p ": tit
Medicines raise concern
■ An ingredient in cold
medications causes defects
in chicken embryos and
may harm human fetuses.
OMAHA (AP)- A key ingredient
in over-the-counter cough medicines
such as Sudafed and Tylenol cold
medications was found to cause birth
defects and death in chicken
embryos. The discovery raises a red
flag for pregnant women, researchers
said.
“I would be telling my children
don’t take it, the defects are so
severe,” said Thomas H. Rosenquist,
a developmental biologist and chair
man of the University of Nebraska
Medical Center’s cell biology and
anatomy department.
In the two-year study published in
January’s issue of Pediatric Research,
Rosenquist and two colleagues gave
: three different levels of dex
j tromethorphan to chicken embryos
developed to the equivalent of three
to four weeks of a human embryo.
The lowest level was estimated at
what would reach a human embryo if
a pregnant woman used one recom
mended dose of cough medicine,
Rosenquist said.
Some embryos were left alone to
develop, and others were given only a
saline solution.
“There was no level at which
there was never a defect,” Rosenquist
said. “We feel that a single dose is
capable of causing a birth defect and
that ultimately ft could be the cause of
A significant, numb^erqf the
chicken embryos given dex
tromethorphan developed without
brains, or with other birth defects
such as spina bifida and cleft palate.
At its mghest concentration, dex
tromethorphan killed more than half
the embryos and caused birth defects
in about 15 percent of the survivors.
The kind of birth defects found
occur in the first month of pregnancy,
so researchers said women trying to
become pregnant also may wish to
avoid the drug.
Early embryos of chickens are
good indicators of what happens in
early development of human
embryos, Rosenquist said.
“This dosage, given at that time,
will probably cause the same
defects,” he said. “It could be worse,
it could be better, but what we can say
for sure is that this raises a red flag.”
Dextromethorphan stops cough
ing by working on a receptor of the
central nervous system, but in
embryos it knocks out the receptor,
causing the defects, Rosenquist said.
Tests had not been done before on
dextromethorphan, Rosenquist said,
and the findings indicate a need to
look more closely at the drug.
Meanwhile, pregnant women should
avoid cough medicines, he said.
However; Dick Leavitt, the direc
tor of science information at the
March of Dimes in White Plains,
N.Y., said he had his doubts.
“I think it would take a lot more
than chicken embryos to get me con
cerned,” Leavitt said.
“Dextromethorphan has been around
for a long time, used by people
unaware of any suspicions about that.”
Robert Felix, a telephone coun
selor at the University of California at
San Diego’s Teratogen Information
Service, said two studies he had seen
did not indicate that pregnant women
exposed to dextromethorphan were at
risk of birth defects.
A 1977 study looked at 300
women exposed to the drug in their
first four months of pregnancy, and a
1985 study looked at 59 women
exposed to the drug in their first
trimester, Felix said, neither showed
any association between dex
tromethorphan and birth defects.
Possible lawsuit looms over bill
LB921 would, reduce depletion from river basin
By Todd Anderson
Assignment Reporter
In light of a possible lawsuit by
Kansas against the state of Nebraska,
an otherwise quiet Natural Resources
Committee hearing attracted a full
room of testifiers in the Capitol
Thursday.
The hearing was held to discuss
LB921, which would prohibit the
drilling of wells in the Republican
River Basin and require a meter for
each well currently in use.
Sen. Chris Beutler of Lincoln,
who proposed the bill, said the mora
torium on drilling wells would limit
the amount of water depleted from
the Republican Basin.
The proposed bill comes at a time
when the Kansas governor’s office
has indicated its intent to pursue a
lawsuit against Nebraska for not
complying with the Republican River
compact signed by Nebraska,
Colorado and Kansas in 1943.
The pact requires each state to
monitor how much surface water is
depleted from the Republican River
Basin and set limits on the amounts.
The state of Kansas has not only
complained about the amount of
water depleted from the Republican
Basin, but also how that amount is
calculated.
Mike Jess, a Nebraska compact
commissioner, said water consump
tion in the basin is currently estimat
ed by local Natural Resource District
officials.
He said the estimations are accu
rate, but net exactly precise.
Kansas and Nebraska commis
sioners originally began negotiations
two years ago, Jess said, but Kansas
representatives walked away last
year.
Gov. Ben Nelson testified the
Kansas government has since refused
to continue negotiations.
The governor said he would pre
fer to settle the dispute by talking.
“I’d prefer that they sit down at
the table with us, so we can learn
what in fact they expect,” he said.
Steve Grasz, chief deputy attor
ney general, read a letter from
Attorney General Don Stenberg stat
ing he was confident Nebraska could
defend itself if Kansas were to seek
litigation.
The letter also indicated opposi
tion to LB921. The passage of the
bill, it said, would weaken or under
mine the stated position.
Wayne Heathers, general manag
er of the Middle Republican NRD,
testified in opposition to the bill.
He said the bill would supersede
Nebraska laws that give the local
NRDs power over natural resources
in their districts.
Heathers, as well as other testi
fiers, expressed concern for the cost
of installing pumps and the decline in
the price of land that cannot be irri
gated.
