June 27, 2002

Julie Salamon reviews Frontline segment Shattered Dreams of Peace: The Road From Oslo (M)

Swiss drug maker Serono agrees to buy Genset for 107.4 million euros ($105.2 million), more than three times French company's market value, to help it search for new medicines (S)

First of two articles, Blurred Vision, on large number of breast cancers that go undetected by radiologists; discusses research showing that doctors miss far more tumors than previously assumed, many because they lack ability to discern elusive signs of breast cancer in shadows and swirls of mammogram, widely regarded as hardest task in all of radiology; says that government holds doctors to only mimimum standards, that little specialized training is required, that doctors are not monitored by government and rarely know whether they are doing a good job or not; notes that deficiencies are being recognized at sensitive time, when mammography is struggled to attract top-flight doctors and when value of mammography screening is being questioned; photos (L)

Three of 19 present and former New York City plumbing inspectors charged with extorting payoffs from contractors were indicted on same charges isn 1993, cleared in 1995 and returned to old jobs; new federal complaints reflect seemingly ingrained culture of corruption in Buildings Department (M)

The Castle, 59-bed center on Hudson River in Harlem, is newly-renovated haven for ex-convicts who are released from prison with no place to go; photos (M)