mr. Worth's suggestion about the Health Care Financing Administration's possible involvement is an excellent one, one that we will pursue.

HARRY FRANKLIN General Counsel Committee of Interns and Residents New York, N.Y. Low Blow

I applauded your December "Tilting at Windmills" item deploring the growing incivility and reminding us of the need to avoid being mean and self-righteous about the shortcomings of others. That's why I was sorry to read Martin Berger's letter in the same issue. Mr. Berger took issue with a previous Monthly article by Ben Lieberman criticizing the federal low-flow toilet mandate. Like Berger, I own two low flow toilets and I agree with him that Mr. Lieberman's article overstated the case against them. But Mr. Berger then concluded his letter with a cheap shot to the effect that Mr. Lieberman "was unusually full of what toilets are designed to dispose of." Yeah, that was cute, but it was also...