He and Jess said they were not
convinced LB921 would prevent
Kansas from filing a lawsuit
Such lawsuits can last years, Jess
said. The costs of litigation, for which
the states are responsible, can cost
millions of dollars.
«« B«tor: Paula Lavigne
_ a Ajsasissasr
Associate News Etfiton TedTkylor
Assignment EAtor: Erin Gibson
Opinion Edtton Joshua Gillin
Questions? Comments? Ask for the appropriate section editor at aSeSZ! MfRaS”
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THE ,W8
_ '_ -_
Glenn chosen for mission
to study effects of aging
WASHINGTON (AP) -
Thirty-six years after he made his
tory as the first American to orbit
the Earth, Sen. John Glenn is
being granted an aged astronaut’s
fondest wish: one more blastoff
and fiery ride to where “the view
is tremendous.”
In October he’ll become the
oldest man in space.
'National Aeronautics and
Space Administration officials
have decided to grant the 76-year
old Ohio senator and former
Marine pilot’s long-standing
request, convinced by his argu
ments that he’s the right test sub
ject for research into the aging
process. NASA called a news con
ference for Friday to make it offi
cial.
His flight aboard the shuttle
Discovery in October will come
more than 36 years after his three
orbit ride aboard the cramped
Friendship 7 capsule on Feb. 20,
1962.
The flight allowed the United
States to instantly catch up to the
Soviets in the space race and
turned Glenn into a worldwide
symbol of American know-how
and courage.
It was extremely dangerous at
that time,” Chris Kraft, flight
director for the early flights,
recalled Thursday. And the world’s
reaction was amazing.
“People were standing on the
streets in Tokyo, all over the world,
awaiting his safe return and listen
ing to the operation as it took
plaee,” Kraft said.
Glenn himself talked about
how “the view is tremendous” and
exulted about the “beautiful blue”
horizon during his ride. As his
capsule sped back down into
Earth’s atmosphere in a cascade of
sparks and fire, he remarked,
“Boy, that was a real fireball of a
ride.”
Friendship 7 was aloft for four
hours, 56 minutes, which at the
time seemed an extraordinarily
long ride. In recent years, though,
Glenn has joked about having
such a short time in space and has
pressed continually for another
shot.
“I’m ready when they say
‘go,’” he said.
Portrayed as a hero in the book
and subsequent movie “Hie Right
Stuff,” Glenn was elected to the
Senate in 1974 after a successful
-I___
«
John is a
wonderful
candidate because
... he was the first
American in orbit.”
BuzzAlmun
former astronaut
business career, but is retiring
from Congress at the end of 1998,
As news of the NASA decision
leaked out, Glenn wasn’t confirm
ing anything. But he smiled as he
said, “I look forward to discussing
this in the future.”
Glenn, who will turn 77 in
July, has said he has no qualms
about putting his body through
stresses that might accelerate die
aging process.
He will fly on a IG-day
research mission aboard
Discovery, tentatively scheduled
to lift off Oct. 8.
Scott Carpenter, 72, who did
the famous “God speed, John
Glenn” countdown in 1962, said
he was thrilled for the man who
preceded him in orbit by a mere
three months. !
“I think it’s great. I envy the
spot,” said Carpenter, who, like
Glenn, was one of the select
Mercury 7 astronauts.
Apollo 11 ’s Buzz Aldrin, who
turns 68 next week and was the
second man to walk on the moon,
also said it’s a great idea for NASA
to send Glenn back into space.
“John is a wonderful candidate
because he has a high visibility,
he’s in great shape and he was the
first American in orbit,” said
Aldrin.
Glenn exercises daily, lifts
weights, pilots his own plane and
even set a 1996 speed record in his
twin-engine Beechcraft Baron.
In making his case to NASA
that be would bea good subject for
experimentation, Glenn argued
that his superb condition, baseline
information gathered during his
first space training, and records
from subsequent yearly physicals
provide a unique starting point for
a study of osteoporosis and
changes in die body’s immune sys
tem during aging.
Regents could name
field after Osborne
FIELD from page 1 _
Osborne’s reluctance to the field’s
naming was because of the coach’s
“aw, shucks” modesty.
“1 certainly respect his modesty -
it’s very characteristic of Tom
Osborne,” Wilson said. “I certainly
do not want to do something that
would really offend him.”
But, he said die “vast majority” of
Nebraskans want to honor Osborne
in a significant manner.
“I haven’t talked to a single per
Everyone hX been supportive and
enthusiastic,” Wilson said
Regent Nancy O’Brien of
Waterloo agreed: “I think Tom
Osborne’s career speaks for itself, as
well as die fact that he is a generally
wonderful person,” she said. “He’s
<jone a lot for die state.”
Osborne coached the Comhusker
football team to 25 winning seasons,
including three national champi
onships, in his 25 years of coaching.
“I think he has made one of the
most significant contributions in
Nebraska football history,” Byrne
said. “We need to remembk the his
tory when our athletes are playing on
Tom Osborne Field.”
■ -v‘"■ v '-K
