Medical Students Accused

Medical and dental students, eligible for up to $80,000 in government-backed school loans, have used the program to pay for new cars, divorce lawyers and even a trip to Europe while soaring default rates threaten the program with bankruptcy, auditors said today.

The internal audit by the inspector general of the Health and Human Services Department said that unlike most loan programs, the medical program has treated the loans as virtually an absolute right of students, with little regard for where the money is going.