May 16, 1975

Gov Carey and NYS Legis leaders agree on legis designed to resolve med malpractice crisis; proposal calls for creation of Med Malpractice Underwriting Assn consisting of 300 private ins cos offering personal liability ins; assn would offer malpractice ins and would compete with other ins cos, including Med Liability Mutual Ins Co now being formed by NYS Med Soc; drs' ins premiums are expected to rise 75% and may double under new system; proposal provides for reduction in statute of limitations from present 3 yrs to 2 1/2 yrs; recommendations of malpractice mediation panels concerning dr's liability for malpractice would be permitted to be introduced into evidence at malpractice trials, as would information on collateral sources; malpractice charges would be heard by panel of drs and consumer reprs in NYS Health Dept; findings would be referred by Health Comr to Bd of Regents for final determination; bill also limits doctrine of informed consent (M)

US mil rescue of merchant ship Mayagez and 39-man crew is completed as 200 Marines are lifted by helicopters from Tang Island under cover of aerial and naval gunfire; Defense Dept officials says 1 casualty has been verified; unverified repts say 1 Marine and 1 Air Force man were killed and 8 Marines and 6 Air Force helicopter crewmen are missing; unspecified number of wounded are being treated aboard Navy ships; Pres Ford's use of mil power draws gen praise from Cong along with some criticism that Ford should have consulted more with Cong before ordering operation; Ford, complying with '73 War Powers Act, sends lrs to HR Speaker Carl Albert and pres pro tem of Sen James O Eastland; Sec Schlesinger's comments during early-morning news conf after incident noted; key Adm officials privately describe operation as warning to N Korea and other Communist nations that US stands ready to meet force with force to protect its interest despite recent setbacks in Vietnam; operation included strike by Navy carrier planes against Ream Air Base near Sihanoukville; crew members are taken aboard destroyer Henry B Wilson and then transferred to Mayagez; US Marines met strong resistence on Tang Island despite initial intelligence repts that only about 20 elderly Cambodians were on island before attack; Cambodian Govt apparently moved forces onto insland in anticipation of US mil assault; final Marine withdrawal from island described; illus of Ford, Secs Kissinger and Schlesinger, Natl Security Council staff member Robert McFarland and Presidential aide Donald Rumsfield in Oval Office; illus of Marines on Tang Island (L)

BANGKOK, Thailand, May 151 —The Cambodian Government said today that it had decided to let the American merchant ship Mayagüez go because “our weak country cannot have a confrontation with the U.S.A.”

Commerce Dept repts mfg payrolls stabilized in Apr as increases in avg wkly hours and avg hrly earnings offset modest further decline in employment (S)

J M Naughton analysis of Mayaguez incident says Cong Dems call Pres Ford's actions right and give him high marks for leadership; says Repub conservatives, who had begun questioning Ford's capacity, declare him to be ‘a man who knows how to act’ (M)