October 28, 1973

Soviet official press agency Tass on Oct 27 dismisses Pres Nixon's explanation of why US forces were put on worldwide alert on Oct 25 as 'absurd'; calls US tactics 'an attempt to intimidate the Soviet Union'; Nixon, in news conf on Oct 26, said that US believed on Oct 24 that USSR was planning to send 'very substantial force' to Middle East; timing and content of Soviet statement suggest that Soviet party leader Brezhnev is personally piqued at Nixon's public version of crisis; statement dismisses US explanations of alert as 'absurd, since the actions of the Soviet Union are aimed solely at promoting implementation of the decisions of the Security Council on a cease-fire and the restoration of peace'; adds that US action does not 'promote internatl detente'; Western diplomats suggest that Brezhnev may feel personally vulnerable if peace-making efforts in Middle East fail from Soviet and Arab point of view because of his personal role in talks with US Sec of State Kissinger that produced US-USSR-sponsored UN cease-fire resolution; Soviet officials have explained to Western diplomats that 70 Soviet civilians sent to Egypt are on mission of 'observing the fulfillment' of cease-fire without necessarily being on cease-fire lines with UN peace-keeping force

article assaying US financial mkts reaction to Vice Pres Agnew's resignation notes this had almost no impact on Wall St

Oct 28: US State Dept repts on Oct 27 that Israel and Egypt have agreed to hold direct negotiations to implement cease-fire along Suez Canal; spokesman R J McCloskey says: 'As a result of our good offices, Egypt and Israel have agreed on a proposal that would call for a meeting on the ground between military reprs of the two sides under UN auspices to attempt to implement the cease-fire as called for by the Security Council Resolutions 338 and 339'; Resolution 338, passed on Oct 22, calls for cease-fire in place and Resolution 339, passed on Oct 23, confirms cease-fire call and calls for UN observers to supervise it on Suez front; agreement for both sides to meet is specifically designed to alleviate plight of Egyptian 3d Corps, which is surrounded by Israeli troops in area on eastern bank of Suez Canal; McCloskey says agreement will allow convoy of men and supplies through Israeli lines to 3d Corps, and that both UN and IRC personnel will participate; US officials maintain cease-fire violations during last wk as direct result of plight of corps, which is cut off from fresh water and other supplies; Nixon Adm reptdly considers corp's predicament key to appeal by Egyptian Pres A Sadat for assistance by US and Soviet forces; US Sec of State Kissinger reptdly made direct contact with Israel, Egypt and USSR to discuss problem; US reptdly views agreement as a 'promising development which could better lead to a valid and working cease-fire'

NY Times survey on move by US drs toward new nationwide system of peer rev to police quality and cost of med care they dispense; new Fed law, effective Jan 1, has put drs on notice that they must systematically regulate themselves or face Fed regulations within 2 yrs; peer rev is supported by AMA, Natl Med Assn, which represents black drs, and by many med societies; legis, sponsored by Sen Bennett, is supposed to see that money spent for Medicaid and Medicare buys med care of highest quality and lowest cost; initial purpose of peer rev is for drs who control such things as lab tests, hosp admissions and length of hosp stay to become mindful of their cost; secondary goal is quality care, which may be more difficult to achieve; such orgns as Joint Comm on Accreditation of Hosps and Amer Hosp Assn are not counting on rev orgns to insure quality med care; have each developed 'med audit' system for hosps to measure care; peer rev, while intended to upgrade med care, will not provide evidence to support malpractice suits; some state med societies are actively opposing peer rev legis; drs will be revd by other drs, but method of rev remains undetermined; drs found to be chronic offenders against locally set norms will be subject to several sanctions, such as loss of payment for claims, ineligibility to participate in Medicaid and Medicare and fines up to $5,000; peer rev system at San Joaquin Foundation for Med Care detailed; Drs C E Welch, W I Bauer, R E YaDeau, W McClure and J A Cooper comment; drawing

Many top NJ Repub leaders concede on Oct 27 that gubernatorial campaign of Repub US Repr C W Sandman Jr has floundered badly and that he and Repub party appear headed for major defeat in Nov 6 election; every major poll and judgments of pol leaders from both parties give overwhelming lead to Dem opponent B T Byrne